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THE 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN, 
 
 Exposition aitti Homiletical treatment. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 ^/ 
 REV. J. J. LIAS, M.A. 
 
 VICAR OF ST. EDWARD'S, CAMBRIDGE, 
 
 LATE HULSEAN LECTURER AND PREACHER AT THE 
 
 CHAPEL ROYAL, WHITEHALL. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JAMES NISBET & GO., 21 BERNERS STREET. 
 
 MDCCCLXXXVII. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 rpHE present Commentary has been reprinted, almost 
 -A- without alteration, from the pages of the Homiletic 
 Magazine, in which it appeared from time to time 
 during a period of nearly six years. The author readily 
 acceded to the proposal for the reprinting, from the 
 hope that as it had been already found useful by some, 
 it might be useful to more. At the same time, he is 
 fully aware that the circumstances under which it was 
 originally produced have precluded any careful indepen- 
 dent investigation of the Epistle for himself. His task 
 has simply been to select from the various commentaries 
 before him such matter as seemed to him most likely 
 to be useful to those for whom his own was originally 
 designed. Full and thoughtful as are many of the 
 recent German commentators, their style is too diffuse 
 to make their works of much value to the hard- worked 
 parish clergyman, who has too little time to extract the 
 many grains of gold scattered here and there in their 
 writings, and who frequently loses his way amid the 
 disquisitions into which they enter on points — to him 
 at least — of comparatively slight importance. 
 
 The author regrets that the valuable works of 
 Professor Westcott and Mr. Plummer had not appeared 
 when he commenced his task. He has therefore only 
 been able to consult them from ch. iii. onwards. Any 
 coincidence of thought in the earlier part of the Com- 
 mentary has been independently arrived at. Of the 
 admirable work of Haupt, which may be said to mark 
 
VI PUEFACE. 
 
 an epoch in the exegesis of this Epistle, it is impossible 
 to speak too highly.-^ In one or two instances only 
 (especially in ch. v. 6—8) has the present writer ven- 
 tured on a line of his own, and even then he has but 
 expanded and developed the hints of those who have 
 gone before him. 
 
 It may be well to remark that the more the Epistle is 
 studied the more clearly it comes out that anything like 
 a literal application of the strong statements in ch. ii, 20, 
 27; iii. 9, to the actual present condition of any individual 
 Christian is impossible. It is absolutely necessary in 
 interpreting St. John's meaning to bear in mind the 
 perpetual oscillation throughout the Epistle between the 
 ideal and the practical condition of Christians, between 
 the believer as he might be and the believer as he is. 
 The whole character of the Epistle, in fact, is indicated 
 by ch. ii. i . " These things we write to you, that ye 
 sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with 
 the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous." 
 
 The repetitions which will be found in some portions 
 of this Commentary were rendered necessary by the 
 circumstances of its original appearance. It is hoped 
 that though they may to some extent injure the form of 
 the work, they will in no way interfere with its useful- 
 ness. Such repetitions as are found in the Homiletic 
 section are due to the necessity of producing sketches for 
 single sermons on particular passages. 
 
 With these few words of explanation the Commentary 
 is given to the world, in the hope that if it has no other 
 merit, it may at least be found to have made some of 
 the best thoughts of other men, on this most deep and 
 weighty portion of God's Word, more accessible than 
 before. 
 
 ^ This work has been translated in Messrs. T. & T. Clark's series. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION I 
 
 II. THE WORD OF LIFE 8 
 
 III. THE MESSAGE 29 
 
 IV. THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS . . 54 
 V. DARKNESS AND LIGHT 75 
 
 VL THE APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN lOO 
 
 VIL THE OBJECT OF THE APPEAL— LOVE NOT THE WORLD II3 
 
 Vin. THE WORK OF ANTICHRIST 1 23 
 
 IX. THE EFFECTS OF BELIEF IN THE TRUTH . . • I44 
 
 X. REJECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF GOD'S REVELATION 1 53 
 
 XL THE BLESSING OF ABIDING IN THE TRUTH . . 165 
 XII. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST TO BE MANIFESTED 
 
 IN US 177 
 
 XIIL THE PRIVILEGES OF THE CHRISTIAN . . . . 191 
 
 XIV. THE FUTURE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD . . . 202 
 
 XV. PURITY BY ABIDING IN CHRIST 2IO 
 
 XVL TRUE HOLINESS 227 
 
 XVIL LOVE THE SIGN OF THE BELIEVER . , . .242 
 
 XVIIL PASSING FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE .... 257 
 
 XIX. CHRISTIAN ASSURANCE • . 270 
 
 XX. SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE 287 
 
 XXL LOVE A DIVINE GIFT 304 
 
Vlll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XXII. TEACHING OF CHKISTIAN EXPERIENCE 
 
 XXIII. CHARACTER OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE 
 
 XXIV. SOURCE OF THE LIFE OF LOVE 
 
 XXV. UNION WITH CHRIST .... 
 XXVI. THE THREE WITNESSES .... 
 XXVII. CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE 
 
 PAGE 
 
 335 
 349 
 363 
 379 
 39S 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHK 
 
 INTEODUCTIOK 
 
 rriHE genuineness of this Epistle has never been dis- 
 -L ]D^t6d, save in the very wantonness of criticism. 
 Those who desire to see what arguments have been ad- 
 vanced to support foregone conclusions may consult the 
 works of Dean Alford, or, better still, of Dr. Davidson. 
 The absence of any traces, not only of later theological 
 ideas, but even of Pauline influences, the strong similarity 
 between the language of the Epistle and the Gospel, are 
 arguments of the strongest kind for the genuineness of 
 the former. He who by his nature was evidently of a 
 strongly affectionate and meditative disposition, who 
 leaned on his Master's breast at supper, who enjoyed his 
 Master's special and peculiar affection, was sure to reflect, 
 as far as mortal could, the very voice and tone, manner 
 and style, of that Master, and Him alone. Add to this 
 the fact, that the style suggests most strongly the calm 
 repose of age, a repose mingled with an affectionate 
 anxiety (i) that his younger disciples should not listen 
 to the voice of seducers, and (2) should be firmly built up 
 in the Life which flows from the truth and light and love 
 of God ; and that it is as far removed from the argumenta- 
 tive mobility of St. Paul as from the business-like (if W3 
 
2 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 may use the term) and practical wisdom of the energetic 
 St. Peter ; and we are irresistibly led to the conclusion 
 that none but the beloved disciple could have penned 
 this work, nor even he, except at an advanced age, 
 mellowed and purified by a lifelong meditation on the 
 words and deeds, and looks and tones, of the " Eternal 
 Life, which was with the Tather," but was " manifested 
 unto " men. This view is supported by a glance at the 
 Apocalypse. It is outside our province to enter into 
 an examination of the coincidences and differences be- 
 tween the Apocalypse and the acknowledged writings 
 of St. John. Suffice it to say, that a careful examina- 
 tion of the Apocalypse discloses the fact that though 
 it is written in less polished Greek (for even the 
 miraculous gifts of the Apostles were capable of im- 
 provement by use), it is yet filled with phrases and 
 turns of thought peculiar to it and the rest of St. John's 
 writings ; while the greater animation of the style, and 
 the absence of redundancies such as are frequent in the 
 Gospel and Epistles, betray the less advanced age of the 
 writer.''" Above all, the fact that in the Gospel and 
 Epistles of St. John and in the Apocalypse only is the 
 significant term Logos applied to our Lord is a strong 
 argument for all having come from the same pen. This 
 confirms the view which has been taken, that the Epistles 
 and Gospel are the product of the very advanced age of 
 the writer. The internal evidence that this Epistle is by 
 St. John is confirmed by the strongest external testimony. 
 Polycarp, St. John's own disciple, quotes, as it is natural 
 he should, his revered teacher's words in his Epistle to 
 the Philippians. And Irenseus, who relates at length 
 in his treatise againt heresies his recollections of the 
 
 ^ Professor Milligan, in his recent able work on the Revelation, takes 
 the opposite view. 
 
INTEODUCTIOK 3 
 
 venerated and Apostolic man Polycarp, whom lie well 
 remembered in his youth, also quotes the Epistle as 
 genuine. It is true that modern critics have denied the 
 genuineness of Polycarp's Epistle ; but they have done 
 this with an object, and that object the getting rid of 
 inconvenient early testimony to the genuineness of the 
 Scriptures themselves. Boldly deny the genuineness of 
 every early document which quotes the canonical Scrip- 
 tures as genuine, and you have disposed of every argument 
 by which the authenticity of those Scriptures can be 
 maintained. The course is perhaps not strictly honest ; 
 but it serves the purpose, as can plainly be seen in the 
 current literature of the day, of " beguiling unstable 
 souls," and spreading abroad a vague impression among 
 the indifferent and inexperienced, that the cause of 
 Scripture cannot be defended. Those, however, who 
 desire to see the evidence for the genuineness of the 
 Epistle of Polycarp may consult the masterly papers 
 of the present Bishop of Durham in the Contemporary 
 Rcvieiv, against the pretentious but hollow assertions con- 
 tained in the volume known as " Supernatural Religion." 
 These will show that even this wholesale method of 
 disposing of the witnesses to Scripture is not without its 
 difficulties, and that the scanty remains of early ecclesi- 
 astical literature are sufticient, in the hands of a com- 
 petent scholar, to dispose of the baseless assumptions and 
 confident assertions of the enemies of Holy Writ. 
 
 The object of the Epistle of St. John is clear enough 
 from a perusal of its contents. Yet it is interesting to 
 remark that an early writer (Clement of Alexandria) has 
 confirmed this view of it from tradition in reference to 
 the Gospel, the prologue of which has obviously the same 
 purport. It was the desire of St. John, he says, to con- 
 firm his converts in the faith which had been delivered 
 
4 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 to them, and to preserve them from all who would seduce 
 them from it. And this he did by leaving behind him a 
 record of the authentic teaching of Jesus Christ, such as 
 he had verbally imparted to those who heard him for 
 many years. A similar object is declared in this Epistle. 
 It was to preserve his younger disciples in the Light 
 which God had given. It was to secure them against 
 the fatal Antinomian error, which had begun to spread 
 itself abroad, that men might be disciples of light and 
 yet do the deeds of darkness (ch. iii. 7) ; it was to warn 
 them of the antichrists whom Jesus had foretold, and who 
 were already come (ch. ii. 18, iv. 3); it was to declare 
 the truth that Jesus and He alone was the Saviour of the 
 world, and that He saved the world only by taking on 
 Him our flesh (ch. iv. 3, 14) ; and it was to deepen their 
 conviction that the result of the reception of the Life 
 and Light that was in Jesus Christ must be a life of love 
 like His. So close is the resemblance between the Epistle 
 and the prologue to the Gospel that it has led some 
 theologians (Hug, for instance) to suppose that the 
 former was an encyclical Epistle intended as an intro- 
 duction to the Gospel. Eor this view, however, there 
 would seem to be little ground. The Gospel is not men- 
 tioned. Its contents are nowhere referred to ; and the 
 only similarity between the two writings is a similarity 
 of aim, such as might well be found in the works of one 
 whose fundamental doctrine was that Jesus Christ was 
 the Logos or Eevelation of God, come down from heaven 
 to cleanse mankind from sin, and restore them to fellow- 
 ship with God. When this commentary was commenced 
 in 1 8 8 1 the priority of the Gospel was here maintained. 
 A careful study of the Epistle, and a comparison of 
 ch. V. 1 3 with John xx. 3 1 , have suggested a different 
 conclusion. The Gospel may, to a certain extent, have 
 
INTEODUCTION. 5 
 
 been written for those without. The Epistle is clearly 
 addressed to those who are within. Nothing is estab- 
 lished, of course, from internal evidence concerning 
 priority of composition. But inasmuch as the Epistle 
 takes the truths contained in the Gospel as its starting- 
 point, and assumes the belief the Gospel endeavours to 
 produce in order to establish the believer more firmly in 
 the truth, the former can hardly have been an introduc- 
 tion to the latter, and may have been the fitting sequel 
 to it.^ 
 
 The precise course of the argument in the Epistle is 
 hard to trace; and yet that there is a meaning in its 
 reiterated repetitions will not be denied by those who 
 study it. Commencing with a brief introduction, the 
 object of which is to show that what the Apostle writes 
 he writes from personal knowledge, he lays down the 
 principle (i) that God is light, and the precise opposite 
 of darkness. He proceeds to explain that the light and 
 darkness he speaks of are not intellectual but moral 
 qualities, and ixisists (a) upon our actual sinfulness ; (h) 
 upon the duty incumbent upon us of shaking off that 
 sinful condition ; and (c) upon the fact that there is a 
 propitiation for the sins we do commit in Jesus Christ.- 
 It will be seen in the notes, we may remark by the way, 
 how exactly the doctrine of St. John corresponds with 
 that of St. Paul, in spite of the extremely different way 
 in which it is stated. In the passage ch. i. 8-ii. 2 we 
 have the doctrine of Justification set forth, as it is more 
 briefly in ch. i. 7. The Apostle now proceeds (2) to 
 insist upon the necessity of justification being no mere 
 formal or forensic process, but the parent of holiness of 
 
 ^ " The substance of the Gospel is a commentary on the Epistle : the 
 Epistle is, so to speak, the condensed moral and practical application of 
 the Gospel." — Westcott, Introduction. - i. 5-ii. 2. 
 
6 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 life. We must keep the commandments ; and this in- 
 volves the expulsion of all feelings of hate against our 
 brother man.^ We are then (3) warned against exactly the 
 opposite form of evil. We are not to hate our brother, 
 but we are not therefore necessarily to love the principles 
 by wliich he is actuated. We are not to love the world ; 
 still less the denials of Christ which are so prevalent in 
 the world in our time.^ And then (4) we are invited 
 to behold our sonship and its results, purification from — 
 righteous hatred of — sin.^ We advance (5) to a con- 
 sideration of the result of this purification — love. Hate 
 is a passion of the world we have left ; a Divine tender- 
 ness and compassion is the sign that we have quitted it. 
 Thus, then, we are led to a higher point of view than 
 before. To fulfil God's commandments is to cultivate 
 a spirit of love.* A Spirit, the Apostle goes on (6). 
 It is a blessed influence breathed in us from above, which 
 we must carefully distinguish from the many evil 
 influences breathed into us from below. That Spirit 
 is the Spirit of love.^ And (7) He is the Spirit of 
 Christ. He comes to us by a new birth from God. The 
 life we possess, if by the Spirit, is in the Son, and from 
 the Father ; so that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost dwell 
 in us.^ .In conclusion, (8) the Apostle gives some 
 practical advice for the realisation of this great truth 
 in ourselves and others. He would have us observe 
 (a) that the result of our fellowship with God is the 
 fulfilment of our petitions ; (&) that every sin is not of 
 sufficient gravity to cut men off from the blessed privi- 
 leges which, as Christians, they enjoy ; (c) that there are 
 sins of sufficient gravity to do so. And he concludes 
 
 1 
 
 ii. 
 
 2-14. 
 
 2 
 
 ii. 
 
 14- 
 
 -27. 
 
 3 
 
 ii. 
 
 27- 
 
 -iii. 
 
 10. 
 
 . 4 
 
 111. 
 
 11-24. 
 
 5 
 
 IV. 
 
 I- 
 
 13- 
 
 6 
 
 IV. 
 
 14- 
 
 -V. 
 
 12. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 by a brief summing-up of all that has been said. He 
 that is born or begotten of God is safe from evil, if he 
 will. Others possess not this blessedness ; but for our- 
 selves we may rejoice in the thought of our union with 
 the Eternal Truth in Jesus Christ. Eest secure, he says, 
 in this blessedness : reject those vain imaginations of 
 man's fancy which would rob you of the inestimable 
 privileges in your possession ; walk warily in these 
 dangerous days, and hold fast the truth. Such is a 
 brief and inadequate summary of the contents of the 
 Epistle. From this brief analysis of the Epistle it 
 appears that the main object of the Apostle's teaching 
 is summed up in two heads. God is light and God is 
 EiGHTEOUSNESS. That is to say, the moral and spiritual 
 illumination obtained by fellowship with God must issue 
 in holiness of life. This holiness of life, to give a short 
 summary of the second portion of St, John's argument, 
 is to be manifested (i) by active love, and (2) by active 
 resistance to evil influences. And we may best carry 
 out these precepts by remembering (i) that our life as 
 Christians is a new birth from above, which (2) conveys 
 a new principle of life breathed into us by God, through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
II. 
 
 THE WOED OF LIFE. 
 
 EXPOSITION. 
 
 VEE. I . — That which was from the Beginning. We have 
 here an mtroductiou to the Epistle, consistmg of the 
 first four verses. The Apostle explains (i) what his 
 intention is, to declare the truth concerning the Word of 
 Life. He further insists (2) on his qualifications for so 
 doing. He had " heard," had " seen with his eyes," had 
 " looked upon," and his " hands had handled " that which 
 he proposed to proclaim to them. Then (3) he states 
 what is his oljcct in making this proclamation. It was 
 that they might share in the blessings which he and 
 other believers in Christ possessed, namely, fellowship 
 (see this word explained below) with the Father and 
 with His Son Jesus Christ. A further result he 
 mentions in ver. 4 — the joy resulting from so precious 
 a possession. Before we proceed to explain the words at 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 I. The Word of Life the Centre of the Gospel, i. Intro- 
 duction. The nature of the Epistle. Addressed to no particular 
 Church. A Catholic Epistle, as it is called, addressed generally to 
 any one into whose hands it may fall. Designed specially to meet 
 the needs of Asia Minor at that period ; but cast into such a form, by 
 the help of the Holy Spirit, that it has satisfied the needs of Chris- 
 tians ever since. No one can read the Epistle and doubt that here 
 
THE WORD OF LIFE. 9 
 
 the head of this paragraph, it may be well to explain the 
 form of the introduction. The second verse is parenthetical 
 and explanatory. It contains a more direct mention ( i ) 
 of what is meant by the words Word of Life, and (2) 
 of the fact that the Apostle was "U'riting from personal 
 observation of that on which he wrote. The next 
 point to which our attention must be directed is, the 
 reason for the neuter gender here. We have not o? but 
 o, not Who, but that or what. The explanation must be 
 found in the word irepi The Apostle desires to declare 
 what he knows to be true, what he has heard and seen, 
 concerning the Word of Life. Afford explains the form 
 of the sentence as depending loosely upon the rest of 
 the sentence, strictly on aKtjKoajueu. Perhaps it would 
 be more true to say that the sentence will not bear strict 
 grammatical analysis, though its scope and meaning is 
 clear enough. St. John desires to bear testimony con- 
 cerning the Logos ; concerning His eternal essence and 
 His manifestation in the Person of the Man Christ Jesus. 
 This- is the interpretation of Ebrard and Haupt (whose 
 thoughtful commentary will be often referred to in these 
 pages) as well as of Calvin, Beza, and Diisterdieck. 
 Why does the Apostle, it may be asked, say that he 
 declares something about the Logos, and not the Logos 
 Himself ? Simply, it may be replied, because the latter 
 is just what he does oiof do. In the Gospel he declares 
 to us the Logos Himself. In the Epistle, though the Logos 
 
 he has tlie essentials of the faith of Christ. And liow is it that the 
 Epistle is Catholic in this sense, that it meets the needs of all classes 
 of men, for all time? This leads us to — 
 
 2. It is the revelation (a) of a Person, {b) of a Life, (a) Of a Person. 
 This person is the Logos, or Word of God (cf. St. John i. 1-14). The 
 term Word is insufficient to express St. John's meaning. Logos 
 signifies (i ) reason, (2) discourse. The Word subsisted from all eternity 
 as the eternal mind or reason in the bosom of the Father (John i. i, 
 
lO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 is the subject-matter of the whole work, yet it is not 
 strictly the personal Logos whom he sets forth, but the 
 doctrine concerning Him which he knows to be true. 
 We now proceed to observe what it is that he so delivers. 
 First of all, he delivers the truth of the eternal existence 
 of Him of whom he is speaking. He proclaims " what 
 was from the beginning " concerning Him. We have 
 here not eyevero but ^v. That these words are not 
 identical is shown by a comparison of St. John i. 1,2, 
 with 3, 10, 14. The former word refers to things which 
 have a beginning ; the latter implies continued existence. 
 He was existing at the beginning, we learn from St. 
 John i. I. He was existing from the beginning, we 
 learn here. Not that at any particular time He began 
 to be. No, at any particular time, whenever it might 
 be, He was. But the Apostle here says, We declare to 
 you what was the fact about Him from the beginning, 
 a phrase which does not necessarily imply what the 
 Gospel plainly asserts, that He was from all eternity. 
 We next proceed to inquire the meaning of the word 
 Beginning. In St. John i. i the phrase is equivalent to 
 the Hebrew /T'^J^lill. Hence it means the very first 
 starting-point of all creation (Ebrard would make the ap-)(ij 
 anterior to all creation) — the primeval moment when 
 the idea of self-impartation which dwelt in the Divine 
 Mind from all eternity became a realised fact. This is 
 a more satisfactory meaning than Haupt's alternative 
 
 2, iS ; xiv. 10, 20 ; Col. i. 15 ; Heb. i. 3). His first revelation of the 
 Father — He thus becoming the spokoiViord — was in the act of creation 
 (John i. 3 ; I Cor. viii. 6 ; Eph. iii. 9 ; Col. i. 16 ; Heb. i. 2, ii. 10). 
 His last was in the Disjjensation of Restitution, whereby He imparted 
 His Spirit to man to breathe into him the Divine Life. None but a 
 Divine person possessing God's attribute of Omnipotence could save 
 mankind from the condition into Avhicli they were fallen : for (a) He 
 bad to fulfil for man the ideal of perfection he was designed to attain ; 
 
THE WORD OF LIFE. II 
 
 suggestion that it may uieau " the starting-point of 
 human thought in its way over the creaturely universe." 
 The Epistle does not, we must not fail to observe, here 
 rise to the height of the Gospel. There the eternal 
 pre-existence of the Logos is stated in the clearest 
 possible form. St. John contents himself here with the 
 simple statement that he desires to speak of His exist- 
 ence from the beginning, to represent Him as having been 
 concerned with life and its manifestations throughout all 
 time. Whatever may be the reason for this comparatively 
 meagre statement of the doctrine of the Logos (and it 
 may simply be a desire to avoid repetition) we are not 
 to suppose, with the sceptical school, that the apotheosis 
 of Jesus Christ was the result of an afterthought, the 
 fruit of a long brooding on the beauty and majesty of 
 the character of Jesus, which at last found form in the 
 fourth Gospel. We find as clear statements of the 
 doctrine in Col. i. 1 5 and Heb. i. 3, 8. St. John was 
 here concerned with the Life that was manifested in 
 Jesus rather than with His Person. When the time 
 came for him to speak of His Person, he states in all its 
 fulness the doctrine he did but dimly indicate before. 
 St. John viii. 44, which may be compared with this 
 passage, does not disprove the view taken above. The 
 devil was " a murderer " from the beginning, i.e., from 
 the time when he began to be (cf. also ch. iL 13, 14). — 
 which we have heard. •' What we have heard, seen, gazed 
 
 and (/3) He had to translate man from the region of infirmity and failure 
 into that of hope and perfectibility. And this He did by making him 
 partaker of the Divine (cf. ^et'as Koivwvoi (pvaeus, 2 Pet. 1. 4). In that 
 Divine Person, in the possession of His nature alone, can we escape 
 the sins and infirmities to which our flesh is heir — can we reach that 
 glorious purity and perfection which He alone has rendered or can 
 render possible for us. In ourselves we can but be sinners evermore 
 (W, B. Pope). In Him we are delivered from sin's guilt, from sin's 
 
12 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST, JOHN. 
 
 upon, handled, is a rising gradation," says Braune in 
 "Lange's Commentary." "That which has thus its 
 essence in the eternities has become, to the Apostle and 
 his fellow-apostles, the object of personal and most 
 interior experience " (Haupt). Personal, in that they 
 heard His voice, saw Him with their eyes, touched -Him 
 with their hands. Interior, in that what they heard 
 penetrated their souls, and in that the act of perception 
 involved in eOeaa-djueOa perhaps involves more than mere 
 bodily vision (see below). We of course refers to the 
 body of believers, and especially to the " witnesses chosen 
 before of God." So St. Paul, who sometimes speaks of 
 himself personally, more frequently merges his person- 
 ality in that of the body of men who were engaged in 
 disseminating the Gospel. See 2 Cor. i. 13—20, where 
 he alternately uses the singular or the plural, according 
 as he is speaking of himself personally, or of himself as 
 a minister of Christ. Also the second chapter of that 
 Epistle, where the first person is steadily maintained till 
 the fourteenth verse, where the individual is lost in the 
 messenger of Christ. So St. John here speaks of no 
 individual experience, but, as he explains in verse 3, of 
 an experience common to all believers in Christ. — which 
 we have seen with our eyes. St. John's Epistles and 
 Gospel, we are told ad nauseam by literary sceptics (in 
 the Nineteenth Century for August 1880 this statement 
 was repeated with as much confidence as if scholars like 
 
 dominion ; in Him we become -what by nature "\ve are not, "perfect," 
 though only " perfect in Christ Jesus." 
 
 (6) Of a life, (i) We all know that example is better than precept. 
 We may tell people how to do things for ever, and they will hardly 
 understand ; but let us once sliow them, and all becomes clear. So 
 Jesus Christ did not merely preach to men ; He lived the life they 
 were to live, and thus they learned to live it also. But (2) it was not only 
 a life, but the life, or life—i\\Q only true or genuine life. Our life apart 
 
THE WORD OF LIFE. 1 3 
 
 Bisliop Lightfoot, Drs. Westcott and Sanday had not 
 lately given this theory the coup de grace), are forgeries 
 of the second century by men alien to the Jewish school 
 of thought. The fact is that this Epistle, as well as the 
 Gospel (see also my "Doctrinal System of St. John," 
 Appendix iv. p. 272, sq^ci.), literally teems with Hebraisms. 
 Such is the form of expression found here, which, con- 
 tinually as we meet it in the Old Testament, does not 
 occur elsewhere in the New. This appeal to personal 
 vision of the Lord is insisted upon in the most emphatic 
 manner by all the apostles. (See Acts iv. 20, xxii. 15.) 
 And we may infer from i Cor. ix. i, that the absence of 
 such a credential of his ministry was sometimes objected 
 against St. Paul. (See also i Cor. xv. 8 ; and cf. John 
 XX. 8, xxi. 24.) — whicli we have looked upon. " These 
 four members of the sentence form a ladder of three 
 steps " (Ebrard), " a thoroughly fitting climax." The 
 tense is here altered. "Eov is this altogether without 
 meaning. We perhaps may not press in Alexandrian 
 Greek the strict classical force of the tenses (see an able 
 article in the Expositor by the Dean of Peterborough on 
 this point), though on the other hand we can hardly 
 regard the aorist as the precise equivalent of the perfect. 
 A glance at the Hebrew language may explain in what 
 sense these tenses were to be used. That language had 
 two tenses, a perfect and an imperfect, and the Ibrmer is 
 used of absolutely completed action, while of uncompleted 
 
 from God is but a living death — the death first of the spirit, tlieu of 
 the soul, then of the body, so that the nobler part of man first decays, 
 and then the humbler. The only true life is the life of God. And 
 Jesus Christ was the Word who spake that life to us — told us what it 
 was. And as a word once spoken abides in him to whom it is spoken 
 so Christ's revelation of life is an eternal inward psssession to him who 
 has heard it with the ears of faith. And thus we come to — 
 
 3. It is not a life external to us, hut communicated to us. Some 
 
14 THE rmST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 action, whether in the past or future, the imperfect was 
 used. In Greek the writer, accustomed to the Hebrew 
 idiom, had a wider choice of tenses, but his Hebrew 
 instincts did not altogether fail him. Thus the perfect 
 is used still of an action which has passed over into the 
 region of things completed and done with. The aorist 
 is used of things which, though now past, extended over 
 an indefinite period of considerable length. Thus their 
 eyes had seen Jesus Christ. That was a completed fact, 
 whether they had seen Him once or a thousand times. 
 But in what follows the reference is to repeated action. 
 They saw Him again and again. They gazed upon Him. 
 They filled their souls with His fulness. They saw Him 
 in various circumstances and under various conditions. 
 They saw Him in hunger and thirst and weariness. 
 They also saw Him in the plenitude of His Divine 
 Power, as the worker of miracles, the controller of things 
 seen and things unseen. They saw Him fainting and 
 dying on the Cross. They also saw Him transfigured 
 before His Passion, risen and ascending after it. Thus 
 the tense as well as the meaning of the verb Oeao/xai — 
 which, if it does not strictly (with Haupt after Theo- 
 phylact and QEcumenius) imply wonder or astonish- 
 ment, has at least the sense of beholding with interest 
 and attention, as in Matt. vi. i, xxii. ii ; John i. 14, 
 32 — can hardly be held to exclude a certain idea of 
 mental and spiritual vision, the result of the long con- 
 would have us believe that all Christ did for us Avas to set us an 
 example. This is the Socinian theory. So far as it is true we gladly 
 accept it. But the poet Avarns us that " a truth -which is half a truth 
 is the greatest lie of all." And Socinianism lands us in one of the 
 most dangerous of half-truths. We must not forget that the New 
 Testament does not fail to proclaim with the utmost emphasis, that 
 the life of Christ is not merely an example offered to us, but a principle 
 imi)lanted in us. Our version of the Bible obscures our view of tliis 
 
THE WOED OF LIFE. 1 5 
 
 templation of His visible Presence on earth. (See, for 
 use of the aorist in this sense, John xvii. 4, 6.) — wMcli 
 our hands have handled. One of the minute touches 
 which are evidences of authorship is to be found 
 here. No one could have been a witness of the scene 
 between our Lord and St. Thomas without having the 
 whole event indelibly impressed upon his mind. So 
 here we have a striking reference to that scene ; but not 
 to that scene only. In St. Luke xxiv. 39 our Lord 
 invites the disciples to " handle " Him, using the same 
 word that is used here. See also the LXX. in Gen. 
 xxvii. 12, 22. Often must the hands of the disciples 
 have touched the sacred Body of their Lord. And it is 
 to this repeated action, no doubt, that the aorist refers. — 
 of the Word of Life. St. John, as has already been stated, 
 in his Gospel and Epistle, and in the Apocalypse, is the 
 only one who speaks of Jesus Christ by this term. This 
 fact is itself of extreme significance as implying the 
 common authorship of all three. Of the history and 
 meaning of the expression little can be said here. Those 
 who wish to study it fully will find it discussed in the 
 Prolegomena of almost every writer who treats at any 
 length on the Gospel of St. John. Such books as 
 Neander's " History of the Christian Church " and his 
 " Planting of Christianity " contain much useful informa- 
 tion. Dorner, in his " Person of Christ," treats on the 
 subject, and in Canon Liddon's " Bampton Lectures " it 
 
 truth sometimes by rendering (as in Rom. vi. 23) the Greek ev by the 
 English through. In the Epistle, however, as in the Gospel, the more 
 accurate rendering in is maintained. In the Gospel we find this truth 
 enunciated throughout, but especially in chapters vi., xv., xvii. We 
 find it in the Epistle from ch. ii. 24 onward, with ever-increasing 
 definiteness (cf. ch. iv. 4, 15, 16 ; v. 11, 12, 20). Nor is it absent from 
 our own version of St. Paul's Epistles. (See Eph. i. 23, v. 30 ; Col. 
 i. 27, iii. 3). 
 
1 6 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 is elucidated with learning and eloquence combined. I 
 have given a short sketch of the history of the expression 
 in the " Doctrinal System of St. John," Part i. ch. ii. 
 As regards its meaning, it would seem to be the only 
 expression which could embody what it was St. John's 
 desire to convey. For the word Logos signifies both 
 thought itself and the expression of thought. It is 
 both reason and discourse. Thus therefore it involves 
 in itself the two ideas which theologians learned to 
 express by the terms \6yo^ epStaOeTos and \6y09 
 TrpocpopiKo^, that is to say, the Son as He subsists in 
 the bosom of the Father, and as He streams forth thence 
 to impart Him in creation, and to reveal Him to those 
 who do not yet perceive Him as they ought. (See Suicer, 
 Thesaurus, s. v. Aoyo?.) And we have here not merely 
 the remarkable term Logos — referring to the twofold 
 aspect of the Logos as being Himself very and Eternal 
 God, and the means whereby the Divine Essence imparts 
 itself (no words are adequate to explain or even to ex- 
 press this mystery) beyond itself — but the words " Logos 
 of Life." We must not forget that we are here dealing 
 with Hebraistic Greek. Commentators like Alford, in 
 protesting against the " miserable hendiadys," have for- 
 gotten that the genitive in Hebrew is more intimately 
 associated with the noun on which it depends, as quali- 
 fying its meaning, than in Greek or any modern language. 
 It usually stands in the place of the adjective, for there 
 
 4. It is communicated to us hy certain vieans. The one primary 
 means is faith, without whicli all other means are useless. Faith is 
 the medium Avhereby we place ourselves en rapport with the celestial 
 impulse. Faith is the electric wire which connects heaven with earth, 
 and makes our lives sensitive and responsive to influences from above. 
 Without faith, what are known as the means of grace are like the 
 apparatus of the telegraph Avheu the electric current is absent — mere 
 dead, lifeless machinery. Yet without these means the electric ciuTent 
 
THE WORD OF LIFE. 17 
 
 are comparatively few adjectives in Hebrew. If, there- 
 fore, the expression the " Logos of Life " be not the pre- 
 cise equivalent of " the living Logos " (as Grotius, De 
 Wette, and Ewald interpret), it must mean the Logos 
 whose chief function it is to impart life, the Logos 
 between whom and life there exists a peculiar and 
 inseparable relation. This is the leading idea of St. 
 John's Gospel. Life was the essential principle of the 
 Logos (John i. 4). It was to give life that Christ 
 "came (ch. x. 10), to give life to His sheep (ch. x. 28). 
 He gave it to whom He willed (ch. v. 21); for He was 
 Himself the Life (ch. xi. 25, xiv. 6), The phrase "the 
 Logos of Life," as signifying His impartation of life, is 
 compared by Alford and Haupt with the phrase, the 
 " Bread of Life," in John vi., where the genitive clearly 
 means the bread which possesses the property of giving 
 life. It is not, as we have seen, with the Person of the 
 Logos that St. John is here concerned, except so far as 
 it is connected with the life which is the subject of his 
 whole Epistle. 
 
 Vek. 2. — For the life was manifested. This verse is 
 parenthetical, as is at once seen by those familiar with 
 the Hebrew construction, in which dependent sentences 
 are frequently introduced by the simple copulative. The 
 /cat here, therefore, is not altogether incorrectly rendered 
 in our version by for. St. John now explains what he 
 
 ■would be wasted, would not be able to make itself felt. And so, 
 without the means Christ has blest, faith itself would fail to exert its 
 influence. And these means are threefold, prayer, sacraments, and 
 the study of God's oracles. 
 
 5. It issues in actions consonant to the unll of God. We need not 
 enter into the endless controversy concerning faith and works, but 
 simply state that if what we call faith do not produce results in con- 
 formity with Him in whom we believe, it is not faith at all. The life 
 of Christ, if it dwell in us, must show its presence by behiff the life of 
 
 B 
 
1 8 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 means by the allusions in the last verse to seeing and 
 hearing about the Word of Life. We have seen and 
 heard about it, because it was manifested in the Person 
 of Jesus Christ. It was manifested primarily in His 
 earthly life and conversation ; but secondly and chiefly 
 by the incontrovertible proof given that He was the 
 Word of Life by His Eesurrection from the dead. It is 
 not said that the life became flesh (Haupt), for life was 
 not the Logos or Divine Person, but simply one of His 
 attributes. But through the incarnation of the Logos it ' 
 was (John i. 1 4) that men were able to discern the glory 
 of the life that He gave. We may observe, by comparing 
 John i. 4 with this chapter, how closely the train of 
 thought here is connected with that of the Gospel. Light 
 is an attribute of life, as life of the Logos. And the 
 result of the life is the enlightenment of the conscience, 
 as we see in a later portion of this chapter. Bishop 
 Wordsworth remarks on the similar expression relating 
 to the incarnation in i Tim. iii. 16. — and we have seen 
 it, and bear witness and shew unto you. The word it should 
 not be inserted. All three verbs are closely connected 
 with the words that eternal life. There is a threefold 
 gradation here. First the Apostle sees the life himself ; 
 then he bears general testimony to it wheresoever he 
 goes ; lastly he declares it specially to those to whom 
 the Epistle is addressed. These words ixaprvpew, 
 
 Christ in us ; if not, there is no life of Christ dwelling in us. Its free 
 course ■will no doubt be Idndered by the antagonistic influences of our 
 lower nature ; but if it be in us it must be destroying those hindrances 
 and bringing us every day nearer to what Christ is. Thus, then, we 
 look for the evidence of Christ's presence in the heart to the signs of 
 His directing and controlling influence producing a likeness to Him in 
 thoughts, opinions, actions, motives, character. This is the only 
 result that can be produced by a true faith in the Word of Life. 
 II. The believer must have experimental proof of the 
 
THE WORD OF LIFE. 1 9 
 
 fxaprvpia, are eminently characteristic of all St. John's 
 writings, as the most cursory perusal will show. They 
 occur more often in his writings than in the whole of 
 the rest of the New Testament. We may compare John 
 xxi. 24 with Eev. xxii. 20. (See also Eev. i. 2, 9, vi. 
 9, xi. 7, xii. II, &c., and compare with the Gospel 
 passion and with ch. v. 9— 1 1 of this Epistle.) The 
 word sheiv is frequently used to translate the derivatives 
 of ayyeXXo) (as in i Cor. xi. 25), but the more correct 
 translation would be declare. Shew, however, had this 
 meaning when our version was made, as, for instance, 
 " Shew these things unto James and to the brethren " 
 (Acts xii. 1 7). — that eternal life. More literally, perhaps, 
 the life tvJiich is eternal — the life whose principal attribute 
 it is to be eternal, or ratlier ever-being, the word aicono? 
 denoting not so much the endlessness of life as its 
 stability, its fixedness, its vastness from every point of 
 view, that of endurance and every other, its unchange- 
 ableness as contrasted with the shifting conditions of 
 everything in time. — which was with the Father, — literally, 
 which existed towards the Father. It is impossible to give 
 the force of the preposition in English. The verb signi- 
 fies, as we have seen above, continued existence ; but 
 the use of Trpog here, which is distinct from Trapd or 
 crvv, contains a great meaning in itself. It has been 
 rightly held to imply a distinction of Persons in the 
 
 TRUTH OF THE GoSPEL. St. John speaks of what he has heard and seen 
 and his hands have handled. Is there no such possibility for us ? Has 
 the believer of later times no evidence to which he can personally 
 appeal before he proclaims to others that communion with God that 
 he himself enjoys ? Far from it. The experience of every one who 
 has striven to serve Christ wUl supply liim with abundance of argu- 
 ment. 
 
 I. There is what we have heard. "We have heard with our ears, 
 Lord, aud our fathers have told us, what Thou hast done in their 
 
20 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Trinity ; but it also casts light upon the mutual relations 
 of those Persons. It not only means (as Bishop Words- 
 worth in loc), " united to the Father and ever abiding in 
 and with Him." It involves the truth that " the Face of 
 the Everlasting Word, if we may dare to so express our- 
 selves, was ever directed towards the Face of the Ever- 
 lasting Father" (Liddon, " Bampton Lectures," v. p. 342). 
 It indicates " the significant fact of perpetual intercommu- 
 nion " (lb.) It teaches the truth of a " perpetual turning 
 to Him " (Haupt). In fact, it sums up in one striking 
 and pregnant word the whole teaching of John xvii. 
 See John i. i , and note the fact that the use of this pre- 
 position in each, in this particular connection, is sufficient 
 to establish the common authorship of the two books, 
 since St. John himself often uses Trapd (see ch. vi. 46, xvii. 
 5). — and was manifested to us — in order to bring man- 
 kind within the sphere of that Eternal Unity and Love. 
 Ver. 3. — That which we have seen and heard declare we 
 unto you. It is one of the shortcomings of our version 
 that it renders the same Greek word by different English 
 ones, sometimes without adequate cause, and thus fre- 
 quently obscures the sense. This is the case here. The 
 word here translated declare is the same as that trans- 
 lated sJiew in the last verse. The Apostle, in a different 
 manner to St, Paul, but with the same intent, resumes 
 the main current of thought, yet at the same time in- 
 
 time of old." Under this head the whole of the treasures of liistory 
 and biography are open to us, and the treasures of illustration regarding 
 what the Word of Life has done for others are practically infinite. 
 
 2. Tliere is what we have seen, what Ave know from our own 
 experience. 
 
 3. Our hands have handled the Word of Life. The contact is no 
 longer physical but spiritual, but contact there is. We lay hold of 
 Christ Avith the hands of faith. In prayer, in praise, in meditation, in 
 spiritual communion with Him in the Sacrament of His love, we feel 
 
THE WOED OF LIFE. 21 
 
 eluding the subsidiary idea introduced in his parenthesis. 
 Many of the old MSS. read /cm after a-TrayyeWofxev, 
 declare tve also unto you, not, as Alford would suppose, 
 that the Epistle was addressed to any special circle of 
 readers, but that St. John felt himself impelled by a 
 necessity not to keep to himself what he had seen and 
 heard, but to declare it to others also (cf. Acts iv. 20). 
 The position of Kal in the sentence is explained by the 
 fact that if it had been placed before the verb it v/ould 
 have been the simple copula. Or we may hold with 
 Haupt, "that the first Kal" (the one of which we are 
 now speaking) implies " the community of the announce- 
 ment" as the second, that before i^yue??, " implies the com- 
 munity and equality of the Uessing which should be the 
 fruit of the announcement." — that ye also may have 
 fellowship with us. The invariable object of all true 
 Christians is to communicate to others the blessings 
 they possess. This was the Divine object in creation ; 
 this is the object of Jesus in redemption; this is the one 
 unfailing characteristic of the true disciple of Christ, as 
 contrasted with mere external professors of His religion. 
 The word fellowsMp or communion (it is a pity it is 
 translated by two different words, and the verb formed 
 from it yet more loosely, e.g., Eom. xii. 13, xv. 27) is 
 one of the most important words in the New Testament. 
 It is therefore essential that it should be fully under- 
 
 Him near us.^ "We stretch lame hands of faith and grope," and we 
 hear His voice bidding us put our finger into the print of the nails, and 
 to thrust our hand into His side, and not be faithless, but believing. 
 Thus in many ways we 
 
 " ' scan His features well ; ' 
 And know Him for the Christ by proof — 
 
 Such proof as they are sure to find 
 Who spend with Him their happy days." — Keble, Christian Tear. 
 
 1 " Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face ; 
 
 Here would I touch and handle things unseen." — If. Bonar. 
 
22 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 stood. Some have asserted that it is confined in the 
 New Testament to communion with God ; but this, as 
 Haupt remarks, is refuted by Acts ii. 42. What is 
 meant by it is the common possession of anything by 
 various persons. Aristotle (" Ethics," iv. 8) uses it as 
 almost equivalent to interchange. St. John here states 
 that he declares what he has seen and heard to those 
 whom he is addressing that it may henceforth be a 
 common possession between him and them. The use of 
 ixera rather than avv here implies that this common 
 possession is placed as it were hetween those who share 
 it ; and does not involve here the idea of combination 
 or conjunction, which is, however, inseparable from the 
 idea of a common life, but rather that of equality in the 
 possession. — and truly our fellowship. Our version is 
 here strictly accurate in its rendering of Kal Se. Words- 
 worth paraphrases by and, remember. The word our is 
 emphatic, and may either refer to the apostles and 
 ministers of the Word or to the whole Christian com- 
 munity. Ebrard explains, " The communion in which 
 we already stand, and into which we desire to introduce 
 you."^ — is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 
 Here the same preposition is iised, and suggests the 
 amazing condescension of the Father and the Son in 
 putting us in a way on a level with themselves, in 
 condescending to share with us their privileges. The 
 
 III. What we know ourselves we must impart to others. 
 "What we have seen and heard declare we unto you," says St. John. 
 Here we learn two truths — 
 
 I. The Word of Life is free and expansive. The word spoken must 
 be for others to hear. It were useless to speak it otherwise. Therefore 
 the Word of God must be spoken, must be the revelation of God, that 
 is, to all to whoni He has given ears to hear it, to all mankind. It is 
 its essential character to be diffused and diffusing. If it be in us at 
 all, it cannot be kept within our own hearts. It must burn, it must 
 
THE WORD OF LIFE. 23 
 
 double repetition of fxerd, as Alford reminds us, declares 
 the eternal distinction of person between the Father and 
 the Son, their association together here, the equality of 
 their Divine Essence. He goes on to ask why the Holy 
 Spirit is not here mentioned. But he does not give, we 
 venture to think, the right reply, which is, that this 
 would be to anticipate the teaching concerning the Spirit, 
 which is introduced in ch. iii. 24 (cf. John xvii. 2 1 and ch. 
 ii. 24). The doctrine here laid down, or rather indicated 
 — it is not taught explicitly till ch. v. 1 1 — is the central 
 doctrine of the Gospel, which is the source whence the 
 morality of the three Synoptic Gospels is derived, which 
 permeates all the Epistles, which flows from the lips of 
 Jesus Christ Himself, as St. John tells us in his Gospel, 
 and especially in ch. xvii. God is pleased to communi- 
 cate to us, through His Son and by His Spirit, His own 
 life. This He did in a degree by creation. But He has 
 now been pleased through a second creation, the Incarna- 
 tion of Jesus Christ, to impart to us that life in a far 
 higher degree of perfection ; so that, in a moral and 
 spiritual sense that was not true before Christ came, we 
 are partakers of the life that dwells in the Father and 
 in His Son Jesus Christ. 
 
 Ver. 4. — And these things write we unto you. The we 
 here relates to the Apostle as one of a body, and that 
 body composed of the ministers of Christ. He does not 
 
 struggle to communicate itself to others. AVe cannot rest satisfied 
 without endeavouring, according to our circumstances and opportu- 
 nities, to bring others to the knowledge of Avhat we know ourselves. 
 If there be no such ardent feeling, we have not yet appropriated the 
 Word of Life by faith. If we have, we must in our measure feel wnth 
 St. Paul that * ' necessity is laid upon us, yea, woe unto us if we preach 
 not the Gospel." Our call is in various ways. Some have the humbler 
 task of aiding relations and friends to live the new life. Some have a 
 wider influence over scholars, or workmen, or dependents. Some as 
 
24 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 stand alone, either in the life which he shares with the 
 Father and the Son, or in the message he delivers, which 
 was entrusted by Jesus Christ to no one individual, but 
 to His Church. Alford reads here rjixel^ for vij.lv, and rj/xwv 
 for viJLcov in the second member of the sentence. The rule 
 that the harder reading should be preferred is no doubt, 
 on the whole, a sound one ; but to apply it universally 
 would lead to serious mistakes. The mistake of a careless 
 copyist, reading H for Y and the like, would force us to rob 
 a passage like this of all its meaning. Thus what force 
 has the emphatic ^^te?? here, where St. John is not 
 drawing a contrast between himself and some one else ? 
 And why should he write in order to fulfil his oivn joy, 
 when, as we have seen in the last verse, his object was 
 to impart to others what he himself enjoyed ? The sub- 
 stitution of rjixe'i(s and rjfxwv for vijiiv and vixwv is a common 
 one, and easily made — more easily made still if, as is 
 not improbable, the scribe were writing from dictation. 
 We should, therefore, hesitate to sanction an alteration 
 which, though it has high MS. authority, seems unsup- 
 ported by the still higher authority of the earlier versions, 
 and certainly renders a much worse sense. A similar 
 difficulty occurs in 2 Cor. vii. 12, where some editors 
 read, " That yoitr care for us might appear unto you." ^ 
 
 1 This note has been printed as originally written. The great authority 
 of Professor Westcott has declared in favour of the reading rejected, but 
 
 persons of education and position have a wider sphere still. Some 
 undertake the special care of the young, or the evangelisation of the 
 wicked and degraded, or the reclaiming of the fallen. Some, again, are 
 ministers of Christ, some His messengers to the heathen. But all in 
 their appointed place must impart to others the knowledge they have 
 received. But — 
 
 2. We cannot speah of what we have never known. If the life and 
 peace of the Gospel, the sense of being reconciled to God and in His 
 favour, the sense of a power within us which is superior to sin, be 
 
THE WOED OF LIFE. 25 
 
 that your joy may be full. It is impossible to render 
 this passage otherwise, unless, perhaps, we substitute 
 fulfilled, as a more emphatic term, iox full. Yet the use 
 of the perfect participle in Greek gives a sense which 
 nothing but a paraphrase can convey. The Collect in 
 the Morning service of the Church of England says, 
 " In whose service is perfect freedom." It is some such 
 idea as this that the words at the head of this note 
 convey in the original. In the knowledge of God's 
 truth there is fulness of joy. Hitherto the joy of those 
 to whom St, John writes had not been " full," because, 
 as the Epistle throughout implies, they had as yet been 
 but partially instructed in the Gospel. But when they 
 had fully learned the truth " as it is in Jesus," the result 
 would be a joy perfected and fulfilled, as of men living 
 from henceforth in the full possession of Him, " in whose 
 presence is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand there 
 are pleasures for evermore" (Ps. xvi. 11). It will be 
 observed that St. John goes on to explain in the next 
 verse how their joy will attain this condition of perfect 
 fulness. It is through the truth, briefly enunciated 
 there, and then pursued in detail up to ch. ii. 11, that 
 
 with tlie admis-sion that "the confusion of 7]fi,- with in- in the MSS. is so 
 constant that a positive decision is impossible." Internal evidence is 
 strong (see last verse) in favour of vixCiv. But V^'s is very probably the 
 true reading. " These things we wi'ite, that your joy may be fulfilled." 
 
 absent, how can we take upon ourselves to proclaim Christ at all ? 
 Better be eternally silent than to speak what we do not know to be 
 true, ^ye must have heard Him and seen Him, and our hands must 
 have handled Him, before we can communicate Him to others. What 
 sin and shame, then, were it to undertake the solemn duty of teaching 
 the young the truths of religion, the proclaiming Him from a Christian 
 pulpit, from any other motive than our personal knowledge of Him as 
 a living God, a Word of Life ! A mere theoretical acquaintance Avith 
 Christian doctrine, a familiarity with the Bible, an intellectual know- 
 
26 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 God is absolute light, in the fullest sense of tlie term. 
 In the Gospel St. John wavers between the aor. and the 
 perf. in this phrase (cf. ch. iii. 29, xvi. 24, with xv. 
 11). In the two former passages it signifies the perfec- 
 tion, in the latter (see the view maintained of the aorist 
 above) the abiding nature of the joy. Joy (Gal. v. 22) 
 is one of the necessary fruits of the Spirit. St. Paul's 
 writings are as full of it as St, John's. And this may 
 well be, as it formed a considerable part of the Saviour's 
 message, as of its foreshadowing in the prophets. And 
 how should it be otherwise ? How should the inestimable 
 blessing that our sins are covered and not imputed to us, 
 that there is henceforth no condemnation for us, that we 
 are accepted in the beloved, be any other than a fount 
 of joy ? It is wonderful that the religion of Christ 
 should ever have been allied with sourness, gloominess, 
 or austerity. Such an alliance can only have been due 
 to a remarkable perversion of its nature. For the Chris- 
 tian should have joy within as a consequence of the 
 reconciliation with God in Christ Jesus ; joy without in 
 consequence of that reconciliation ; joy in the external 
 universe, because it, too, has been sanctified through 
 Christ ; joy in science and philosophy and literature and 
 art (so far as these last are pure), because all these are 
 various phases of the revelation of God. An inner fount 
 
 ledge of the deep things of theology, will not satisfy souls hungering 
 for the Bread of Life. 
 
 IV. Joy is the result of the proclamation of the Gospel. 
 The knowledge of Christ must needs produce a heavenly joy ; for it is 
 the knowledge (i) of the forgiveness of our sins, original and actual, 
 (2) of our reconciliation to God, (3) of the power which enables us to 
 tread sin and Satan under foot ; (4) it is the knowledge of a future life ; 
 .ind (5) it is the knowledge of Him "in whose presence is fulness of 
 joy, and at whose right hand there is pleasure for evermore." Thus 
 
THE WOED OF LIFE. 2*J 
 
 of joy, continually welling up from within, and over- 
 flowing to refresh all without who come within the 
 sphere of its influence — this should be the unfailing 
 effect of all genuine Christianity. 
 
 Before we leave the subject of this introductory portion 
 of the Gospel we should not fail to observe, with Braune, 
 on the close resemblance in form between this prologue 
 and that of the Gospel. Not only have we, as has been 
 observed, the use of the word Logos here, and the state- 
 ment that He subsists ttjOo? tov Traripa. Not only have 
 we the OLTT ap-)(^9 here as the correlative of the iv ap-)^ 
 there. But if here we have eOeaa-ajueOa, we find the same 
 word in John i. 14. If here the life €(pavepu)6r], and 
 God (ver. 5) is (pwg or Light, there we read that the 
 life was the light of men, and that the Light (patvei, in a 
 darkness which does not comprehend it. Here is proof 
 enough of common authorship. The similarity of thought 
 is evident enough, and yet there is no exact copy of the 
 phrases such as betrays the imitator. Bishop Words- 
 worth, we may remark before dismissing the subject, 
 leads us farther. He shows, from the style of the phrases 
 in this chapter (especially in ver. 5 and vers. 8-10), 
 that the writer was permeated with the style of the 
 Hebrew poetry. Perhaps this line of argument has been 
 carried too far, but the verses which have been quoted 
 
 joy is one of tlie fruits of the Spirit. Tlius the Saviour prophesies that 
 we shall rejoice in Him (John xv. 11, xvi. 20, 22). Thus his Apostle 
 Lids us "rejoice evermore" (i Thess. v. 16; cf. Phil. iv. 4). And 
 another Apostle bids us count it all joy when we fall into divers temp- 
 tations (James i. 2). Nothing was so characteristic of the first 
 Christians as the fulness of joy they ever carried about with them ; 
 not the noisy mirth which is " as the crackling of thorns under a pot," 
 but tlie serene, tranquil joy of a heart that is filled with His sweetness, 
 who is life for evermore. 
 
2 8 THE FIRST EPISTLE OE ST. JOHN. 
 
 have the true ring of the Hebrew parallelism in them. 
 We have thus strong presumptive evidence that the 
 writer was the person he represents himself to be, a Jew 
 familiar with the writings of his nation, and imbued with 
 their spirit. 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 III. 
 
 THE MESSAGK 
 
 EXPOSITION. 
 
 ''PHE introduction completed, which states (i) the 
 -*- subject, (2) the purpose of the Epistle, the Apostle 
 proceeds to unfold with greater fulness the message with 
 which he is charged. He then commences the explana- 
 tion of this message. Light and darkness, he explains, 
 are moral rather than intellectual qualities. The light is 
 not that of reason, but of holiness. The fellowship of 
 which he has spoken is consistent only with a life of 
 purity (ver. 6). That life of purity not only affects the 
 future, but the past ; for he who lives it obtains the 
 pardon of past sin through the blood of Christ (ver. 7). 
 It involves the consciousness of past sin, from which 
 none can be free (vers. 8, 10); and the acknowledgment 
 of this constitutes in the Christian a title to forgiveness 
 (ver. 9). 
 
 Ver. 5. — This, then, is the message. The received text 
 has promise {eTrayyekla), but as our version has translated 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ver. 5. — The Christian Message. We are to observe — 
 I. That it is a message, (i.) The philosophers of old, with some 
 noble exceptions, used their doctrine as a means of enriching them- 
 selves. Justin Martyr has left it on record how general this conduct 
 
30 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 message (ayyeXla) no obscurity has arisen from the 
 difference of reading. It will be observed how entirely 
 the Apostles of Christ, like His forerunner (Matt. iii. 1 1 ; 
 Mark i. 8; Luke iii. i6; John i. 20, 27, iii. 28, 30), 
 sunk their personality in that of their Master. No 
 desire for their own advantage animates them. Theirs is 
 a message concerning Another. The wisdom they preach 
 is not their own, but His that sent them. The kingdom 
 they come to found exalts Him above measure, but does 
 not exalt them in the least in a worldly sense. The only 
 pre-eminence they claim is a pre-eminence in labours 
 and sufferings (i Cor. iv. 9 ; 2 Cor. vi. 5, xi. 23-28). 
 This humility and unselfishness is a necessary charac- 
 teristic both of Christ's ministers and of His disciples. 
 " This " is rightly made emphatic in our version. The 
 Apostle desires to call special attention to the message. — 
 which we have heard of him. " Of Him " is the usual 
 expression in our version for " by Him." (Cf. " seen of 
 Cephas," I Cor. xv. 5.) Here it is equivalent to "from 
 Him," as in Gah 1. 12, iv. 4. The Greek shows that it 
 is not a message about Christ, but received /ro77i Christ. 
 Here again we see the exaltation of Christ. They could 
 not speak without His authority. Their highest teaching 
 was a message from Him. And this was quite con- 
 sistent, for they believed Him to be no mere messenger 
 sent from God, but the Word of God Himself, who had 
 subsisted in the bosom of the father from all eternity. 
 The only claim their doctrine had upon the attention of 
 
 •was in liis time. (2.) The teachers of the Christian Cliurch have at 
 various times regarded their position in a similar light. They have 
 (a) treated it as an avenue to preferment, power, and influence — have 
 sought to become temporal princes, to amass wealth, to stand high in 
 the favour of kings, to exercise temporal authority. Or (6) they have 
 sought to gain favour with their flocks by preaching such doctrine as 
 
THE MESSAGE. 3 1 
 
 those to whom it was delivered was this. It was no 
 evohition of their own reasoning faculties ; it was a 
 message from Eternal Wisdom itself. — and declare unto 
 you. Or rather, perhaps, " report we unto you " (Erasmus, 
 in his paraphrase, explains by renuncio). The distinction 
 is not of much importance, but the Greek is more vivid 
 than our version, and gives the idea of a message received 
 and transmitted. — that God is light, and in him is no dark- 
 ness at all. The form in which this sentence is cast is 
 essentially Hebraic ; compare, for instance, such a passage 
 as Judges viii. ii, 12. When a Hebrew desired to 
 attract special attention to what he said, he was accus- 
 tomed to repeat the words a second time in an altered 
 form. In fact, this passage, like all impassioned utter- 
 ances in the Hebrew Scriptures, presents the phenomenon 
 familiar to us in the parallelism of Hebrew poetry. So 
 utterly without foundation is the popular assertion, that 
 the writers of the works going by St. John's name were 
 evidently Ephesine Gentiles ! The most cursory exami- 
 nation of these writings proves them to be literally 
 saturated with Hebrew peculiarities. Proceed we to 
 unfold the meaning of this saying, and here we observe 
 (l) that this doctrine is a special characteristic of revealed 
 religion. It permeates the Old and ISTew Testament alike. 
 It appears only by inference in the Mosaic writings, 
 though light or fire was a continual concomitant of the 
 Divine appearances. But we meet it everywhere in the 
 Psalms. " In Thy light shall we see light " (Ps. xxxvi. 9) ; 
 
 was agreeable to them — softening down the unpalatable featiires of 
 the Gospel, doctrinal or practical, suppressing its testimony against 
 wrong-doing, concealing their own convictions when they knew they 
 would be unpopular, joining the cry against unpopular doctrines 
 because they knew it was expected of them — generally, like the false 
 prophets of old, giving in to the cry ever ready to be raised, "Speak 
 
32 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 "0 send out Thy light and Thy truth" (Ps. xliii. 3). 
 In the Book of Job we read, " enlightened with the light 
 of the living" (ch. xxxiii. 30; cf. ver. 28). Christ's 
 coming is to the prophets the coming of the light. " The 
 people that walked in darkness saw a great light" (Isa. 
 ix. 2). He bids men "arise, shine, for their light is 
 come" (ch. Ix. i). Here, too, we may see the prevalence 
 of Hebrew ideas in this alleged non-Judaic writer. And 
 the New Testament, written, as is admitted (perhaps with 
 the exception of St. Luke's Gospel), by Jews, furnishes 
 us with the same imagery in every one of its writers. 
 To take one instance out of many from St. Paul, we 
 may cite i Thess. v. 5 : " Ye are all the children of light, 
 and the children of day : we are not of the night, nor 
 of darkness." Nor can we omit to notice the passage 
 (i Tim. vi. 15) where God is said to "inhabit the 
 unapproachable light." St. James carries the idea still 
 farther. In speaking of God as the "Father of the 
 lights " {tu)v (pcoTcov) he must surely mean of all kinds of 
 light, physical, intellectual, moral, and thus in one deep 
 and pregnant sentence to include all the teaching we 
 have here. A no less striking passage is to be found in 
 St. Peter's First Epistle (ch. ii. 9), where he speaks of 
 men as being " called out of darkness unto God's mar- 
 vellous light." And all these are connected with, and 
 dependent on, Christ's own repeated declaration that He 
 was the light of the world (cf. also John i. 4). We may 
 observe here how we owe to St. John three pregnant 
 
 unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits." Or (c) they may make 
 it an opportunity of gaining renown for themselves by enunciating 
 startling paradoxes, dangerous novelties, opposed to the simplicity of 
 the Gospel, savouring of this world's wisdom, rather than the things 
 which the Holy Ghost teaches, like the teachers at Corinth. The 
 Christian preacher must be none of these. He must be sustained (and 
 
THE MESSAGE. 33 
 
 sentences, eacli summing up in the briefest possible form 
 some essential attribute of God: "God is Spirit" (John 
 iv. 24 ; not a Spirit, as in our version), " God is light," 
 and " God is love." ^ We next note (2) the glorious con- 
 ception which ive thus learn to form of God. Whether we 
 consider natural light in itself, or in its effects, it is the 
 grandest thing in nature. Nothing is purer, lovelier, 
 more beautiful, more brilliant in its essence. (See Dean 
 Alford's note here.) And when we come to consider it 
 in its effects, we are still more struck by its universality, 
 its power, its energy, as a type of Him from whom it 
 emanates. Without it knowledge, even life itself, would 
 be impossible. When we see the sun rising in his bright- 
 ness, and waking all nature into life and activity, w^e 
 seem to see an image of the glory of the Creator when 
 He called the worlds into being. When we reflect on 
 the threefold nature of light, its enlightening, its warming, 
 its chemical j)ow"ers, we are reminded of the Holy Trinity 
 — the unapproachable Light Himself, His Eternal re- 
 vealer, bringing light to earth and quickening by His 
 genial warmth the frozen hearts of men, and the Eternal 
 Spirit, dwelling in their hearts, and slowly bringing His 
 healing influences to bear upon their diseased souls. And 
 (as Braune remarks in bis Commentary) without light we 
 could not even think. We could not discern those dis- 
 tinctions of things without which thought is impossible. 
 
 ^ See Dr. "Westcott's Conimentary in loc. It may be necessary to add 
 that the words in the text stand as they were printed in 1881. 
 
 Ave may instance Edward Irving, whatever we may think of his eccen- 
 tricities, as a remarkable modern instance of a man of tliis character) 
 by a lofty conviction that he has a message to deliver from God. He 
 must seek conference with those who "were apostles before him," 
 "lest by any means he should run, or had run, in vain" — that is, he 
 must be careful to base his teaching on the Scriptures. But he must 
 
 C 
 
34 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 And thus physical light is the very source of intellectual 
 light, and upon it are based those triumphs of human 
 reason on which man is apt sometimes to vaunt himself. 
 But (3) we must not confine our conceptions of light to 
 intellectual illumination. The light of which revelation 
 spcahs is moral and spiritual. " John's speculation or 
 mysticism is so thoroughly ethical that he is solely con- 
 cerned with the practical working out of the truth, ' God 
 is light ' " (Braune, in Lange's Commentary). The ancient 
 Greeks thought of light as a quality of the reason simply, 
 and as being obtained through argument and discussion ; 
 and many a modern philosopher, when he speaks of 
 enlightenment, means such enlightenment as education 
 and scientific research have been able to attain. But the 
 Scriptiu'es have from the beginning regarded that as the 
 highest light which taught us the distinction between 
 right and wrong — which displayed us the Father of the 
 Lights upon His throne, enabled us to see Him — at least 
 in a measure — as He is, and to discern as right what is 
 in harmony with Him, and as wrong what is out of 
 harmony with Him. And of this much we may be sure, 
 that intellectual light without moral is darkness ; that 
 knowledge is profitless unless the heart that possesses it 
 is sanctified by the Presence of the Eternal, and that, 
 therefore, the light which above all others is most 
 necessary for us is that which we obtain in His Son 
 Jesus Christ. One final characteristic of light claims our 
 attention. It is one of its essential properties to com- 
 
 niake it his own by diligent prayer and study. Fully convinced that 
 in God's Holy Word the triitli is to be fonnd, he must saturate him- 
 self with its contents, and go forth and proclaim its message to the 
 world. 
 
 II. That it is to be declared to others. That (i) it must he 
 declared by God's ministers is an obvious truth, which requires no 
 
THE MESSAGE. 35 
 
 muuicate itself. It cannot remain self-enfolded. So in 
 the beginning God began the work of creation, of self- 
 impartation. And so for ever He gives Himself to His 
 creatures, creating, sustaining them, filling them with 
 Himself. This also cannot be neglected in the explana- 
 tion of a passage which, as Haupt remarks, is intended 
 to convey to us a conception of the Divine Essence. On 
 the other hand, we should not fail to observe that dark- 
 ness is the precise opposite of all this. It is the absence 
 of warmth, motion, life. It is the blackness of utter 
 nothingness. It is impossible even for misery to exist 
 in its chill embrace ; misery is but the premonitory 
 symptom of its approach. And therefore it is utterly 
 incompatible with the Being of Him, who is all joy and 
 warmth, boundless energy and unceasing love. And 
 once more, darkness is the opposite to light in its com- 
 municative property. Darkness cannot communicate 
 itself ; it has nothing to communicate. And so, though 
 evil example has in a sense a tendency to spread, yet 
 the children of darkness have in reality nothing to give, 
 or if they had, they would not give it. A cold, hard, 
 barren selfishness, which frets at another's good, and 
 rejoices only in his misfortune, is characteristic of the 
 kingdom of evil. It is the incarnation, if incarnation it 
 can be called, not of love, but of hate. 
 
 Ver. 6. — If we say that we have fellowship with him. 
 Eather, if we should say. St. John does not mean to 
 imply that it is likely that those he addresses would say 
 
 enforcement, at least theoretically, though practically some of them 
 fail to realise it in any but a purely formal sense. But (2) it is not so 
 generally accepted that upon every Christian lies this responsibility. 
 In choosing times and places, a spirit of prudence must be sought 
 from on high. That spirit of pride which assumes to itself the right to 
 question and to lecture everybody on matters of the deepest privacy 
 
36 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 this, though (see next note) it often was said. The 
 construction, as Alford reminds us, is continued as far as 
 ch. ii. I. For "fellowship" see note on ver. 3. Cf. also, 
 for the expression, ch. ii. 4. — and walk in darkness, — in 
 the uuprofitable, selfish, irseless, worthless life that has 
 been mentioned. As Bishop Wordsworth (whose Com- 
 mentary is valuable for the light it throws upon the 
 historical aspect of this Epistle) reminds us, there were 
 many who did say this. The earlier Gnostics, the fol- 
 lowers of Simon and of Nicolaus (Eev, ii. 6, 15, &c. ; cf. 
 2 Peter ii. 15; Jude 11, remembering that Balaam is 
 the Hebrew equivalent for Nicolaus), were continually 
 saying it. It was their favourite doctrine that the flesh 
 was so corrupt that no filthiness of life could affect it, 
 and that the Gnostic who gave his soul to philosophic 
 and mystical contemplation might safely do what" he 
 pleased with his body. They even went so far, in their 
 capacity of seekers after knowledge (Gnostics), as to 
 affirm that practical experience of wickedness was neces- 
 sary to true enlightenment — an argument which it is to 
 be feared has not been confined to their day. What is 
 meant by walking in darkness is further explained in 
 ch. ii. 1 1 (see also John xii, 35). The word icalk, as is 
 well known, is a Hebraism for the whole life. Cf. Ps. 
 cxix. 3 : " For they who do no wickedness walk in Thy 
 ways." So also Ps. i. i. — we lie. The most emphatic 
 contradiction is here given to this doctrine. It is a lie, 
 and comes from the father of lies (cf. ch. iii. 7). There 
 
 or the highest moment, savours rather of Pharisaic pride than of 
 Gospel humility. Yet on every one there lies the duty, at proper 
 times, of handing on to others the message we have received. And 
 let it not be forgotten that one most efiectual Avay of doing this is by 
 aiding, to the utmost of our powei-, the efforts that are being made to 
 spread Christianity at home or abroad. 
 
THE MESSAGE. 37 
 
 is no other way of attaining fellowship with God than 
 by purifying our hearts from evil, and inclining them 
 to obey God's laws. Cf. 2 Cor, vi. 14, where the 
 same idea finds a different expression. — and do not the 
 truth. As Ebrard says, we are not only said not to 
 say, but not to do, the truth. The expression is a 
 remarkable one, yet it is not without warrant elsewhere. 
 St. Paul speaks of "obeying the truth" (Gal. iii. i). 
 And it admits of a clear explanation when we remember 
 that Christ is the truth (John xiv. 6 ; cf. viii. 46). 
 Thus, then, the truth must not only be spoken, but acted. 
 For, after all, truth is no other than that which is 
 actually existing. To do the truth, therefore, is to live 
 the life of Christ, to conform oneself to the eternal type 
 of righteousness existing in heaven. See also John iii. 
 20, 21, where to do the truth is opposed to doing evil. 
 Nothing could more clearly show how truth is to be a 
 principle permeating our very lives. It is not to be 
 displayed in words, but in action. Our whole lives are 
 to be consistent and sincere, challenging the closest 
 inspection, even as St. Paul bids us " keep our continual 
 feast with the unleavened bread of transparent purity 
 and truth" (i Cor. v. 8). We may observe here how 
 utterly abhorrent to the mind of Christ is that casuistry 
 which makes truth worthless, save so far as it conduces 
 to the cause of the Church. Falsehood cannot serve 
 God's cause, because it is the denial of Him. The dis- 
 tinction suggested by Haupt between iroLelv t^v aXi'jOeiav 
 
 III. What the message is. For the treatment of this point see 
 Exposition. 
 
 IV. Practical consequences of this. The duty of (i) honour- 
 ing the great and glorious Being wlio is thus declared to us ; (2) 
 valuing as we ought the Revelation which makes Him known ; (3) 
 seeking the intellectual, moral, and spiritual light thus given. 
 
38 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 and TTOieiv to. oXrjO^ is perhaps well founded. The 
 Apostle, by using the former expression, probably means 
 to imply that the actions of him who walks in darkness 
 are not merely individually irreconcilable with truth, but 
 are as a whole founded on a negation of the eternal 
 verities of existence. 
 
 Ver. 7. — But if we walk in the light, as he is in the 
 light. The most remarkable point in this verse seems 
 to have been lost sight of by every recent commen- 
 tator but Ebrard, who rightly points out the difference 
 between the finite being walking, changing his place 
 from day to day, in the light, and God existing in 
 the light.^ Light, in ver. 5, is identified with God. 
 Here, as in i Tim. vi. 15, it is regarded as the atmo- 
 sphere in which He dwells. Doubtless there is here 
 an accommodation to the nature of the thought. "We 
 are regarded as dwelling in an atmosphere of light ; and 
 as our fellowship with God is the root-idea of the passage, 
 God is described as likewise dwelling in the light, to 
 bring out more clearly the fact that we are made one 
 with Him. — we have fellowship one with another. What 
 might have been expected was, " we have fellowship with 
 Him." So clear is this, that some MSS. and Versions 
 have ventured to correct the text here to avrov. But 
 the Apostle's object is intensely practical (see ch. iii. 17). 
 
 ^ Professor Westcott has traced this thought to its true source, namely, 
 Bede. The just walk in light because " ad meliora proficiunt. Deus 
 autem sine aliquo profectu semper bonus, Justus, verusque existit." 
 
 Ver. 6. — The Necessity of Holiness. 
 
 I. We may deceive ourselves concerning our relation 
 WITH Christ, (i.) Christ warned us of this danger (Matt. vii. 22, 23, 
 XXV. 44). (2.) His apostles have also Avarned us (Rev. iii. 17 ; i Cor. iii. 
 18; Gal. vi. 7, 8; Phil. iii. 18, 19). Many deceive themselves still, 
 resting in outward observances, in membership of a particular society, 
 
THE MESSAGE. 39 
 
 His main theme is, " walk in love ; " and how can he 
 enforce this unless he lays down the foundation on 
 which such an exhortation must always rest ? — that of a 
 Divine life, imparted to all Christians alike, and knitting 
 them together in a holy bond to God and to each other. 
 Thus, then, if we walk in the atmosphere of beauty, 
 purity, and truth which encircles God as well a-s our- 
 selves, we are introduced into that holy fellowship or 
 communion which is known as the communion of saints, 
 which is described in Eph. iv. 15 and Col. ii. 19, and 
 which consists in the continual interchange (see note on 
 KOLvwvla, ver. 3) of all the gifts and blessings God has 
 vouchsafed to us. — and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son 
 cleanseth us from all sin. This is not, again, exactly 
 what we should have expected ; consequently Theophy- 
 lact, Beza, and other commentators have made this part 
 of the sentence the reason for the former, and have 
 translated Kai by for. No doubt the ground of our 
 reconciliation with God in the first instance is the death 
 of Christ. But here, without wresting Scripture, we 
 cannot interpret it of our being accoionted righteous. The 
 Apostle distinctly regards this cleansing effect of the 
 blood of Christ not as a cause, but as a consequence, of 
 our walking in the light. The truth is, that what is 
 usually known as the justifying effect of the blood of 
 Christ has been so pressed as to lead us to neglect its 
 sanctifying effect. We have, therefore, reason to be 
 thankful to a commentator like Haupt, who has placed 
 
 in belief of certain doctrines, or in certain feelings or experiences in 
 the present or past. Such grounds of acceptance, in the absence of 
 the one necessary characteristic, are simple deceptions. 
 
 II. The only test of present acceptance is the walking 
 IN LIGHT. (I.) Nothing can be clearer than St. John's statement of 
 this truth. Not only does he say " we lie," if we claim fellowship 
 
46 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 the question upon a less traditional basis, and has given 
 us wider conceptions of the merits of Christ's blood than 
 most expositors have led us to entertain. Christ was 
 undoubtedly the Sacrifice slain for the sins of the world. 
 But He is also the Paschal Lamb, whose flesh is the 
 support of mankind. Haupt therefore rightly directs us 
 to the sixth chapter of St. John, where this truth is 
 presented to our notice. But there is one point in which 
 Christ's mystical exposition of the passover, there given, 
 departs in a startling manner from the type. The blood 
 of the paschal lamb, as of all other animals used for 
 food, was not to be partaken of (Lev. iii. 17, vii. 26, 
 27), because "the blood is the life" (Dent. xii. 23 ; see 
 Lev. xvii. 10-14 and Gen. ix. 4). But for this very 
 reason the blood of Christ, the true Paschal Lamb, 
 was to be drunk by His disciples. " Thus, then," says 
 Haupt, " the KaOapia-fjiog airo Tracrj?? a/napTiag is possible 
 only in consequence of the blood of Christ entering into 
 our life as a new life-principle. There is absolutely 
 no Christian sanctitication imaginable which does not 
 take place through the blood, that is, through the Pie- 
 deemer's power of life working its effects and ruling 
 within us " (Haupt). Christ's life, offered to God and 
 accepted by Him as a perfect sacrifice, is communicated 
 to our life as a daily fact. This view of Christ's blood, 
 however, cannot be severed from His death. The words 
 " blood of Christ " invariably in Scripture mean His 
 blood shed (Eom. iii. 25; Eph. ii. 13; i Peter i. 19; 
 
 with Christ, and -walk in darkness, but "we "do not the truth," i.e., 
 (see Exposition), Ave do not merely make a mis-statement, but we 
 act the lie we speak. We deny the Eternal Verities, and act as 
 though they were not in existence. Our lives are a perpetual defiance 
 of God and His Son Jesus Christ. (2.) This is tlie Gospel doctrine, 
 which rests on the indwelling of Christ in the believer, proclaimed 
 
THE MESSAGE. 4 1 
 
 Rev, V. 9, &c.) If His blood be a source of life at all, it 
 is as the blood of the Lamb that was slain, offered in 
 sacrifice to God, as well as partaken of by the believer. 
 The spirit of this sacrifice enters into our every action. 
 Thus, day by day, as we walk in the light and have 
 fellowship with one another, we are cleansed from every 
 tendency of the natural man, and brought ever into 
 more perfect union with the life of truth. Braune has 
 supplied us with a valuable corroboration to this inter- 
 pretation by calling attention to the fact that we liave 
 here the present tense — KaQaplXei. It is not " hath 
 cleansed," but "is cleansing" us. The cleansing is a 
 continual present fact in the life of the believer, whereby 
 he is knit still more closely in fellowship with Christ 
 (see also Kev. vii. 14, &c., and Titus ii. 14). Before 
 proceeding to the next verse, we must ask why the 
 words " His Son " are introduced here. We may assume 
 that no single word in Scripture is without its purpose, 
 and we may here discern (i) the certainty of the accept- 
 ance of the sacrifice, by reason of the eternal harmony 
 and union between the Father and the Son, and (2) the 
 intimation of the loving purpose of God from all eternity, 
 in that (Eom. viii. 32) He "spared not His own Son, but 
 delivered Him up for us all" (cf. John iii. 16).^ 
 
 Ver. 8. — If we say that we have no sin. The use of 
 the word have as an auxiliary verb somewhat weakens 
 the force of this sentence in English. Here it has the 
 
 ^ See also Professor Westcott's additional note on this verse. 
 
 throughout this Epistle as elsewhere in the New Testament. So our 
 Lord teaches (Matt. vii. 16), the expression, continually used tlirough- 
 out the New Testament, signifying tlm presence of an inner life (see 
 especially St. John xv. 1-8). St. Paul limits the freedom from con- 
 demnation to those who are walking (this is the force of the present 
 tense in Rom. viii. i) after the Spirit, and thus (ver. 4) fuliilling the 
 
42 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 same sense as in the words " to have and to hold " in 
 the Marriage Service, i.e., to possess. The expression is 
 only to be found elsewhere in St. John's Gospel (ch. ix. 
 41, XV. 22, xix. 11). Elsewhere we find the expression 
 commit sin, but not have it. It is a remarkable one, since 
 the New Testament word for sin means error, or rather 
 missing the mark. What is meant clearly is, that this 
 habit of swerving aside from our highest good has become 
 so inherent in us that it is practically a possession — 
 something closely connected with and belonging to us. 
 Now what St. John says is, that we deceive ourselves if 
 we imagine for a moment that in this life, in spite of our 
 redeemed and sanctified condition, we shall ever attain to 
 perfect freedom from sin. For e-^^ofxev is in the present 
 tense, and therefore must refer to the present condition 
 of those who are addressed, in spite of the high and 
 blessed privileges they are said in the last verse to have 
 possessed. This must be carefully remembered when 
 we come to expound passages like ch. iii. 6-9. In this 
 and the following verses we have St. John's doctrine of 
 justification. It is remarkable that he avoids the use of 
 the word. Nothing is more striking than the diversity 
 in temper and intellect and form of thought among the 
 human instruments chosen by Christ to diffuse His 
 Gospel. And yet, with all the variety in their mode of 
 stating it, the doctrine they preached was substantially 
 the same. Thus here we have no mention of righteous- 
 ness being '' reckoned," or " accounted," or " imputed," 
 
 righteousness of tlie law. (3.) What it is to tcalk in darkness and in 
 light. To -walk in the light is to (a) acknowledge the truth revealed 
 in Jesus Christ ; {b) this revelation makes known to us God's will, and 
 especially — the point we are at present considering — in what true 
 lioliness consists ; (c) true holiness consists, as we have just seen, in 
 fuUilling the righteousness of the law, by virtue of the illumination 
 
THE MESSAGE. 43 
 
 no verb ciKaiota, to " proclaim," or " render, righteous." 
 And yet the great Gospel truth indicated by those words 
 is laid down in a manner which cannot be mistaken. It 
 is stated thus, rising from one doctrinal statement to 
 another, until it culminates in the mention of Jesus 
 Christ as the Propitiation for sin. God is light. By 
 walking in the light which He gives we attain to fellow- 
 ship with Him, and are daily cleansed from sin. But 
 this cleansing from sin implies sinfulness. We are not 
 to suppose that we attain to this fellowship with God by 
 our own works or deservings ; quite the contrary. We 
 sin continually, and to deny this fact is really to break 
 off our fellowship with God, while to acknowledge it is 
 to live in the light of that fellowship. And, in fact, it is 
 the only way to avoid sin. We cannot lead pure and 
 sinless lives unless we first of all confess that we are 
 sinners, and recognise Jesus Christ as our Advocate with 
 the Father and the Propitiation for our sins. Thus we 
 clearly see the truth (i) that our acceptance with God 
 is the work of another, not our own, and (2) that it is 
 only upon this acceptance for the sake of One who has 
 made propitiation for the sins of the whole world that 
 the fabric of the personal holiness of the individual can 
 be built. Here, then, in phrase very different to that of 
 St. Paul, yet (cf. Eom. i.-iii.) travelling on precisely the 
 same lines, do we find the doctrines universally accepted 
 in the Christian Church of Justification and Sanctifica- 
 tion. The terms we owe to St. Paul — the doctrine to 
 
 we have received, which enables i^s to distinguish right from wrong, 
 to set lip before us a higlier standard of purity and perfection. To 
 "walk" in tlie light is to press daily forward towards the realisation 
 of this ideal, which is clearly perceived by the illumined soul, as well 
 as all the steps Avhich lead to it. To walk in darkness is, of course, tlie 
 exact opposite of all this. 
 
44 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Jesus Christ. — we deceive ourselves and the truth is not 
 in us (cf. ch. ii. 4). Unless we are ready to acknowledge 
 our present sinfulness, if we are inclined to maintain that 
 we " have already attained, or are already perfect," we 
 are in the same condition as if we were walking in dark- 
 ness while maintaining that we have fellowship with 
 God. For the expression "the truth is not in us" is 
 practically equivalent to " we do not the truth." The 
 truth, that which is, practically means God Himself. So 
 Jesus Christ calls Himself " the truth." And we cannot 
 possess the life of Christ without its teaching us our own 
 unworthiness and sinfulness, and producing in us an 
 earnest yearning for its purifying influences. For a/xaprla 
 see notes on ch. iii. 4 and v. 17. 
 
 Ver. 9. — If we confess our sins (cf. Ps. xxxii. 5, 
 xxxviii. 18, li. 3). The word here translated confess 
 , means in Greek to speak together, hence to agree. Here 
 it means not only to accept and thoroughly recognise the 
 fact that one is a sinner, but to acknowledge it publicly. 
 We may observe that the Apostle does not confine him- 
 self here to the words " if we say that we have sin," 
 the precise converse of what has gone before. He goes 
 farther. " If we confess our sins," that is, make specific 
 confession of our individual acts of sin. Well has Ebrard 
 remarked here, that it is much easier to make piou& 
 speeches to the effect that we are sinners in a general 
 way, and expressive of general deep contrition, and of 
 the misery engendered by sin, than to acknowledge the 
 
 Ver. 7. — The Besults ofivcdking in Light. 
 
 I. Communion with each other. This (see Exposition) is an 
 unexpected resiilt. But it is also unexpected in another way. It 
 comes before the cleansing with the blood of Christ. The reason of 
 this may be tliat the Apostle would set the consciences of his disciples 
 at rest. In their communion with each other there were many failures 
 
THE MESSAGE. 45 
 
 particular wrong that we have done, and to endeavour as 
 far as possible to repair it. Many who are ready enough 
 to admit generally that they are sinners would be the 
 first hotly to repel a charge of sinfulness on any one 
 special point, so deep is the self-deception of the human 
 heart, which is often farthest from God when the lips are 
 busiest in honouring Him, We have next to inquire to 
 whom confession is to be made. Obviously to God, and, 
 in certain special cases, to man. What these last cases 
 are may be best seen by a reference to such passages as 
 Matt. V. 23-25; Luke xvii. 4. The idea of auricular 
 confession does not seem to have any connection with 
 the argument, which concerns only our general readiness 
 to acknowledge candidly any wrong which we have done, 
 to the person to whom we have done it, instead of 
 justifying or excusing it. — he is faithful. Almost all the 
 commentators agree here. It is " faithful to His plighted 
 word and promise " (Alford) ; of course by He God is 
 meant. — and just. The word here used is translated 
 indifferently hj just and righteous in the New Testament. 
 The original Greek idea is unquestionably that of justice 
 (see Aristotle, "Ethics," v. i). But the word and its 
 correlatives are used as the translation of the Hebrew 
 tzedek and tzaddik, which involves a higher moral idea 
 than mere fairness between man and man, and rather 
 implies what is abstractedly right. Thus it becomes, by 
 its LXX. usage, a fit word to express that abstract justice 
 of God which, and not mere human ideas of what is fair 
 
 in duty. But by reason of their acceptance with Christ these daily 
 sins of infirmity were daily cleansed. It is to be observed, that in 
 the results of the Christian life the Apostle (following his Master's 
 example, Matt. xxv. 31-46) puts the visible before the invisible (ch. 
 iii, 14-17, iv. 20, 21), thus reversing strangely the order of the Gospel, 
 which sets the invisible before the visible. But the reason is clear. 
 
46 THE FJKST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 or right to one another, is the basis of all true Christian 
 integrity. Here again, though differently expressed, we 
 have the true Pauline doctrine of the harmony between 
 God's justness and His forgiveness (Eom. iii. 26), as well 
 as the doctrine (cf. Eom. i. 17) that the Gospel is a 
 revelation of the SiKaioa-vvt] Oeov (cf. again Eom. iii. 25, 
 26). St. John here just as emphatically asserts that the 
 idea of the forgiveness of sins involves no derogation 
 from the eternal justice of God. Among the curiosities 
 of interpretation we may notice that of Suarez, who 
 supposes that " faithful " relates to mortal sins, which are 
 forgiven solely by God's free grace, "just" to venial sins, 
 because through penitence and love they ex condigTw 
 merit His forgiveness. — to forgive us our sins. Some com- 
 mentators, e.g., Haupt and Afford, have held tenaciously 
 to the telic force of "iva here ; but they have been obliged 
 to disguise its form a good deal to make the rendering 
 tolerable. The idea of God being faithful and just, not 
 in Himself, but in order that He might forgive us our 
 sins, could never, it may safely be said, in spite of 
 Haupt's most ingenious and, it may be added, reverent 
 exposition of the passages, have occurred to St. John. 
 Hence, therefore, we must regard 'iva as having here, as 
 it unquestionably has elsewhere, the force of the Infinitive. 
 (See Winer, " Gr. Gr.," sec. 44, v. Cf. Matt. x. 25 ; 
 John iv. 34 ; Luke i. 43.) God is faithful and just, and 
 the result of that faithfulness and justice is that He 
 forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all unricfhteous- 
 
 If tlie invisible motive be more powerful than visible motives, the 
 fact must display itself in the sphere of the visible. This is the only- 
 test of its reality. We could easily deceive ourselves in Avhat is 
 beyond the sphere of our senses — imagine ourselves to be living with 
 God and loving Him when we were but indulging in barren con- 
 templation, unreal ecstasy. Therefore, one result by which we may 
 
THE MESSAGE. 47 
 
 ness. If we ask how His faithfulness and justice are 
 evinced by the forgiveness of the sin and the cleansing 
 of the sinner, for the latter we are referred to the thought 
 of the Blood of Christ spoken of above (ver. 7), and for 
 the former, the forgiveness of the sin, to the Propitiation 
 made by Jesus Christ, Himself the Just (SiKuioi). The 
 change of translation in our version obscures the con- 
 nection of thought most materially. — to forgive us our 
 sins. The word here translated " forgive " has many 
 meanings in the LXX. and New Testament, as Pearson's 
 learned note reminds us (" On the Creed," Art. X.) It 
 means, he says, (i) to send forth (Matt, xxvii. 50 ; Mark 
 XV. 37); (2) to permit (Matt. iii. 15); (3) to leave, 
 desert (Matt. v. 24, viii. 15, xxvi. 56); (4) to omit 
 (Matt, xxiii. 23), and lastly (5) to remit, as in Matt, 
 xviii. 27. It is impossible to avoid feeling that our 
 word remit or forgive does not rise to the full require- 
 ments of the word here used. It implies the idea 
 (i) of passing over, that is, of remitting the penalty 
 of sin ; (2) of forgiving, that is, of releasing us from 
 the guilt of sin ; (3) of setting free, that is, of dis- 
 entangling us from the consequences of sin ; and (4) 
 of dismissing, that is, of purifying us from the contagion 
 of sin. Thus when we speak of the remission of sin, we 
 mean more than its simple forgiveness. We include the 
 idea of restoration to holiness, a complete return to 
 the favour and approval of God. — and to cleanse us from 
 all unrighteousness. This clause is the expansion and 
 
 easily test the reality of our illumination is communion with, i.e., care 
 for. common .sympathies and interests with, our neighbours. 
 
 II. The forgiveness of sin (cf. Kom. viii. i). While we are 
 struggling to realise our ideal, to free ourselves from tlie defilements, 
 "negligences, and ignorances" of our present imperfect condition, Ave 
 fall into continual transgressions, which are rather sins of infirmity 
 than of deliberate rebellion. These, if our purpose be right with Godj 
 
48 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 completion of the former. Our sins are pardoned and 
 dismissed. The necessary result is purification of heart 
 and life. How the cleansing is effected we have already 
 seen (ver. 7). Unrighteousness here is obviously the 
 opposite of that attribute of God which has just been 
 mentioned. As SiKaio^ means abstractedly just and 
 upright, declining neither to the one side nor the other, 
 so aSiKia, which corresponds to afxapria in ver. 8, but 
 presents the idea in a different shape, means, strictly 
 speaking, that which is not right and just, unequal, as 
 the word is used in Ezek. xviii. 29. 
 
 Ver. I o. — If we say that we have not sinned. Here the 
 expression is not exactly equivalent to that in ver. 8. 
 " Have " here is simply the sign of the perfect tense. 
 No idea of possession is suggested. But here we find 
 the phrase corresponding rather to the concrete idea of 
 sin put before us in ver. 9 than the abstract condition of 
 sinfulness intended in ver. 8. There sin was a general 
 characteristic of the life of those St. John was addressing ; 
 here he would lead us to the thought of the specific acts 
 of sin which have brought about that condition. — we make 
 him a liar. We are naturally led to ask, Why this 
 startling increase of vehemence ? Two verses back the 
 Apostle simply says that we deceive ourselves, and that 
 we have no part or lot in eternal truth. Four verses 
 back again he says that " we lie, and do not the truth." 
 This may be our misfortune, a state of things in which 
 we are nearly passive. But to make God a liar is an 
 
 if our will be firmly set towards purification, will be forgiven, though 
 not (see last verse) if we he resolved to " walk in darkness." 
 
 III. PUKIFICATIOX FROM SIN. This is, of conrse, a, grachtcil process. 
 But it rests (see Exposition) on the life-j^iving properties of the 
 blood of Christ, which, communicated to the soul, does not only free 
 it from condemnation in God's sij^ht, but by cleansing the will from 
 the desire to sin, and inspiring it with a bent towards holiness, ends 
 
THE MESSAGE. 49 
 
 active insult to His Name. Whence is this ? There 
 can be little doubt that the Apostle had in mind (i) the 
 strong statements of God's Word, as collected, for in- 
 stance, in Eom. iii. lo— 1 8 ; and (2) no doubt he had more- 
 over in view the whole scheme of redemption, which 
 proceeds upon the assumption of man's sinfulness, and 
 becomes one huge imposture the moment that assumption 
 is removed. All the doctrines of the Christian faith, the 
 Incarnation, the Sacrifice upon the cross, the descent and 
 sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, are not merely 
 unnecessary, but false, save upon the supposition of 
 man's sin. — and Ms word is not in us. Most of the 
 commentators here regard the word \6y09 as referring, 
 not to the personal Logos, the Son of God, but to the 
 word or doctrine spoken or taught by Him, as in John 
 viii. 31. It may be bold, against so overwhelming a 
 consensus as there appears to be on this point, to venture 
 to suggest that while generally the word \6y09 means 
 word or discourse, except where it is specially applied to 
 the Word of God, yet here the connection with ver. i 
 is so near, that we are not entitled altogether to reject 
 the idea that the indwelling of the Eternal Word Him- 
 self may have been intended. The strongest argument 
 against it is Haupt's, that as yet we have heard nothing 
 about Christ's indwelling. But if it be not so, the ques- 
 tion arises, what word is here meant ? Ebrard would 
 understand the whole revelation of God, in the Old and 
 New Testament alike. Alford interprets baldly " that 
 
 by overcoming the sinful desire, and by confirming the Avill in its 
 submission to the will of God. 
 
 Vers. 8, 9, 10. — The Acknouiedgment of Present Sin a Necessity/. 
 The present life is the period of probation. As long as we caiTy about 
 "this body of death" (Rotu. vii. 24) we are liable to the dominion of 
 sin, though in an ever-lessening degree. The conviction of our fault- 
 
 D 
 
50 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 wliicli lie saith," which (see note on ver. i) would rather 
 be pT^ixa than Xoyoi;. " The \6yo^ means more than 
 mere pi'jfxaTa " (Hanpt). He regards it as " the aggregate 
 collective internal unity of the entire Divine announce- 
 ment, not as to the external words, but to them as far 
 as they are spirit and life." This comes nearest to the 
 spirit of the passage.'^ In a similar way St. Paul speaks 
 of the \6yo? tou a-ravpov (i Cor. i. 1 8), the Xoyo? r?/? 
 KaTaWayi]<} (2 Cor. v. 19), and still more emphatically of 
 the Aoyof tJ?? aXi]6eiag (Eph. i. I 3 ; Col. i. 5 ; cf. James 
 i. 18). The inner meaning of God's whole Revelation, 
 communicated to man, and discerned through the opera- 
 tion of His Spirit, is the \6y09 (if we dismiss the idea 
 that it is God the Son Himself) which cannot be in us 
 unless we accept as a necessary condition the doctrine of 
 man's sinfulness. 
 
 Ch. ii. I. — My little children. This affectionate dimi- 
 nutive is beautifully natural in the mouth of an old 
 man, such as we know St. John must have been when 
 this Epistle was written. It is peculiarly characteristic 
 of him. He puts it but once (John xiii. 33) into the 
 mouth of the Saviour. St. Paul only uses it once (Gal. 
 iv. 19), when he desires to be particularly persuasive, 
 " to change his voice," because he " stands in doubt " of 
 the Galatian Christians. But in this short Epistle St. 
 
 1 Professor Westcott interprets of "the Gospel message, which is the 
 crown of all revelation." 
 
 lessness, and the disposition to pass judgment on others, are the sins 
 that most rouse the anger of the Son of God, as the condemnation He 
 passed on the Pharisees shows. It was no object of His Revelation 
 to produce in us this self-asserting arrogance. A knowledge of our 
 own weakness and lialiility to sin, a modest estimate of ourselves 
 when comparing ourselves to others, a readiness to remember our own 
 infirmity when dealing with others who sin (Gal. vi. i), ai"e among the 
 lirst requisites of Christian perfection. Thus while we gladly recog- 
 
THE MESSAGE. 5 I 
 
 John uses it seven times, and only once is there any 
 doubt (ver. 12) that it refers to all whom he is addressing. 
 It is characteristic of the strong impression this mode of 
 address made on the mind of the early Church, that in 
 the touching anecdote recorded by Eusebius (" Hist. 
 EccL," iii. 23) of St. John and his young disciple who 
 fell into evil courses, he is represented as saying, " My 
 child {t€kvov), why dost thou fly me, thy father ? " The 
 story comes down to us on the authority of Clement of 
 Alexandria, no mean authority. It may very possibly 
 be true. But we may at least say of it se non e vcro e 
 hen trovato ; it is in good keeping with all we know of 
 the Apostle from Holy Writ. And it is this affectionate 
 style of address, as well as his dwelling so much on the 
 love of God, and its consequence, the mutual love of 
 mankind to one another, that has caused us to dwell 
 with peculiar affection on the thought of St. John as 
 " the Apostle of love." — these things I write unto you, that 
 ye sin not. Luther, so Braune tells us in his Commen- 
 tary, says that he is prepared to call that man a theo- 
 logian who can show the consistency and agreement of 
 this passage. That there is such a close connection the 
 Toura here shows beyond a doubt. " I am writing these 
 things," i.e., what I have written and what I am now 
 about to write, " that ye sin not." St. Augustine regards 
 it as being a warning against expecting to sin with im- 
 punity, which some might have taken encouragement 
 
 nise the goodness of God in piirifying ns and making us holy, -n's on 
 the other hand never fail to acknowledge the fact, not only that we 
 have often offended, hut that we are still liable to sin, and that the 
 process of purification is as yet only in progress, not finally accom 
 plished. 
 
 Ch. ii. I. — Our Sinfulness is not to be Pleaded as an Excuse for 
 Sin. The well-known adage, "incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare 
 Charybdim," is especially true of the Christian life. The moment we 
 
52 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 from cL i, 8—10 to do. Eather it would seem that the 
 Apostle is here pointing out the result to which what he 
 has before written would tend, if rightly understood, 
 namely, as St. Paul puts it, that there is no condemna- 
 tion to them that are in Christ Jesus, because they walk 
 not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, being made free 
 from the law of sin and death under which they had 
 once groaned, by the law of the Spirit of Life (cf. Eom. 
 vii.— viii. 2). God is light, says St. John, an idea which 
 suggests, not merely intellectual illumination, but perfect 
 moral purity. Fellowship with Him involves such a 
 moral purity on the part of all who attain to it. Yet this 
 moral purity is not inherent in him who is admitted to 
 fellowship with God, but is communicated to him. And 
 though in the case of each convert it imperatively demands 
 an acknowledgment of former sin, yet the object of the 
 Apostle's message is not that his converts may " continue 
 in sin, that grace may abound." On the contrary, its pur- 
 pose is that they should cease to sin. Yet since (ch. i. 8) 
 an acknowledgment of present sin is one necessary result 
 of the admission into the brightness of the Divine light, 
 it is necessary to deal with the case of the sins of 
 believers. Thus the doctrine is precisely the same here 
 as in Eom. viii. i — 14. The gradual purifying influences 
 of God's Spirit, diminishing, while as yet they do not 
 destroy, the natural sinfulness of man — the increased 
 sensitiveness to sin, the deepened sense of it, which come 
 
 shun one pitfall Satan has one ready for us on the other side. We 
 avoid the error of the Pharisee, and meekly and modestly confess our 
 liability to sin. And straightway the enemy seeks to make us con- 
 tented with that condition, to make it an excuse for our actual short- 
 comings. We are urged to give up some sins wMch are a burden to 
 ourselves, a disgrace and stumbling-block to our brethren. We reply 
 that we are not perfect, that we never pretended to be, that no one 
 ever can be, and so excuse ourselves from the effort necessary to attain 
 
THE MESSAGE. 53 
 
 from being brought to the light, and from learning to 
 live in it — the need of a daily application to ourselves 
 of the merits of the One Atoning Sacrifice once offered 
 for the sins of men — and the peace and joy which they 
 inherit who feel how they are gradually becoming imbued 
 with the Spirit of their Lord — these are characteristics 
 of Apostolic doctrine, in whatever language it may be 
 expressed. And this would seem to be the connection 
 of ideas in the passage ch. i. 5-ii. 6. 
 
 to the perfection which is in Christ Jesus. " This is a very dangerous 
 deceit," says the Apostle. *' What I am writing to you is intended 
 to lead you to a victory over siu. A low idea of yourself is indeed 
 necessary to true perfection, but was never intended to excuse you 
 from the effort necessary to attain it. My object throughout is to 
 convince you of the truth which I have before taught you, that to 
 claim to be a disciple of Jesus, and not to try in everything to lead 
 the life He did, is a deliberate denial of Him." 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 IV. 
 THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. 
 
 EXPOSITION. 
 
 CH. ii. I. — We resume our exposition at the point where 
 the Apostle explains that in the Christian Church 
 there is forgiveness for sins actually committed. We 
 have seen (in the Introduction) that the course of the 
 Apostle's argument is, (i) that purity of life and freedom 
 from sin are required of the Christian by his covenant 
 relation to God, and that (2) because, in spite of this, 
 Christians have sinned and do sin, therefore (3) it is 
 necessary to recognise the fact that there exists a pro- 
 pitiation for the actual sins of those who have already 
 been admitted into fellowship with God, and have there- 
 fore been cleansed by the blood of the covenant from all 
 original and past sins. The meaning, perhaps, does not 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. ii. I. — This verse divides itself into two parts : first, the emin- 
 ciation of a paradox of faith, and secondly, the proclamation of a 
 propitiation for sin. 
 
 First let ns consider the paradox, that confession of present sinfulness 
 is necessary in order that Ave may not sin. 
 
 I. Paradoxes are common in the Gospel. Such paradoxes we 
 find in Prov. xxvi. 4, 5, in Gal. vi. 2, 5, in Matt. xii. 30, compared 
 with Luke ix. 50, in Rom. iv. 2 with St. James ii. 20, 21. Hence we 
 
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. 55 
 
 lie on the surface, but the wliole argument from ch. i. 5 
 to the end of ch. ii. 2 lays down the doctrine expressed 
 in the Second Article of the Cliurch of England, namely, 
 that Christ died " to be a sacrifice, not only for original 
 guilt, but for actual sins of men," and this not only for 
 those committed before, but after regeneration. — that ye 
 sin not. This is the statement which harmonises the two 
 preceding propositions. The confession of sin is to be a 
 step in the direction of forsaking it. Not yet, it is true, 
 does the Apostle show how this is to be the case, namely, 
 by the tendency of the sense of weakness and sin to lead 
 us to One on whom we rely (i) for forgiveness, and (2) 
 for that change which shall destroy sin in us. The first 
 of these ideas is touched upon in the next two verses. 
 The second is gradually introduced in ch. iii. And thus 
 we Jiave the order which St. Paul follows in the Epistle 
 to the Eomans ; first the reconciliation after sin com- 
 mitted, and then its destruction in us ; first atonement, 
 then sanctification. Eternal truth is full of paradoxes. 
 Like a vast mountain, it has many sides and many points 
 of view. And as we often fail to recognise the outlines 
 of a familiar mountain when seen from a new direction, 
 so God's truth seems to have changed its aspect when 
 regarded from another point of view. Thus nothing 
 could seem at first si"ht more unintelligible than the 
 
 may learn a lesson of moderation in theological statement. So vast 
 is God's truth, that it is jiossible for one portion of it to appear to con- 
 tradict anotlier, whereas tlie two sides are but complementary parts 
 of the same truth. Wliat fruitless controversies might have been 
 avoided, what unseemly conflicts might have been escaped, had men 
 but borne this in mind ! The Calvinist, who insists on God's fore- 
 knowledge and sovereignty, might have remembered that this is not 
 incompatible Avith the Arminian assertion of His justice and righteous- 
 ness. The Augustinian doctrine of the necessity of grace would not 
 have been pressed to the exclusion of free will. The necessity of faith 
 
56 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 statement, that in order that we should not sin, it is 
 necessary to confess that we have sinned and do sin, 
 Yet nothing is more clear, when viewed in the light of 
 the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Tor He has 
 not only made atonement for sin, He has made provision 
 — the only provision possible — that it shall cease to be 
 committed, when the soul, by faith, has attained to 
 perfect union with Him. We shall be able to elucidate 
 this point more fully when we come to ch. iii. 9, and iv. 
 4, where the force of the original is obscured in our 
 version by the neglect to translate the perfect as a 
 perfect. We may, however, add here that the conviction 
 of present sinfulness, deeply felt and steadily acted upon, 
 is not only the best, but the only, earnest of future per- 
 fection. — And if any man sin. The "and" here is said 
 by Braune to be the " simple copula," and not equivalent 
 to the adversative Se. Many other commentators have 
 passed it over. But it is obvious from the Hebrew cast 
 of the whole Epistle that here, as in ver. 2, the Apostle 
 uses Kai as equivalent to the Hebrew \ which constantly 
 has an adversative force. Thus the meaning is, " I am 
 writing these things to you, not that ye ma7/ sin, but 
 that ye may be able to abstain from sin. Yet I would 
 not have you downcast. As I have said, you do sin, but 
 you have an Advocate with the leather, who has made 
 
 to salvation would have been seen not to be irreconcilable Avith the 
 necessity of works, because their place in the scheme of salvation is 
 not identical, the one being the source, the other the stream. With- 
 out the source, there can be no stream ; if there be no stream, then 
 the source has run dry. So again in the endless controversy concern- 
 ing the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The reality of the gift need 
 not be denied because its modus operandi is disputed. It is not 
 necessary to reduce it to a "bare memorial of a thing absent " because 
 we cannot quite agree about the nature of the presence. We need to 
 beware, lest by insisting too strongly upon one particular aspect of a 
 
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. 5 7 
 
 propitiation for your sin." Alford, again, would interpret 
 the aorist of the commission of a single act of sin. But, 
 as was stated in the notes on ver. i, this view of the 
 aorist cannot always be pressed in Alexandrian Greek. 
 Thus Wordsworth's interpretation, shall have sinned (or 
 should have sinned), is perhaps nearer the mark. It is 
 neither is sinning, which would be signified by the 
 present, nor hath sinned, which would apply to an act 
 completed in the past, but should have been committing 
 acts of sin, and since it answers to the Hebrew imperfect, 
 without any definite note of time, it may include the 
 idea, should still he committing acts of sin} Haupt well 
 sums up this passage as follows : " Most supremely must 
 we be on our guard against them (sins of infirmity), for 
 they easily lead to the Trepnrarelv ev r^ a-Koria. But the 
 consciousness of this danger might very well lead to 
 despair, and therefore the reminder that we have in the 
 Lord Jesus a representative and propitiation, who as such 
 secures the forgiveness of sins." — we have an Advocate 
 with the Father. " St. John writes, if any one . . . we, 
 in order to bring out the individual character of the 
 offence, and then to show that he is speaking" in what 
 follows, " of the Christian body ... to which Christ's 
 
 ^ Professor Westcott interprets of " the single act " of sin, " into which 
 the believer may be carried against the true tenor of his life." 
 
 truth, we are practically denying the truth itself. So in the truth 
 taught here. Many have insisted so strongly on the necessity of feel- 
 ing our sinfulness, that they have practically denied the necessity of 
 sanctilication ; they have in effect said, " Let us continue in sin, that 
 grace may abound." 
 
 II. How DOES THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SINFULNESS TEND TO 
 ERADICATE SIN ? It is the Apostle's clear meaning here that this is 
 the case. "These things," that is, the truths, that Ave "have sin" 
 present with us, that we "have sinned" in past time, that we must 
 "confess our sins," are "written to us that we should not sin. They 
 
58 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 promises are assured." The word TrapaKXijrog, as is well 
 known, is translated by two words in Scripture : the 
 first, Comforter, in St. John's Gospel, as applied to the 
 Holy Ghost ; the second, Advocate, here, as applied to 
 Jesus Christ. The word is derived from irapa, beside, and 
 kXt]t6s, which in the New Testament is rendered called. 
 Thus it means one who is called to our side, to comfort, 
 cheer, or help us, or, as in classical Greek, an advocate or 
 protector. The idea, therefore, of Comforter in St. John's 
 Gospel (A. V.) need not be rejected, but only supple- 
 mented. The Holy Spirit is not merely a Comforter, but 
 a helper and a sustainer and a protector. And the word 
 Advocate here is therefore as far from exhausting the full 
 meaning as the word Comforter. "With the Father" is 
 the same in the Greek as in ch. i. 2 (where see note). 
 And thus we arrive at the full sense of the passage, which 
 is that there is One who stands before the Father, His 
 face ever directed to His throne ; One who, as man, 
 needs not to shrink from presenting Himself there, to 
 plead our cause, to obtain for us, not merely the forgive- 
 ness — that would be to evacuate the passage of much of 
 its meaning — but to win for us the support, encourage- 
 ment, help of which we stand in need. We have One 
 who stands by us (irapd), yet looks toward (ttjOo?) the 
 Father, and who, one with us and with Him, can enable 
 
 could have no effect at all in that direction but for the doctrine which 
 follows, that we have an advocate with the Father, a i^ropitiation for 
 our sins. Thus, tlien, in connection with this doctrine, the sense of 
 our own siiif iihiess tends to deliver us from sin, (a) Because tve cannot 
 win- heaven for ourselves (Rom. iii. 20, 23, 27, 28, iv. 2, 6, ix. 11, x. 3 ; 
 Gal. ii. 16; Eph. ii. 9; Tit. iii. 5, &c.). We are thus, by our own 
 sense of sinfulness, driven to seek another, who will deliver us from 
 sin. (&) Because to suppose that xoe could so ivin heaven is a total mis- 
 conception of our position. We must either, in tliat case, deny that 
 siu is sin, or be reduced to despair. The first would only be to confuse 
 
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. 59 
 
 US to do all things through His all-powerful aid. — Jesus 
 Christ the righteous. There is no article here before the 
 word " righteous," and yet, as Dean Alford has shown, in 
 no other way could we have expressed in English the 
 sense of the Greek, which requires us to give the idea of 
 righteousness, not the Person in whom it was manifested, 
 the prominence. The word "righteous" here signifies 
 the position in which Jesus Christ presents humanity 
 before the Father. In Him not even Eternal Wisdom 
 can detect a single flaw. Hence His fitness to stand 
 before the Father and plead our cause. We are not just, 
 but He is (we must remember that the word here trans- 
 lated righteous is translated just in ch. i. 9), and therefore 
 with Him as our representative we need not fear. 
 
 Ver. 2. — And he is the propitiation for our sins. " He " 
 is emphatic — avro?, He Himself. The central word in 
 this sentence is tXacr/io?, which occurs only here and in 
 ch. iv. 10. This word is akin, both in its meaning and 
 its application, to St. Paul's IXaa-rrjpiov (Eom. iii. 25; cf. 
 Heb. ix. 5). Both are derived from iXda-KOfxai, a word 
 which always in the earlier and generally in the later 
 Greek has the sense of to make the gods propitious or 
 favourably inclined.^ The word and its compounds are 
 
 ^ Professor Westcott's note on the use of these words in the LXX. and 
 N. T. ■will repay study. 
 
 right and ■wrong ; to invent theories of obligation, as the Pharisees did, 
 in order to escape from the guilty consciousness of sin. But if the 
 fact of sinfulness were admitted, men might think their case hopeless. 
 They Avere sinners, and sinners they must remain. So they Avould go 
 on sinning all their lives, ■without any attempt to repent and amend. 
 But this, the Apostle says, is not his aim in insisting upon sinfulness. 
 Therefore he tells us that (c) Sin is not imputed to those who are in 
 covenant with Christ. Thus the weight of transgression is removed. 
 The past burden of sin at least does not lie on us. If it be possible to 
 cast off sin for the future — upon this point the Apostle does not yet 
 
6o THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 largely used in the LXX. as the translation both of the 
 Hebrew caphar, to cover, and salach, to be propitious. So 
 we have it in Luke xviii. 1 3, literally, " Lord, be pro- 
 pitiated to me the sinner." So in Heb. ii. 17, where the 
 sense is " to make propitiation." It is worthy of notice 
 that in each case where our Lord is spoken of as being a 
 propitiation for sin, He is not spoken of actively as the 
 person who propitiates, but rather in the abstract, as 
 propitiation itself. Thus IXacrWjpiov is the mercy-seat, 
 the place (see Exod. xxv. 22 ; Levit. xvi. 2, 13; Numb, 
 vii, 89) where God and man meet, where God's special 
 presence resides, and where the incense of devotion and 
 obedience is offered. Jesus Christ is that meeting-point 
 of God's requirements and man's fulfilment. His is the 
 love and mercy of God, and the obedience and devotion 
 of man combined (see also Ps. Ixxxv. 10, 11). Here He 
 is spoken of as IXaa-imo^, propitiation (not the propitiation, 
 as in our version, but propitiation itself). The manner in 
 which propitiation is made is not explained ; indeed, men 
 have been too anxious to explain it. Our attention is 
 here directed to the fact. And we are not so much 
 asked to consider the action of Jesus Christ in propiti- 
 ating, as the result of that action. Therefore we are 
 taught to rest for our acceptance, not in any particular 
 portion of His mediatorial work, but in Him ; " in His 
 
 enter — we need at least be troubled with no misgivings about the 
 past. "Let the dead past bury its dead." Our business is with the 
 future (Rom. viii. i ; Phil. iii. 13). Freed from an entangling weiglit 
 of past transgression we can start afresh on our course with the hope 
 of attaining Him, who is our salvation and our reward. And thus we 
 learn, finally, that (d) The way to avoid siii, for the future is not to 
 deny that it dwells in us, but to seek to be cleansed from it (see eh. 
 i. 9). Not the assertion of our own righteousness, but the possession of 
 a righteousness not our own is the mode of escape from sin. Thus, 
 tlierefore, the first and absolutely essential step towards freedom from 
 
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. 6 I 
 
 life, death, and resurrection," as John Wesley puts it in 
 his sermon on the Bepentance of believers ; that is to say, 
 in His obedience, in His condemnation of sin in the 
 flesh ; in His bearing the wrath of God ; in His sufferings 
 as well as His death ; in His rising again and passing 
 through the veil of His mortal flesh to offer the perfected 
 sacrifice for ever in heaven (see Heb. viii. 3, 4, ix. 24). 
 He is not merely the High Priest, who offers the sacrifice, 
 nor the victim that is offered, but propitiation itself — the 
 realisation in His own person of all that humanity requires 
 in order to be reconciled to God. This subject will be 
 found more fully discussed in the Homiletic Section, 
 which see. — and not for our sins only, but for the sins of 
 the whole world. Nearly every commentator here quotes 
 Bengel : " Quam late patet peccatum, tam late propiti- 
 atio." Christ did not come to be a propitiation, as has 
 been stated by President Edwards and others, for "all 
 the sins of some men," but for the sins of all men, " If 
 the salvation of all does not take efi"ect, the fault is not 
 that God will not forgive the sins of any one, but that 
 the unforgiven sinner repels the fatherly heart that moves 
 toward him in mercy " (Haupt). Calvin says, " sub 
 omnibus, reprobos non comprehendit." And as a fact, he 
 is correct. Christ is not a propitiation for those who 
 will have no propitiation. But, as a possihility, he is 
 
 sin is not the assertion of innocence, but the confession of guilt. The 
 second part of this verse is concerned with the means of deliverance. 
 The first statement is that we have an Advocate; the second, that 
 this Advocate is a propitiation. 
 
 I, We have an Advocate. " That ye sin not." "Yet if any man 
 sin." There is no contradiction. The way to holiness is not in our- 
 selves, but in another. The Christian course is not to be run alone. 
 One stands besides us (see note on Tropd/cXi/ros), to help, to cheer, to 
 console, to plead for us. 
 
 II. With the Father. A double sense is implied in the preposition 
 
62 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 incorrect. When the question arises concerning those 
 who may be comprehended in the propitiation, then we 
 must acknowledge that the whole world is within its 
 scope. None are necessarily excluded from its operation. 
 We may invite all men to come and be reconciled to 
 God, A " sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and propitiation " 
 has been made " for the sins of the whole world." A 
 general amnesty has been offered to all offenders. Every 
 one is included, save those who exclude themselves. 
 
 Ver, 3. — We enter now upon a new line of thought, 
 closely, however, connected with the declaration in ch. i. 
 5, 6. The Apostle, in this and the next three verses, 
 teaches that the result of this propitiation and recon- 
 ciliation should be to produce obedience to God's law ; 
 thus expanding and enforcing the hint he has thrown 
 out in the words, " Little children, these things I write 
 unto you, that ye sin not." — And hereby we do know that 
 we know Him. Attention to the tenses is very important 
 here. While the aorist is usually employed concerning 
 a state of things in progress, the perfect is used for its 
 complete fulfilment. St. John writes here, "And hereby 
 (or ' in this ') do we know that we have hnoivn Him," or, 
 as Lillie has well rendered, " have attained to this know- 
 ledge." Thus St. John is not saying that in this life, 
 while we are striving to attain to the knowledge of God, 
 
 irpbs (see note on ch. i. 2). (i) He is eternally with the Father, just as 
 He is with ns. He dwells in iis, and yet He is ever one in mind and 
 Mill witli Him with whom He pleads. Yet (2) He stands before Him 
 as man pleading our cause. The Head of the Church, the Head of 
 the whole human race who are imited to Him by faith, He ever presents 
 Himself at the eternal throne presenting the one sacrifice of His devoted 
 life, consummated and brought to a point, as it were, in His most 
 blessed death. 
 
 III. Righteous. We are here referred back to ch. i. 9, where the 
 word is translated "just." God is Skatoj to forgive us our sins because 
 
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. 6 
 
 O 
 
 we shall be able to keep His commandments. What he 
 says is that when we have learned to keep His command- 
 ments, we shall have attained to perfect knowledge of 
 Him. "Hereby," here, as in ch. iii. i6, 19, 24, iv. 9, 10, 
 13, 17 (the phrase ev rovrca is variously rendered in our 
 version), refers clearly, not to what has gone before, but 
 to what follows. Bishop Wordsworth sees here a refer- 
 ence to the Gnostic heresy. But ypwcri?, or more often 
 eTTiyvcocri?, is a phrase very common with St. Paul, as 
 well as the verb jivcoctko), when no reference to Gnostic 
 heresies can be possible, because they had not yet arisen. 
 And St. John, in his Gospel, tells us how often the 
 words, " to know God," were spoken by Jesus Christ. 
 The phrase, too, is common in the Old Testament. 
 Whether avrov refers to the Father or to Christ is here, 
 as elsewhere, uncertain. But we can hardly separate 
 the two, nor does St. John desire that we should do so. 
 Christ reveals to us the Father. If we know Christ we 
 know the Father. So also we can only know the Father 
 in and through Christ. The question has been supposed 
 to be settled by the use of cKeho? for avrog in ver. 6. 
 But the fact is that another avTo? is there introduced, 
 namely, the believer. — if we keep his commandments 
 (cf. John xiv. 15, 21, 23, xv. lo; also ch. v. 3). If 
 we wish to know whether we have fully attained 
 
 Jesus was S'lKaios to atone for them. His righteousness was the satis- 
 faction for our unrighteousness. His obedience for our sinfulness. 
 That righteousness, that sinlessness, was the only basis on wliich He 
 could ofler an atonement for our sins. We come next to consider the 
 fact of propitiation. And here we will remark ratlier upon the less 
 tlian the more obvious aspects of a truth familiar to us all. 
 
 I. It was not merely the endurance of the punishment AVE 
 DESERVED TO UNDERGO. Such is the way in which the doctrine is 
 frequently presented to our minds. But such a presentation is in- 
 adequate, and in some respects untrue. The problem of satisfaction 
 
64 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 to the knowledge of God, the test is a simple one. It is 
 whether we keep God's commandments or not. As long 
 as consciousness of present sin remains, as long as we 
 need the continual application of the propitiation to our 
 souls, so long we may be learning to know God; but 
 we do not yet know Him. When sin has altogether 
 ceased not only to have dominion over us, but to affect 
 us at all, then, and not till then, may we be said to know 
 God. And practically, to each one of us, the result of 
 self-examination (cf. ch. i. 8) will be to teach us that we 
 do not yet " know God,'' but that we have still much to 
 learn about Him. And thus we shall be ever growing 
 in that which of all Christian graces, except love, is the 
 dearest to Christ, namely, humility. If it be asked in 
 what this knowledge of God consists, we answer, not 
 with Haupt, that it is " to know Him as light," nor yet, 
 with Carpzovius and others, to love Him, but that it 
 implies the perception of the fact that He is all goodness 
 and mercy and love, ideas, indeed, which are evidently, 
 as we have seen, included in St. John's idea of light. 
 We should sadly miss the point of the Apostle's exhorta- 
 tion if we failed to perceive that it is not the intellectual, 
 but the moral and spiritual cognition of God that is 
 meant, just as St. Paul tells us that " to know the love 
 of Christ, which passeth knowledge," is to be " filled 
 
 for sin is a far more complex one than this. It is not denied that He 
 suffered many things to deliver us from suffering them. It is not 
 denied that He bare the burden of our sins. But this was not by the 
 simple substitution of Himself for us, so that He bare that which we 
 otherwise should have borne, and which henceforth we have not to 
 bear. For (i) He has not averted from us the penalty of death, but 
 the truth still holds good, " the soul that sinneth, it shall die." And 
 (2) He did not suffer eternal death — the penalty due to sin — that we 
 nught live, for it is our blessed privilege to believe in One who is 
 
THE FOEGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. 65 
 
 unto all the fulness of God " (Eph. iii. 1 9). The word 
 Trjpelv should be observed. It is a sign of the Hebrew 
 origin of the writer of this Epistle, for it signifies, literally, 
 to ivatch or guard, as well as to keep commandments, 
 and thus is the precise equivalent of the Hebrew shamar. 
 And it is a mark of common authorship, that while in 
 the other New Testament authors it occurs but seldom, 
 and then frequently in the stricter sense of guardinrf, it 
 occur.s very frequently in St. John's Gospel, Epistle, and 
 Apocalypse, and in each book with the word evroXi] or 
 \6yo^, a connection in which it is not found in any other 
 New Testament author, with the exception of Matt. xix. 
 17 and I Tim. vi. 14. The other authors prefer the 
 similar word, (pvXdcrareiv, which is sometimes used in 
 classical Greek in this sense. It is further observable 
 that St. Luke, who shows by his style that he was of 
 Gentile education, never uses the word in any other than 
 the strict sense of guarding in prison, save when he is 
 quoting the words of Jews, in connection with the con- 
 troversy about the necessity of circumcision (Acts xv. 5, 
 24; xxi. 25). The argument from the use of words 
 may undoubtedly be pressed too far, but it has its value. 
 Yet while it is very freely used to destroy the credit of 
 the New Testament, it is much more seldom used to 
 uphold it. It would be well if those who so confidently 
 
 "alive for evermore." We proceed, then, reverently to ask in -what 
 the propitiation consisted. 
 
 II. It was the offeking of His life. The "blood is the life." 
 Thus when He poured out His precious blood for our sakes, He gave 
 His life to God. And thus in the place of our guilty, sin-stained lives, 
 a perfect life, without spot or blemish, was ottered to the Father on 
 behalf of mankind. 
 
 III. He dkaxk to the uttermost the cup of His Father's 
 WRATH AGAINST SIN. This He did by being made a curse for us, by 
 enduring all the shame, aud scorn, and hatred which the real cruninai 
 
 E 
 
66 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 tell us that the writer of the Apocalypse was a " narrow- 
 minded Judffio-Christian," and that the writer of the 
 Gospel and Epistles of St. John was an Ephesine Gentile 
 of the second century, would take this striking similarity 
 of style into account, as well as the many alleged diver- 
 gences, remembering that the argument from similarity 
 is of infinitely more weight than that from divergence. 
 Next, we may observe on the tense of rrjpeh, which, as 
 present, involves the continual, habitual observance of 
 God's commandments. Nor must we, lastly, neglect the 
 word evToX-y], which has a force of its own. St. John 
 never uses the word i^o'yuo? of the Christian rule of 
 obedience (Alford, after Huther). Indeed, in this 
 Epistle the word wVo? never occurs. Instead we have 
 evToXij, the idea being that of a charge laid upon us by 
 one whom we ought to obey, a charge which love and 
 duty urge us to fulfil, instead of the old idea of a law 
 enforced by penalties, under which the slightest derelic- 
 tion of duty constituted us transgressors. In short, he 
 looks on the Christian's duty from the point of view of 
 personal rather than legal obligation. 
 
 Ver. 4. — He that saith I know him. The construction 
 here is Hebraistic, o \eycov, literally, " the man who is 
 saying " — the Hebrew way of expressing an act taking 
 place at the present moment, the only form, in fact. 
 
 deserved. This was the cause of the " horror of great darkness that 
 fell on Him," of the cry, "Why hast Thou forsalcen Me? " Nor had 
 He only to hear the sense of the Father's Avrath, but as our represen- 
 tative, He bowed His head to death, since thus only could He truly be 
 said to represent sinful num. Had He shrunk from this. He would 
 not have been our representative at all. 
 
 IV. He made an adequate satisfaction, on man's behalf, 
 FOE SIN. Though it were impossible for Him, in His own most 
 sacred person, to repent, yet it was possible for Him, as man's repre- 
 sentative, Himself true man, to offer to God, on man's behalf, a perfect 
 
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. ^I 
 
 ■which is distinctly present in Hebrew. Thus we learn 
 that the Apostle not only recognised the possibility of 
 men saying such things (as in eav e'lTrcoiuei', ch. i. 8, lo), 
 but the fact that they did say such things, that they 
 were saying tliem then. That here a reference was made 
 to the Gnostic heretics, the foundation of whose system 
 was what they supposed to be knowledge (see i Tim. vi. 
 20, where, however, ypcoa-i^ is unfortunately rendered 
 science), can hardly be denied. We need not go further, 
 and suppose, with some (cf. Eev. ii. 6, 14, &c.), that the 
 Apostle had in view some leader of the sect, who was 
 boasting of his knowledge of Christ, but denying the 
 obligation to live as Christ commanded him. See ver. 6. 
 The use of the perfect here, as above, implies perfect 
 knowledge, " He who is saying I have attained to the 
 knowledge of Him." — and keepeth not his commandments, 
 is a liar, and the truth is not in him (see note on last verse). 
 Literally, " and in this man truth is not." We may 
 observe how the Apostle deals with greater severity with 
 the offence here than ever before. To say that we have 
 no sin (ch. i. 8) is a proof that the truth is not in us ; 
 but the assertion may arise from ignorance. We " deceive 
 ourselves," or " err." To say that we have fellowship 
 with God while we are living in darkness, is a far more 
 serious offence. Common sense and conscience will not 
 
 /xerdvoia, or change of attitude, as rej^ards sin. Man loved sin, he 
 clung to it, he refused to leave it, tUl Jesus Christ came on earth. 
 When He came. He hated it, abhorred it, cast it from Him, as utterly 
 as did His Father. His mind was one witli the Father's as regards 
 sin. And thus, for the first time since Adam's transgression, God and 
 man were at one as regards sin, and the work of the fall was from 
 henceforth undone. 
 
 V. He acknowledged His Father's justice, and thus vindicated 
 the Avays of God to man. By dying. He recognised the truth that man 
 deserved to die, and thus rendered it possible for God to be "just," 
 
68 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 let us deceive ourselves iu that. We no longer deceive 
 ourselves ; we lie. And further, the lie is fixed upon him 
 who does this. Not only he lies, but he is a liar. His 
 moral condition is false ab initio ; he is one who makes 
 it his business to say what he must know to be untrue, 
 and to lead others astray. Hence the inverted form of 
 the sentence, bringing the person into prominence. It 
 is no longer " truth is not in us," but emphatic, " and in 
 that man " (where Germans as well as Greeks would say 
 " this ") " truth is not." Again, " in the first chapter we 
 have two kinds of activity, ' to lie,' and to ' do not the 
 truth.' Here we have two states or conditions, to be ' a 
 liar,' and not to partake of the truth " (Haupt). 
 
 Vek. 5 . — But whoso keepeth his word. Here the " His " 
 is emphatic, perhaps, as opposed to the doctrine of the 
 6 Xeycov in the preceding verse. The tense of the word 
 keejp is the aorist, but its force is somewhat weakened by 
 its being in the conjunctive mood. Still it implies a past 
 condition of long continuance in " His word." Bengel 
 acutely remarks, " prcecepta multa, verbum unum. His 
 word is the whole body of His commandments." As 
 Haupt remarks, we have here a similar conclusion (after 
 ver. 4) to that in ch. i. 6, 7. But here the thought takes 
 another direction. There we are directed to our common 
 brotherhood, and our common deliverance from a state of 
 
 and yet ' ' the justifier of liim which believeth." Thei-efore we humbly 
 and thankfully believe that He offered Himself a ransom in our stead, 
 and suffered much in so offering Himself, which we must otherwise 
 have undergone. But it is important to remember that He so delivers 
 us, not by simply enduring what Ave otherwise should have had to 
 suffer, but by taking us into union with Himself. Thus we are recon- 
 ciled to God, not only because He suffered for us, but because He 
 dwells in us. And He delivers us from the extreme penalty of sin, 
 not only by suffering for us, but by freeing us from the dominion of 
 sin, so that, as sanctified by His spirit, we cease to commit it. Justifi- 
 
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. 69 
 
 sin. Here we are directed rather forward, to a condition 
 when we shall have kept God's law, and have attained to 
 perfect knowledge of Him through love. — in him verily is 
 the love of God perfected. Eather, " hath the love of God 
 teen perfected." Commentators have learnedly discussed 
 the relations of knowledge and love ; but of true know- 
 ledge and love it must be said with Braune, that " they 
 are intrinsically connected and correlatives." The con- 
 trast between the knowledge of this world and love is 
 pointed out by St. Paul in i Cor. viii. i. The intimate 
 connection between true knowledge and love is shown in 
 the second and third verses of that chapter (see also Gal. 
 iv. 9, compared with the context, especially vers. 7, 8 ; 
 also Eom. xiii. i o). There has also been much discussion 
 on the question whether the love of God to man, or the 
 love of man to God, is here meant, and many great names 
 may be quoted on each side of the question. But surely, 
 as the love of man to God is but the reflex of the tide of 
 God's love to man, as it is but the return to Him of what 
 He has given us (for faith and love are the gifts of God), 
 we must here understand the love of God in its fullest 
 abstract sense, as including all our human reflections of 
 its power in the direction of our heart and affections unto 
 God (see Eom. viii. 39). Thus, then, it will mean the 
 love of God in our heart, displaying itself in every way ; 
 
 cation by imputation, i.e., our being regarded not as Avliat we are iu 
 ourselves, but as what we are in Christ, is necessary to be believed, 
 (i) Because we need it while Ave are yet sinners, and because (2) even 
 when, through the i)Ower of the Spirit, Ave have ceased to commit sin, 
 Ave yet have sinned, and therefore in that sense, as a fact in our past 
 personal experience, must remain sinners for evermore. But it is to 
 be believed as the first step to s;inctihcation, Avhereby, our past sins 
 freely forgiven and atoned for, Ave are henceforth accepted in the be- 
 loved, because His righteousness hath been perfected in us, and thus 
 our reconciliation to God hath been perfected also. 
 
70 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 love expansive, longing to flow out to others, and manifest- 
 ing itself in every kind of self-forgetful affection both 
 towards God and all His creatures. This is the quality 
 which the Apostle says " is " (that is, " has been ") " per- 
 fected in us." By " perfected," is meant that which has 
 attained its end. Thus, since God's will is to regain for 
 Himself the human heart, to make it wholly His, His love 
 has attained its end in us when it has obtained entire pos- 
 session of us, has driven out all selfish and fleshly desires, 
 and has taught us to fulfil those commandments, the end of 
 which, as St. Paul tells us, " is love out of a pure heart, 
 and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned" (i Tim. i. 5. 
 See also Eph. iii. 19, above cited, and Col. i. 10-12, iii. 
 14). So our Lord, in St. John xvii. 3, makes the end 
 and purpose of all life eternal, the knowledge of God and 
 of Himself. This interpretation derives strength from a 
 consideration of the word aXtjOoo^, which (with Ebrard) 
 we must hold to be no mere barren formula of affirmation, 
 but the opposite of " in that man the truth is not " (ver. 
 5). "The love of God hath been truly ^' not merely in 
 appearance, or in our own opinion, " perfected in us," 
 when we have learned " to keep His word." And here 
 we learn the true test of final acceptance with God, as 
 opposed to false and lying estimates of the signs of dwell- 
 ing in Him. It is only when we have been enabled to keep 
 His word, that (see next note) we can say that we really 
 
 Vee. 3. — The test of our knowledge of God is obedience. Christians 
 have devised other tests of a true conversion. But this is the only 
 test recognised by Jesus Christ. A tree is known by its fruits, He 
 says (Matt. vii. 16-20; cf. Jolm xv. 2, 5, 16 ; Rom. vii. 4). If, there- 
 fore, we want to know whether our conversion is genuine, our faith a 
 saving faith, we only have to ask whetlier it is saving us from the 
 commission of sin, and worlcing in us obedience to God's command- 
 ments. All other tests, we learn from ver. 4, are vain. 
 
 Ver. 5. — Knowledge and Loic. 
 
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. J I 
 
 live in Him. — hereby know we that we are in him. The 
 language of the Apostle is changed once more. He speaks 
 no longer of knowing God, or having fellowship with Him. 
 He penetrates now to the central truth of Christianity, 
 namely, that the Christian who is really such, partakes 
 of the life and being of his Lord. " Hereby know we " — 
 not that we know Him, but — " that we are in Him." 
 This truth we shall find further unfolded in the remainder 
 of the Epistle, and it is the main truth of Christianity. 
 It was the main object of Christ in coming among us 
 to restore the lost union between God and man, and to 
 increase its fulness and depth. This truth is taught with 
 remarkable clearness and distinctness by St. John in both 
 Gospel and Epistle. We find in the Gospel that the life 
 of Christ is to pass into the believer as the flesh of the 
 Paschal Lamb into the system of those who ate it, and 
 thus to be the means of a mutual indwelling of the 
 believer in Christ (ch. vi.) We find (ch. xv.) that there 
 is to be an identity of life in the Eedeemer and His 
 people which bears analogy to the life of the vine trans- 
 mitted through the branches. The blessed truth is 
 summed up in the pregnant sentence in ch. xvii. 2-3, " I in 
 them and Thou in Me, that they may have become perfected 
 unto one." In the Epistle we shall find as we proceed 
 the statement reiterated in many various forms, presenting 
 the same truth to us in many various aspects. But our ver- 
 
 I. Knowledge is but experience in love. If we keep His 
 commandments, we know that we know Him. But when we shall 
 have kept His commandments, His love has been pei'fected in us. 
 Thus, then, to know Him is to love Him, not only because (i) The 
 better we know Him, the more worthy of love we find Him to be, but 
 (2) Because (a) all His perfections are summed up in the one word — 
 love ; (6) all His works are but the manifestations of His love ; and (c) 
 all His commandments are intended to teach us how to live in His 
 love. 
 
72 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 sion has sometimes obscured St. Paul's testimony to the 
 truth. It is clear enough in passages like Eom. viii. lo, 
 1 1 ; 2 Cor. V. 17, xiii. 5 ; Gal. ii. 20, iii. 28 ; Eph. ii. 20— 
 
 22, iii. 17 ; Col. i. 27, 28, iii. 3, 4, &c. But it is no less 
 clearly expressed in the original in passages like Eom. vi. 
 
 23, where the Apostle speaks of life, not through, but in 
 Christ, bringing about, not a personal identity,as Pantheism 
 would teach, not an absorption of our individuality into 
 the Divinity, but a unity of mind and will and purpose, 
 a destruction of that opposition which exists between 
 God and man until sin is finally expelled from the 
 soul. 
 
 Ver. 6. — He that saith he abideth in him. Here we 
 have another characteristic of the spiritual life — its ;pcr- 
 mancnce. In the last verse St. John speaks of our 
 existing in Christ. Here he speaks of our continuing to 
 exist in Him. Bengel has, as usual, summed up the 
 Apostle's thought in very pregnant language, " cognitio, 
 communio, constantia." This, again, is a doctrine laid 
 down by Christ Himself in very marked language. It is 
 not merely that the life of Christ is to be given to us, but 
 it is to be retained by us, by a perpetual and conscious 
 exercise of the will. Thus Christ says (St. John xv. 4), 
 " Abide in Me, and I in you ; " and again (ch. xv. 9, the 
 word being the same in the Greek), " Continue ye in My 
 love." We may, with Haupt, admit that there is a 
 
 II. The keeping of His commandments is the being perfected 
 IN love. All wrong-doing is a violation of the law of love, and comes 
 from desiring our own apparent or immediate well-being at the expense 
 of others, instead of seeking onr happiness in theirs. The love of God, 
 as manifested in creation and redemption alike, seeks nought but 
 man's truest well-being. That love is perfected in us, when our will 
 responds exactly to the will of God, and we regard all our fellow- 
 creatures in precisely the same light of eternal love as He does. 
 
 V'er. 6. — Our present life is aiirogrcss toicard thnt i^crfection. The 
 
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND ITS RESULTS. J T^ 
 
 gradation in the ideas to knoio, to he in, and to abide in 
 Christ. Yet if we deny that this gradation is the main 
 object of the Apostle here, we do not do so precisely upon 
 Haupt's grounds, but rather because the word jmeveiv is not 
 here the Apostle's sentiment, but is put into the mouth of 
 another. The main object here would seem to be i^rogrcss 
 towards 'perfection. The Apostle desires (ver. i) to guard 
 his readers from sin. Yet, lest theyshould be discouraged, 
 he reminds them (ver. 2) that there is a propitiation for 
 sin. Then (ver. 3) he points out that the only test of 
 our having grasped the full meaning of that propitiation 
 will be the keeping God's commandments. To imagine 
 that we can know God without keeping His command- 
 ments is to be destitute of the truth (ver. 4). By keep- 
 ing His commandments we are made perfect in the love 
 of God, and when we shall have done so, we shall have 
 reason to know that we have been so perfected (ver. 5). 
 But to return from the future to the present (ver. 6), to 
 be abiding in God now is to steadily pursue the same 
 course as Christ pursued, eschewing all evil, and perfect- 
 ing our own individual life as Christ perfected humanity 
 (Luke xiii. 32 ; Heb. ii. 10, v. 9). 6 Xiyoov implies that 
 any one who makes a personal profession of union with 
 Christ is bound to follow His example. — ought. The 
 word clearly denotes moral responsibility. He owes it to 
 God and to himself ; it is a duty incumbent upon him. 
 
 tense (see exposition) is changed here. From a final, perfected state, 
 we turn to one in progress. Tlius, as Clirist in His human life took our 
 corrupt humanity, and led it through various stages of growth to its 
 final perfection after His resurrection (we discern this in passages like 
 Luke ii. 52 ; Heb. ii. 10, v. 9), so the process is continued tln-oughout 
 the human life of each one of us. The spark of Divine life is com- 
 municated to us to become, through our care, a fire of love. Here the 
 process is described as a ivalk ; a gradual change of j^lace until we 
 come to our journey's end. That is, by steady resistance to the evil 
 
74 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 — himself also so to walk. These words are emphatic, and 
 emphasise obligation of ocpelXei. — even as he walked (of. 
 Eph. V. 2; also John xiii. 14, 15). God (see note oji 
 ch. i. 6) cannot be said to ivalk. He remains ever the 
 same. It is only man who advances from one stage of per- 
 fection to another. But Jesus Christ, as Man, may be said 
 to do so (cf. Luke ii. 52). The aorist does not (as Bishop 
 "Wordsworth, in loc.) mean that our Lord's walk was "one 
 act of uudeviating obedience to God." As before, it relates 
 to a past fact without specifying the time too nearly, dif- 
 fering from the imperfect, because that would imply that 
 the act was being accomplished at some particular time 
 in the past. It would not be right to leave this passage 
 without referring to the omission of oyro)? by some MSS. 
 There seems good reason to believe that it ought to be 
 retained. It is quite unnecessary to the sense, and for 
 this reason many of the best MSS. and Versions omit it. 
 But it is an unmistakable Hebraism, and as such hardly 
 would have been introduced by any transcriber. This is 
 another of the many tokens of Hebrew origin in this 
 Epistle. 
 
 that dwells within us, .by steady obedience to the impulses toward 
 good communicated to us hy God's Spirit, we consummate the union 
 with Christ Avhich was begun, so that in the end there is perfect union 
 of will, and soul, and spirit with Him. See Matt. v. 48 ; Rom. xii. 2 ; 
 Eph. iv. 13; Phil. iii. 12, Col. i. 28, iv. 12; Heb. xii. 23, xiii. 21 ; 
 I Pet. V. 10. 
 
( 75 ) 
 
 V. 
 
 DAEKNESS AND LIGHT. 
 
 rm. ii. 7. — We arrive now at a new section of the 
 ^ Epistle. Its connection with what has preceded 
 will best be seen by a recapit^^lation of what has pre- 
 ceded. In the first section of the Epistle, the Apostle 
 has laid down the twofold truth — (i) that the object of 
 Christ's coming was to make us free from sin, i.e., trans- 
 late us into a condition in which we no longer commit 
 it ; and (2) that in order to this it is necessary (a) that 
 we frankly recognise our sinfulness, and (b) the fact that 
 a propitiation has been made for it. Then he proceeds 
 to point out (cb. ii. 3), that the proof of our having 
 attained to the knowledge of God is obedience to His 
 laws ; that no other criterion of knowledge of Him is in 
 the least degree admissible ; that this obedience is the 
 sign that the love of God has been perfected in us, and 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ver. 7. — Chi'istianity no veio religion. 
 
 I. Tendencies to exaggerate the distinction between 
 Christianity and former religions. St. Paul has brought out 
 the fact that Christianity has brought a new light into the world (see 
 2 Tim. i. 10 ; also 2 Cor. v. 17 ; Gal. v. i ; Eph. ii. 15, iv. 24 ; Col. 
 iii. 10 ; Heb. x. 20). So also in his use of the terms Old and New 
 Covenant. He speaks of newness of life, of the newness of the Spirit, 
 as opposed to the oldness of the letter. This view of the newness of 
 
76 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 that God has taken up His abode in us (or perhaps it 
 would be better to put it, that our existence is henceforth 
 a continual living in God). This living a Divine life, he 
 adds, involves conformity to Christ's example. And then 
 he takes a new point of departure, and proclaims a com- 
 mandment which he asserts to be both old and new. 
 The connection of ver. 7 with what precedes and follows 
 has been variously explained. At first sight the whole 
 construction of the next two verses seems to involve 
 some difficulty. But the main drift of the Apostle's 
 meaning reveals itself after a brief examination, unless we 
 persist in arranging the Apostle's thoughts in a severely 
 logical form. This is precisely the arrangement of which 
 St. John's Gospel and Epistles are least patient. The 
 connection is not so much logical as sympathetic. Very 
 often the thought anticipates its distinct expression. It 
 is, as it were, adumbrated before-hand. Indicated thus 
 slightly at first, it is then repeated, each time in greater 
 distinctness and fulness of meaning, until at last it has 
 been brought before us in all its bearings. Those only, 
 I believe, who have realised this peculiarity of the 
 Apostle's style, have grasped the connection of this 
 passage. 
 
 Vek. 7. — Brethren, I write no new commandment unto 
 you. For brethren, the best MSS. and all recent com- 
 
 the Christian revelation has been caught up and exaggerated by- 
 teachers in all ages. The law is " done away " — or rather, as the word 
 should be translated, " made useless," which gives a veiy different 
 sense— in ChrLst. Marcion was the first to insist upon this view of 
 Christ's mission. To him the law Avas not merely useless, but mis- 
 chievous, and Christianity a religion entirely new. But this Avas seen 
 to be an absurd misinterpretation of St. Paul's vieAvs : and it Avas felt 
 that, if tills vieAV Avere adopted, it Avould lead to the conclusion that 
 God had "left Himself without Avitness " in the Avorld, and the 
 world to itself for ages. Consequently the Church energetically 
 
DAEKNESS AND LIGHT. "]"] 
 
 mentators read 'beloved, a reading which has also been 
 accepted in the Eevised Version. There can be no 
 doubt of the correctness of the emendation. The first 
 question the commentators have asked is, What is this 
 commandment ? The natural reply has been, that of 
 brotherly love. Those who, like Liicke and Ebrard, 
 insist upon the logical sequence of thought, demur to 
 this explanation altogether. How, they say, is it likely 
 that the Apostle should introduce the question of 
 brotherly love in this way ? He does not mention it 
 till ver. 10. Is it likely that the commandment can be 
 what he is goincj to say ? Is it not absolutely necessary 
 that it should be what he lias said ? Accordingly, we 
 have various explanations of the passage. According to 
 some, it is Christ's whole doctrine which is at once old 
 and new, — " the Word which ye have heard from the 
 beginning." But these last words seem rather to be a 
 further assertion, in St. John's manner (as in vers. 3, 6 
 of this chapter), of the statement that the commandment 
 of which he speaks is not new. Bullinger, again, inter- 
 prets thus : In exhorting you to innocency of life, 
 according to the example of Christ (which he sup- 
 poses to be the commandment), I am giving you no 
 new precept, though to some it may seem so, but simply 
 repeating what you have heard from the beginning 
 
 repudiated this notion. Yet it has been revived in a modified form 
 since. The mis-transhition above mentioned has led to a conviction 
 that the law was abolislied, and a similar mis-translation to the idea 
 that "the works of the law" were actual hindrances in the way of 
 salvation. St. Paul has been held to teach that " works " did us more 
 harm than good, and that the less we did to please God the more 
 chance there was of being accepted with Him. This is equally to 
 give "a new commandment" to mankind, and to obscure the fact 
 that Christ's Gospel was the " old commandment which men had from 
 the beginning." 
 
78 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHIv^. 
 
 of your adoption of the Christian religion. But the 
 example of Christ can hardly be said to be a " word " or 
 " commandment " (Braune). And can any one imagine 
 that the proposing Christ's example to His disciples to 
 follow, could be considered anything new, if we suppose, 
 with BuUinger, that " from the beginning " means from the 
 beginning of the Gospel ? The truth is, that the advocates 
 of these interpretations have forgotten two things. First, 
 that, as has been said, no one who attentively reads St. 
 John's writings can suppose them to have been drawn up 
 in logical form ; and next, that his habit of continually 
 meditating upon the words of his Divine Master makes 
 those words continually present to his thoughts. And 
 he assumes that those words M-ill be as familiar to his 
 readers as to himself. His Gospel may or may not 
 have been written. But can any one suppose that St. 
 John could have instructed his hearers in the Christian 
 faith, without having repeatedly told them of their Lord's 
 words, " A new commandment I give unto you, that ye 
 love one another" (John xiii. 34)? Or can we suppose 
 that a pious Jew, and a disciple of the Baptist like St. 
 John, could help reflecting that in one sense the com- 
 mandment was not new, but one of the very earliest that 
 had been given to man. It was embodied in the Law, as 
 Christ Himself tells us (Matt. xxii. 39); and of that 
 
 II. Christianity the extension, not the repeal of the 
 Law. This Christ teaches us (Matt. v. 17, 18; Luke xvi. 16, 17). 
 In fact, the whole of the fifth chapter of St. Matthew conveys this 
 truth. Tlie " good works " of the disciple are to be " seen " (ver. 16). 
 The law is to he kept more perfectly than it had ever yet been (ver. 20). 
 Its precepts were shown to be more searching than had ever been 
 supposed (vers. 21-47). Absolute perfection, and nothing short of it, 
 Avas to be the Christian's goal. So St. Paul energetically asserts the 
 excellence of the Law (see i Tim. i. 5, 8 ; and yet more emphatically 
 in Rom. vii. 12, 14 ; and again in Rom. iii. i, 2, 20, vii. 7), From the 
 
DARKNESS AND LIGHT. 79 
 
 Law not one jot or tittle was to fail (Matt. v. 18). 
 Thus we may easily understand (i) how the natural 
 development of his subject leads St. John to speak of the 
 law of love ; and (2) how before he unfolds it as practi- 
 cally new, when taken in all its fulness, he anticipates 
 an objection which had, no doubt, often been made to 
 him before. But we have spoken of this mention of the 
 law of love as " the natural development " of the Apostle's 
 subject. There must therefore be some connection be- 
 tween ver. I o and ver. 6. What is it ? It seems so 
 plain, that one wonders how the commentators can have 
 raised so much discussion about it. It is astonishinor 
 that men should fail to see the closest and most immediate 
 connection between the example of Christ (ver. 6), and 
 the command to walk in love (vers. 9, 10). Surely they 
 might have remembered, " Walk in love, as Christ also 
 loved us, and gave Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice 
 to God as a sweet-smelling savour " (Eph. v. 2), " God 
 is Love," says St. John. Christ came to manifest God to 
 us. And what was His whole life but one long mani- 
 festation of love ? How then should it surprise us that 
 St. John should, after mentioning Christ's example, carry 
 his thoughts on at once to the life of love, prefacing his 
 strong exhortation to men to live it, by the declaration 
 that it was a command both old and new ? Braune is 
 
 Old Testament, too, Ave learn this truth (see Ps. cv. 8, 10, cxi. 7, S ; 
 Isa, Iv. 3). And the glory of the Old Covenant is frankly recognised 
 by St. Paul in 2 Cor. iii. 
 
 III. Christianity the substitution of the spirit for the 
 LETTER. The reconciliation of these two opposite views of the law is 
 to be found in the fact that Christianity altered the mode of working 
 of the law. (a) From the beginning it had rested on the two com- 
 mandments to love God, and one's neighbour (Matt. xxii. 40). This 
 was even a part of natural religion, in that men from the beginning 
 could see that love Avas better than hate. And so Christianity has 
 
8o THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 very satisfactory here. He points out how impossible it 
 is to separate the duty of brotherly love from the 
 example of Christ, and regards the former as no more 
 than a clearer definition of the latter. He also cites oh. 
 iii. II, 23, iv. 7, 21, as instances of the uniform habit 
 of the Apostle to " pass from general precepts to the com- 
 mandment of love." — but an old commandment which ye 
 had from the beginning. The question here is, whether St. 
 John by " from the beginning " means from the beginning 
 of the Gospel, or from the beginning of humanity. The 
 question is best settled by a reference to St. John's usual 
 mode of expression. In ch. i. i of the Gospel and of this 
 Epistle (see also ch. ii. 13, 14, iii. 8), "the beginning of the 
 Gospel " would give a very poor and frigid sense. If we 
 reject it there, a consideration of the usus loquendi of the 
 writer would induce us to reject it here.^ Nor is there any 
 reason why we should not reject it. Not only do we find 
 the command given in the Law (Lev. xix. 1 8), " thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself," but St. John evidently 
 regards it as implicitly, if not explicitly, given from the 
 earliest times. He states distinctly in ch. iii. 11 (a passage 
 which has been strangely overlooked by expositors), that 
 the " message we had from the beginning " was this com- 
 
 1 In St. John xv. 27, dx' dpxv^ signifies from the beginning of Christ's 
 ministry. 
 
 been held by a whole school of divines (Bishop Butler, for instance) 
 to be a " republication of natural religion " with fresh sanctions. It 
 could not be otherwise, since man was created in the image of God, 
 and until he defaced that Image he must have had tendencies im- 
 planted in him to imitate Him in whose Image lie was made. And 
 those tendencies remained, though sadly weakened, after man had 
 fallen. Then (b) the Law, as we have seen, enshrined those principles 
 of love to God and man. And St. Paul's words, above cited, merely 
 mean that the Law, as an external enactment, had ceased to be of use. 
 (See 2 Cor. iii. 14, Avhere, no doubt, it is the covenant, not the veil, whose 
 
DARKNESS AND LIGHT. 8 1 
 
 mandment of mutual love ; and then immediately goes 
 on to illustrate it by the example of Cain, who sinned at 
 the instance of one " who was a murderer from the 
 beginning " (John viii. 44), It seems hardly possible to 
 understand that St. John could have regarded Cain as 
 responsible for his conduct, if he had not received some 
 precept or internal impulse tending towards brotherly 
 love. " Sin is not reckoned where there is no law," says 
 St. Paul (Eom. v. 13). Thus, then, St. John teaches 
 that the command to mutual love was given to humanity 
 from the very first. Jew and Gentile alike had it. It 
 was written in their very nature, in which the image of 
 God was found, until they chose to deface it by self- 
 seeking and violence. There seems no ground for Haupt's 
 assertion that the Apostle makes any distinction here 
 between himself and those whom he is addressing. We 
 have no right to import such ideas into the text unless 
 the sense absolutely requires it. The sentence is clear 
 enough without any such explanation : " I am writing 
 nothing new to yoii ; I am only writing what you have 
 always been told." It would certainly be a very large 
 assumption to make from such a passage if it occurred 
 in the letters, say, of a clergyman of the present day, that 
 he wished his readers to understand that he had never 
 been told anything of the kind. While every word of 
 
 work is said to be at an end.) We proceed (c) to inquire hotv it is that 
 this commandment can be said to be fulfilled, while thus it is super- 
 seded, and virtually useless. And here we lind the truth anticipateil 
 under the old disjiensation. Jeremiah (ch. xxxi. 33) foretells the 
 time when the covenant shall not consist of external enactments, but 
 inward principles. St. Paul (in i Cor. iii.) shows how this had actually 
 been fulfilled. The " law of commandments contained in ordinances " 
 (or decrees— 567/xaTa) has been rendered useless, because for it has 
 been substituted an inward Spirit — tlie Spirit of Jesus— which enables 
 a man to do, by the promptings of his own regenerate nature, what 
 
82 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Scripture should be carefully weighed, it is quite possible 
 to carry minuteness of exegesis too far. — The old command- 
 ment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. 
 Tlie word rjKovcrare here fixes the meaning of Xoyos as 
 tlie subject of the commandment, not the Personal Word 
 of the Father. Its sense, as we have already explained, 
 means " heard " at some indefinite period in tlie past. 
 Xoyo? here signifies not " word " simply, but the subject- 
 matter of a discourse. Here it stands as equivalent to 
 evToXi], and implies perhaps much the same as the 
 expression " Word of the Lord," so constantly found in 
 the prophets. The best MSS. and versions omit the 
 second " from the beginning." Accordingly it is not 
 found in the Eevised Version. Its omission certainly 
 gives greater force to the expression Xoyo?. This last 
 word seems here to imply the whole substance of religion, 
 natural as well as revealed. However little it may 
 have been understood, the principle of brotherly love 
 has deep root in the natural promptings of man's heart. 
 It is testified to by the voice of conscience, by the 
 general opinion of mankind, when not blinded by 
 personal motives. It was explicitly taught in the Law. 
 And, as we shall immediately see, it was republished 
 with fresli force in the Gospel. iraXaia hardly seems to 
 
 had previously been formulated in laws external to liim. Thus the 
 commandment remains what it ahvays was, while the clear view of its 
 scope has been indetinitelj' enlarged, and the powder and desire to fulfil 
 it marvellously augmented. Once they were but a vague tendency 
 implanted in us towards a principle inadequately comprehended. Then 
 they assumed the more definite form of prohibitions engraven on stones. 
 Then they were at last recognised as tlie Word of the living God, ever 
 sounding in men's ears, as it has done from the beginning, if man had 
 but been able to hear it. 
 
 Ver. 8. — The commandment new in its form and power. 
 
 I. The commandment new in form. As we have seen, at first 
 
DARKNESS AND LIGHT. S^, 
 
 square with the view that the beginning of the Gospel is 
 meant above. 
 
 Vee. 8. — Again, a new commandment give I unto you. 
 The word Kaivog, as Bishop Wordsworth reminds us, 
 means that which has been renewed, as distinguished 
 from viog, which signifies that which is actually new. 
 Here again the commentators who will have no reference 
 to vers. 9, lo, have gone astray. As they explain the 
 passage, the new commandment is, " the darkness is 
 passing away, and the true light now shineth." How 
 this can be said to be a " commandment " they do not 
 explain, nor does it admit of easy explanation, without 
 straining the force of ivroXij into doctrine rather than 
 commandment. But this, which is bad enough in 
 Greek, is quite inadmissible when we remember that our 
 author was thinking in Hebre%v. (See note on ver. 2.) 
 The truth is, that the form in which this " new com- 
 mandment " is given in John xiii. 3 4 determines the 
 form of this whole passage. What has been generally 
 supposed to be the new part of the commandment — that 
 which gives it its Christian depth and force — is con- 
 tained in the words, " as I have loved you." And in 
 this passage we find Christ's example cited in ver. 6, 
 and its necessary results in vers. 9, 10. But this 
 
 it was but a vague impulse imperfectly felt and obeyed. Then it was 
 formulated (Lev. xix. 18), but had to be expounded by telling men 
 what they should not do, so as at least to enable them to keep it in 
 some degree. Hence it assumed rather a negative than a positive 
 foi'm, by reason of man's incapacity to understand it. But the life of 
 our Lord shed an altogether new light upon it. It became practically 
 a new commandment when men saw it fulfilled for the first time. 
 Then they began to understand something of the " breadth, and length, 
 and depth, and height " of this " love of Christ which passeth know- 
 ledge" (Eph. iii. 18, 19). And so for the first time they began to 
 comprehend what God's love was, when they found themselves bidden 
 
84 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST, JOHN. 
 
 thought is expanded in the present passage. The reasons 
 why the command to love one another is a new command- 
 ment are given in what follows. Such explanations as 
 Calvin's, that it is in reality old, but is daily renewed by 
 God's inspirations in the soul ; or Knapp's, that it is put 
 forth with such energy as to be virtually new — are far 
 from rising to the full height of the Apostle's meaning. 
 Haupt, with deep insight into the hidden conformity of 
 this passage with the last and deepest portion of St. 
 John's Gospel, connects these words, not merely with 
 John xiii. 34, but with the whole narrative from ch. 
 xiii. I onward, culminating in the Passion. He sees in 
 the expression, " He loved them unto the end," an ex- 
 pression of the Apostle's conviction that this awful and 
 mysterious portion of our Lord's life was a revelation of 
 Divine love of an altogether unique kind, and intended 
 to lead us, first into an admiration, secondly, into a 
 reproduction, of its spirit. His washing the disciples' 
 feet;- His affectionate and most spiritual discourses; 
 the prayer in ch. xvii. ; and finally His drinking to 
 the very dregs the cup of sorrow for our sakes, was 
 the placing the command to love one another on 
 a new and hitherto inconceivable basis. Only they 
 who have stood beneath the Cross, who have grasped 
 the full meaning of that consummation of a life of 
 
 to "love one another, as Christ had loved them." The example was 
 new, and thus the commandment, with this altogether new light 
 npon it, became practically new also. This precept, therefore, was 
 "true in Him and in His disciples." For He only was sinless; He 
 only was capable of the perfection of humanity ; He only, by His 
 ' loving His own even unto the end," by the sacrifice of Himself 
 for their sakes, could display to them the inexhaustible nature of 
 true love. 
 
 II. The commandment new in power. It was in the removing 
 the inability of man to fulfil the commandments of God that the chief 
 
DARKNESS AND LIGHT. 85 
 
 sacrifice, can appreciate the force of the words, " Love 
 one another, as I have loved you:' — which thing is true 
 in him and in you. The relative pronoun is in the 
 neuter, and therefore does not, except indirectly, mean 
 the commandment. These words have been variously 
 explained. Thus, Erasmus and Bullinger have trans- 
 lated, " what is true in Him, is true in you," which is 
 not very far from the truth. Alford, following De 
 Wette and Neander, explains, " the fact that the com- 
 mandment is new, is true, both in Him and in you," 
 which seems hardly to rise quite to the level of the 
 Apostle's meaning. Braune's exposition seems to come 
 nearer to the truth : " Brotherly love evidenced in the 
 Christian's walk, is true in Christ the Head, and in the 
 members of the body ; " and Haupt, as might have been 
 expected from what has been already said, comes nearer 
 than any, when he says that " the brotherly love now in 
 question as an evroXri Kaivri, has been brought into the 
 world only through the example of Christ, and can by us 
 be attained only through fellowship with Him. In truth 
 6 ea-TLv aXijOh is in apposition to evroXrjv Kam'ju. ' I 
 write what is true, in Him and in you.' " That this is 
 very probably the true explanation we shall further see 
 when we come to the next sentence. Meanwhile, let us 
 attempt to expand the Apostle's meaning so far as we 
 have gone. It is true, he says, that the command to 
 
 blessing of the Gospel lay. " My Spirit shall not always strive with 
 man," God had said (Gen. vi. 3). His fleshly nature was to be allowed 
 to have its full play (ibid. ) But now all was reversed. Born of the 
 Spirit of Christ (John iii. 5), man was to be free to walk after His 
 inspirations (Rom. viii. 2). Henceforth, therefore, tbere was not only 
 an example (see above) to teach him how he ought to walk, but a 
 voice within, crying, " This is the way, walk thou iu it ; " and a strength 
 coming from union with Christ, which would enable him, in ever- 
 increasing measure, to fulfil it. Thus the fact that the comuiaudment 
 
86 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 brotherly love is as old as humanity. Yet taken by the 
 light of the example of Christ (ver. 6), it is practically a 
 new one. Not only has man, from a long course of dis- 
 obedience, selfishness, and sin, completely lost sight of 
 the truth which, in days of comparative innocence, he 
 was able to discern, but by the sacrifice of Christ the 
 duty of brotherly love has been lifted up into an entirely 
 new atmosphere. Henceforth, it does not merely mean 
 acting kindly to one's brother, treating him as one would 
 treat oneself ; it means sacrificing oneself for him ; anni- 
 hilating one's personality on his behalf ; living for his 
 sake rather than our own. And this, the Apostle con- 
 tinues, this newness of the commandment, or rather (see 
 above) the obligation to the life which is enjoined in the 
 new commandment, " is true in Him." " Never man lived 
 like this Man," might have been said of Him. From His 
 Cross streamed out a new light upon the relation of man 
 to his neighbour. And it is also true " in you," from the 
 time you entered into fellowship with Him — from the time 
 that His Life poured into your soul. From that time the 
 command to lead this new life was transfigured for you 
 also. You can no longer be content with doing no one 
 any harm, with being generally pleasant and agreeable to 
 those with whom you live. You cannot henceforth be 
 content with such a moderate amount of love as the best 
 
 is new is true, not only in our Lord, but in us, because a new heart 
 and a new spirit lias been given to us. 
 
 III. Reason why this is so. It is to be found iu the Revelation 
 of Christ. He had been the Light from the beginning. But man's 
 sin had caused Him to hide His face, until the fulness of time should 
 come. And then He shone upon mankind. As the dawn enlightens 
 the world around us point by point, until all stands out clear and 
 bright in the light of day, and the darkness flies away like a cloud 
 before the brightness of the day, so the Gospel of Christ illuminates 
 cue heart after another, and makes them comprehend what before was 
 
DARKNESS AND LIGHT. Sy 
 
 men have heretofore shown to others. No ! you must go 
 farther. You find yourself inwardly drawn to do more 
 for them, to give yourself up to their service, as Christ 
 did. And there is yet another way, as Haupt reminds 
 us, in which this commandment is a new one. Before 
 Christ's coming, it was a precept outside of us. Now it 
 is a spirit breathed into us (see 2 Cor. iii. throughout ; 
 Eom. viii. 2), whereby we do, as by a new nature, the 
 things contained in the law of conscience and of God. 
 We shall find additional illustrations of the community 
 of life between Christ and His members in chaps vi., xv., 
 xvii., of St. John's Gospel. (Also see 2 Cor. xiii. 5 ; 
 Col. iii. 3, and many similar passages in St. Paul's 
 Epistles). — because the darkness is past, and the true light 
 now shineth. The neglect of our version to give the 
 exact force of the tenses has obscured the sense of this 
 passage. The rendering is past would imply the perfect 
 tense here in the Greek. In fact we find the present. 
 A vivid force is given to the whole sentence when we 
 translate, " the darkness is passing away, and the true 
 light is now shining." Hence, again, it is that the 
 command is new. A new light has been introduced into 
 the world. The clouds of ignorance and sin are rolling 
 away, as one after another the souls of men are brought 
 under the influence of the Gospel of Christ. The command 
 
 unknown to them — tlie fulness of God's love, and the might of His 
 Spirit, which is to transform them from lovers of themselves into men 
 penetrated with the love of God in Christ. So, therefore, lastly, the 
 commandment is new, because when Christ came, then came the Light 
 which lirst enabled men to discern the will of God. 
 
 Vers. 9-1 i. — Practical meaning of light and darkness. 
 
 I. False notions of religion. Tliere is no word that has been 
 more abused than this word "religion ; " and it is abused to this day. 
 The light has shone into the world, and men still love darkness better. 
 They still shut their eyes to the fundamental truth of Christianity, as 
 
8S THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 is new in its force and scope ; new in the illumination that 
 is cast upon it ; new in the number of hearts that are 
 brought within its influence. And this interpretation 
 gathers force when we remember what the Apostle means 
 by the true light. " The life was the light of men," he 
 tells us (John i, 4). " That was the true light," he says, 
 " which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the 
 world," or more probably, " which, by coming into the 
 world, enlighteneth every man " (John i. 9). "I am the 
 light of the world," said Jesus Christ (John viii. 12, ix. 
 5). Thus we see once more how it is the example of 
 Christ, the appearing of Christ, which makes the old 
 commandment new. We see how it becomes new, 
 because it was true in Him, and true in those whose 
 hearts He had enlightened. And the reason why it is 
 true in those whom St. John was addressing, as well as 
 in their Master and his, is given in the words on which 
 we are now commenting. It is true in Him, because of 
 His essential nature. It is true in them, because the 
 darkness is passing away from men, one by one, and the 
 true light — Himself — is gaining an entrance into their 
 hearts. It will be seen how this view strengthens the 
 interpretation we have already placed upon air ap)(^9. 
 If we regard it as referring to the beginning of the 
 Gospel, the difficulty of explaining the meaning of ver. 8 
 
 revealed here. We will consider some errors on this point before we 
 touch on the truth. 
 
 I. IteUgion consists in j^t'opitiating an angry deiti/. Such was the 
 notion of the heathen, such their sacrifices and ceremonies. See the 
 speech of Balak recorded in Micah vi. 6, the i)assing children through 
 the fire unto Moloch, and the like. Such Ave find it still in Pagan 
 countries, as the terrible self-tortures of the Indian fakirs, and the 
 human sacrifices in Africa and elsewhere show. And even in some 
 Christian countries the doctrine is still taught, that austerities and 
 penances will conciliate the favour of One who is justly offended at 
 
\ 
 
 DARKNESS AND LIGHT. 89 
 
 seems insuperable. Christ was the New Man, the Second 
 Adam. His life is the new life. Consequently the only 
 tenable interpretation of the New Commandment is that 
 which He gave, and illustrated by His Life and Death. 
 And thus it would seem that what is meant is that the 
 command to love is as old as humanity, but that the old 
 commandment is transfigured and made new in the light 
 of the Life of Christ. Before we quit this verse we may 
 notice two words which have been variously interpreted : 
 I'lSr], translated " now " in our version, becomes " already " 
 in the Eevised Edition. But this hardly gives the sense 
 of the passage. To an English ear it would suggest a 
 certain amount of surprise that tlie true light was shining 
 so soon. What it does mean to convey is apparently 
 that the true light not only is, but has been for some time 
 shining. The other word is a\?]6iv6s, which is generally 
 interpreted to mean genuine, as opposed to fictitious ; 
 whereas aXjjOrjg signifies true as opposed to false. This 
 appears to be the true explanation. aX7]6iv6s is usually 
 applied to things, and not to persons in Scripture. But 
 when it is applied to persons, it is to contrast them 
 with certain pretenders, whose claims will not bear 
 investigation ; such appears to be the meaning in ch. vii. 
 28, and ch. xvii. 3. So here there had been plenty of 
 lights, falsely pretending to be such, in the world. The 
 
 our transgressions. We have incurred God's wrath, and we have to 
 appease it. And this we must do by inflicting on ourselves the 
 tortures He would otherwise inflict on us. 
 
 2. Religion consists in an intellectual assent to certain propositions. 
 This is an inheritance from the ancient philosophy, which taught that 
 God was known by argument and inquiry. Through the Gnostics, 
 who placed knowledge instead of faith at the basis of religion, it found 
 its way into the Christian Church. The attempt, justifiable at the 
 outset, to show that there was a Christian philosophy, led to the sub- 
 stitution of intellectual assent to truths demonstrated from Scripture 
 
90 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 true light had by tliis time appeared, and was now 
 shining. 
 
 Ver. 9. — He that saith he is in the light. (See notes 
 on vers. 4, 6.) Some commentators, e.g. Braune here, 
 say that <^w9 does not denote Christ, but the " sphere of 
 the Divine life." But the Divine life is that which pro- 
 ceeds from God, and none can come within its " sphere " 
 unless they are in Him. Ebrard, again, says, that the 
 lioht here meant, is not that which subsists in God 
 Himself, but that which is imparted to man. But where 
 have we any authority to distinguish between them ? We 
 must not forget that the Epistle commences with the 
 express " message " that God is Light, and is altogether 
 irreconcilable with darkness. Consequently we shall alto- 
 gether miss the force of this passage unless we connect 
 it with the fundamental truth which St. John has set 
 himself to explain. We will therefore once more briefly 
 recapitulate the steps of this argument, or rather, perhaps, 
 follow the train of his thoughts ; for actual argument 
 there is none. This frequent recapitulation is very neces- 
 sary in an Epistle like the present, for we are apt, by con- 
 centrating our attention on one particular passage, to lose 
 the thread of the Apostle's meditations. Starting then 
 from the statement we have just quoted (ch. i. 5), St. 
 John deduces the conclusion, that if we really have 
 
 for the subjugation of man's will to God's. Hence conies the widely 
 spread conviction, that anything is better tlian to be a heretic ; the 
 disposition to think lightly of irregularities in life when put in the 
 balance against theological error ; just as if anj' creed whatever, how- 
 ever logically unexceptionable, could be a right one which did not 
 Ijroduce conibrniity to Christ. 
 
 3. Eeligion consists in a special set of external observances. This 
 was the Pharisees' error, and it is by no means extinct. The irpwrov 
 \peuSos here — and it is a very common one — is the line of separation 
 drawn between religious and other duties. There is no such separa- 
 
DARKNESS AND LIGHT. 9 1 
 
 fellowship with God, we shall walk according to that 
 which is His essential nature. This walking in light 
 ensures purification from sin, acknowledgment of sinful- 
 ness being one necessary condition of fellowship with 
 God. On the one hand, then, we must own ourselves 
 sinners ; on the other, our object must be to be freed from 
 sin. To this end we must first believe that it is no longer 
 imputed to us ; that it no longer need sunder us from 
 God ; and next, that a power is given to us whereby we 
 can overcome it, and keep God's commandments. Nothing 
 but this can be the token of perfect knowledge of God ; 
 this is the true test of His indwelling, even the imitation 
 of Himself. The commandment the Apostle gives is both 
 old and new. Old, because natural morality witnessed to it 
 from the beginning; new, because a new light came into the 
 world in the Person of Jesus Christ. His example shows 
 us that love of the brethren is the true fulfilment of God's 
 commandments; hatred of the brethren, the clearest proof 
 that the light so lately given has not as yet penetrated a 
 man's heart. The threefold repetition of " he that saith " 
 implies that there was a good deal of mere external profes- 
 sion of Christianity in the Apostle's days. — and hateth. his 
 brother. The first point that has struck the commentators 
 here, is the sharp contrast drawn between love and 
 hate. " Tertiuiii non datur," says Haupt, following Bengel 
 
 tion. All duties are religious duties ; and all moral, as distinguished 
 from positive, duties equally binding. And it is not always seen that 
 many so-called " religious " duties fall under the head of "positive" 
 precepts, and are therefore less binding, less truly "religious" than 
 any moral ones. The clear perception of this truth would save men 
 from many errors, and the Christian religion from many scandals. 
 This error branches off into two main channels. Tlie one is an ex- 
 aggerated attachment to religious observances, which places tlie keep- 
 ing of Church rules and Church festivals above truth, or charity, or 
 one's duty to one's neighbour, which attaches undue importance to days 
 
92 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 (who says, " Ubi non est amor, odium est, cor enira non 
 est vacuum"). " In the case of brethren, and in relation 
 to them, indifference is impossible." This, however, from 
 a practical point of view, is not the fact. We do not 
 always either love or hate our brethren. There is plenty 
 of room for intermediate shades of feeling. Thus 
 Diisterdieck's forcible words, cited with approval by 
 Alford, are eloquent, but utterly removed from the sphere 
 of daily life. To say, as he does, " On the one side is 
 God, on the other the world ; here is life, there is death ; 
 here love, there hate, i.e. murder (ch. iii. 14, ff.) ; there 
 is no medium," — is to lead either to hypocrisy, or despair, 
 or that dangerous conventionalism in which men call 
 themselves miserable sinners without the slightest in- 
 clination to admit that they have ever done one single 
 thing that is wrong. Other interpreters have therefore 
 softened down the expression fiicrelv into " to love less," 
 " not to care for " (as Bretschneider). This again is to 
 take undue liberties with Holy Writ, both here and in 
 Luke xiv. 26. Haupt is on the right track when he says, 
 " We may speak in common life of inclinations and 
 dislikes ; but these are really nothing but stages of love or 
 hatred not yet come to their full development, or into clear 
 consciousness." The truth is that the Apostle sees here 
 but two kingdoms or tendencies, the one of light, and the 
 
 and times, and ecclesiastical order. The other puts the reading and 
 frequent conversing on Scripture, the use of a certain phraseology, a 
 readiness of thoughts and words in prayer, an avoidance of certain 
 specified vices and amusements, in the place of the devotion of the 
 Avhole life to God, and the continual striving after higher perfection 
 than one has yet reached. 
 
 II. The true nature of Christianity. It is (i) the avoidance 
 of all hate, and (2) the continual practice of love. 
 
 I. The avoidance of hate. Every angry, or jealous, or unkind 
 thought of others must he driven out. Every selfish impulse must he 
 
DARKNESS AND LIGHT. 93 
 
 other of darkness. In one or other of these directions 
 every man is, at a given time, advancing. Not yet fully 
 under its dominion, but tending to become so, and 
 disengaging himself from its opposite. And as we see 
 habits becoming fixed in men during life, until it becomes 
 impossible for them to shake them off; so the Apostle 
 looks not at the man in his present undeveloped condition, 
 but at the goal to which he is tending. That goal — and 
 here is the Apostle's point — is not indifference, not dis- 
 like, but positive hatred. To this, and to nothing else, 
 is he tending, who is a stranger to the spirit of active 
 love. The next question that arises is, What does the 
 Apostle mean by " brother " ? To this question there 
 can be but two answers. Either the Apostle means all 
 mankind, or he means the members of the Christian 
 Church. Those who have restrained the words "from 
 the beginning " to the beginning of the Gospel, have seen 
 none but the Christian brotherhood here. Those who 
 have given them a wider scope, feel free here also to take 
 a wider range. But in order to be sure of the Apostle's 
 meaning, we must study more carefully the general drift 
 of the Epistle. Alford has here acutely remarked, that 
 the very fact that the 6 \eyciov is himself outside the 
 sphere of the Christian life, shows that the aSe\(p6s cannot 
 be understood of a brother in Christ. True ; but the 
 
 Avrestled -with, for hate is but selfishness grown to maturity. Hatred 
 is darkness. It blinds the eyes, so that a man cannot see the conse- 
 quences of what he is doing. He neither sees the temporal conse- 
 quences — pain to others, unrest, unloveliness, isolation to himself ; 
 nor the external consequences — how a man hardens himself in a very 
 bad and cruel thought, until he becomes like to Satan and his angels, 
 and only lit to share their fate. 
 
 2. The continual practice of love. A true faith must produce love ; 
 and a faith which produces love must be, so far as it goes, a true faith. 
 And though intellectual error is an evil, and one which we are bound 
 
94 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 speaker is at least, we are led to suppose, in outward com- 
 munion with the Church. We must, therefore, look further 
 for elucidation of the thought. We find no justifica- 
 tion in St. Paul's practice for the wider reference. He 
 appears invariably to use the word in the sense of a 
 member of the Cliristian Church. But in our Lord's use 
 of the word, we find the wider sense clearly intimated. 
 The Saviour of the world, in His parable of the good 
 Samaritan, has set His seal to the doctrine of the universal 
 brotherhood of humanity. And in passages like Matt. v. 
 22—24 ; "vii- 3 ; xviii. 15, 35, we find abundant confirma- 
 tion of this view. So also, the Hebrew idiom is in its 
 favour. " A man to his brother," or " a woman to her 
 sister," means, "one man or woman to another." And 
 again, if the Apostle had meant to confine the expression 
 to the Christian brotherhood, he would rather have used 
 the expression " the brethren," and thus have run less 
 risk of misinterpretation. And the whole scope and 
 tendency of our Lord's mission was to throw down all 
 middle walls of partition between man and man ; to pro- 
 claim that " touch " of regenerate " nature " which " makes 
 the whole world kin." We can hardly imagine a disciple 
 of Christ, least of all the beloved disciple, proclaiming the 
 doctrine that he could be " in the light " who carefully 
 restrained his love and sympathies to those who had been 
 
 to do our best to avoid, yet it is possible to mistake the points on 
 ■wliich intellectual error is most dangerous. It is, above all, dangerous 
 in our doctrine about God to forget that He is Love, that He sent His 
 Son to reveal His Nature to us, and His Spirit to produce in us con- 
 formity to His image. In the liuman life of Christ we see (i) the 
 lucaniation of the Divine likeness, and (2) the picture of what human 
 life should be. Our faith, if it be a true faith, will lead us to grasp 
 these truths, and, moreover, to realise the fact that a Divine Spirit is 
 sent forth into the Avhole world to enable those who will to become 
 thus sons of God. As the life of Christ was tlie perfection of love ; as 
 
DARKNESS AND LIGHT. 95 
 
 brought into the Christian fold. Surely it was just this 
 narrowness of sympathy, this confining love within 
 artificial barriers, which Christ came to remove. — is in 
 darkness even until now. Is in the darkness, as the Revised 
 Version; though the article (see below, ver. 1 1) may siguify 
 darkness in the abstract. Here we are referred back to 
 ver. 8. There the darkness is said to be passing away. In 
 this verse we hear of those whom the light has not yet 
 reached. And there is a hint, moreover, that they are in the 
 outward fellowship of the Christian Church. Even now, 
 although Christ has been revealed to the world ; though 
 these professed believers have come within the influence 
 of that revelation ; though they have entered into the 
 Christian fellowship, are partakers of the prayers, the 
 Sacraments, the exhortations, the example of the faith- 
 ful; — even now their hearts are as dark as that of the 
 heathen who has never heard of Christ. 
 
 Ver. I o. — He that loveth his brother abideth in the light. 
 There is a similarity of thought between here and ch. i. 
 6, 7. But there the Apostle speaks of walking, here of 
 abiding, in the light. There, conduct ; here, the abiding 
 condition which produces conduct, is meant. — and there 
 is none occasion of stumbling in him. The word a-KavSaXov 
 is variously rendered in our Version. Sometimes it is 
 offence, as in St. Matt. xvi. 2 3 ; sometimes stumiling-block, 
 
 the light streamed forth to show us Him who was love ; so he who 
 has the light, he whose inward parts the light has penetrated, must 
 show forth in his actions the fact that the light is guiding him, tlie 
 perfection of that love which the light reveals. 
 
 We subjoin two corollaries to these last propositions. 
 
 I. The Gospel is the religion of humanity. We often hear of the 
 "religion of humanity" in these days. It is simply human reason 
 decking itself out in the borrowed plumes of Clirist's Revelation. 
 These philosophers never dreamed of caring for humanity until Christ 
 told them to do so. And now they have caught the idea from Him, 
 
96 THE riEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 as in I Cor. i. 23 ; and here, occasion of stumbling. This 
 last is most in accordance with its derivation, and its use 
 in the LXX. It means what causes one to stumble ; and 
 may here mean, either ( i ) what causes the man himself to 
 stumble ; or (2) what causes others to stumble. The com- 
 mentators, as usual, are divided. But Alford has made out 
 a conclusive case for the former by citing John xi. i o. The 
 words of His Master were ever ringing in St. John's ears. 
 There can be no doubt of his having recalled and applied 
 them here. But this may be thought not so absolutely to 
 exclude the other meaning ; and the earnestness with 
 which, in St. Matt, xviii. 7, our Lord warns us against 
 causing offences, might lead us here to number it among 
 the blessed effects of abiding in the light, that the man 
 who so abides does not cause others to stumble also. So 
 Haupt ; yet it must be confessed that this interpretation 
 seems a little far-fetched. Tor the man who stumbles 
 must himself be in darkness, whoever may have been the 
 cause of stumbling to him. And the Apostle's object is 
 clearly here to show that light, and nothing else, preserves 
 a man from stumbling. The form of the expression 
 reminds us of Ps. cxix. 165, where the LXX. has kcu ovk 
 ecTTLv avTol's cTKavSaXov, i.e., God's law is not an offence or 
 stumbling-block to them. Nor can we well help being 
 
 they cannot carry it out without Him. An acute and impartial 
 Avriter has lately called the Gospel the " enthusiasm of humanity," 
 and has thus hit off its most essential feature. Tlie exposition above 
 tells us that we must put no limited sense on the word "brother" 
 here. Sucli a limitation could hardly have occurred to one who had 
 heard the parable of the good Samaritan. Thus, whatever tends to 
 make man happier or better in tliis world as well as the next, is within 
 tlie scope of the gospel. Whatever banishes pain, disease, sorrow, 
 Avant, wretchedness, is part of its remedial agency. Every philan- 
 thropic worh, every sinner reclaimed, every child trained in the way 
 
DARKNESS AND LIGHT. 97 
 
 reminded here of a similar sentiment in Luke xi. 36 
 (see also Eom. xiii. 10). 
 
 Ver. 1 1 . — But he that hateth his brother is in darkness. 
 Here again, and throughout the verse, the Eevised 
 A'^ersion has " the darkness." And we are certainly to 
 understand not a mere general idea of some sort of 
 darkness, but that special darkness which consists in 
 separation from God. As our Version renders by the 
 light, it is clear that the darkness is the only consistent 
 rendering of rj a-Korla (see also ver. 8). But the absence 
 of the article in English (see on ver. 9) is calculated 
 to convey the abstract idea of light and darkness rather 
 than the idea of any particular kind of either. And if 
 the abstract idea of light and darkness just given be the 
 true one, namely, union with and separation from God, 
 the absence of the article throughout, in English, perhaps 
 gives a better sense than its presence. We have here 
 a threefold description of the state of him who hates his 
 brother. He (i) is in darkness; (2) he walketh in dark- 
 ness; (3) he knows not whither he goes. His state or 
 condition is described by the first (see ver. 9). As 
 Ebrard says, this verse does but repeat the thought of 
 ver. 9 in more distinct terms. — and walketh in darkness. 
 This describes the nature of what in Scripture is called 
 his conversation — his conduct from day to day. It varies 
 
 it should go, every scheme for temperance, thrift, self-help, as well as 
 the thousand organisations for mitigating poverty and sickness, are 
 the direct outcome of the religion of Christ. And this, because they 
 flow directly from the example, and are inspired by the Spirit, of Him 
 wlio first showed mankind that the highest goodness was the most 
 complete sacrifice of self for the sake of others. 
 
 2. We best preach the Gospel when ive practise it. The mediajval 
 missionaries were successful, because their Gospel was at least more 
 loving than the religion it superseded. But they often failed fi-om 
 the want of a better comprehension of their Master's mind. We all 
 
 G 
 
98 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 from time to time. His circumstances are not always 
 the same. But one thing remains unaltered. Whatever 
 he does, or wherever he goes, or whatever changes may 
 take place in him in othe-r respects, he is in darkness 
 still. That fact no change can ever affect, save the great 
 and vital change of beginning to do the Will of God. — 
 and knoweth not whither he goeth (see John xii. 35). 
 Some have interpreted this of hell or perdition. But 
 " we cannot (with Luther) so interpret the passage. It 
 gives a distinctness to the words which is not contained 
 in them " (Ebrard). Haupt thinks that darkness itself 
 is the goal. But there would seem to be great feebleness, 
 or even absurdity in saying, " He is in darkness, he walks 
 in darkness, and he does not know that he is going to 
 darkness." The best plan by far is to leave St. John's 
 words in their suggestive indefiniteness. Darkness, as 
 the next sentence tells us, prevents a man from seeing 
 where he is going. And so with the darkness of which 
 the Apostle is speaking. It keeps a man from seeing 
 what will be the ultimate effect of his actions. Pain, 
 misery, ruin, despair, — all these are inevitable results of 
 sin. Yet it is impossible to make the man see this whose 
 eyes are blinded. Others may see it ; they may point 
 out most clearly to the infatuated victim the result of 
 what he is doinfj. But nothincr can make him see it 
 
 know the story of the heathen, who, with one foot in the font, asked 
 tlie officiating priest where his forefathers Avere. On being told they 
 were in hell, he withdrew his foot, and said, " "Where my fathers are, 
 there will I be also." Children have been known to weep bitterly at 
 the thought, impressed upon them by those who would convert them 
 to Christianity, that those whom they loved were suffering the pains 
 of eternal fire. A gentler Gospel has more cliance of acceptance, but 
 most of all when practice is added to preaching. The Tinnevelly 
 missionaries laboured diligently for many years, but made little pro- 
 gress until the recent famine. But when English liberality fed the 
 
DARKNESS AND LIGHT. 99 
 
 himself. He is contented to "o on without thoug;ht, 
 utterly heedless of the terrible destiny which he is 
 bringing on himself. — because that darkness has blinded his 
 eyes. It may perhaps be needless to point out that the 
 word that here is not the demonstrative pronoun. But 
 the revisers, perceiving the ambiguity, have very wisely 
 removed the word altogether. Alford has a note here 
 which gives a very curious sense to the passage. He 
 says, " ' blinded,' not ' hath blinded,' because it is no new 
 effect of a state into which he has lately come, but the 
 long past work of a state which is supposed to be gone 
 by, and is not." But, as has already been said, we 
 cannot interpret the aorist as in classical Greek, of a 
 single past act at some special instant of time. Here, 
 perhaps, hath been Uinding gives the sense best. It is 
 something which has taken place in the past, has con- 
 tinued for some time in the past, but is not absolutely 
 complete. We must not quit the subject without remark- 
 ing that the whole of this passage is clearly based upon St. 
 John ix., as well as viii. 12, xii. 35, 36. 
 
 dying, thousands crowded to the baptismal font. "Yours must he 
 the true religion," they exclaimed, "when it teaches you to feed the 
 hungry whom you have never seen." And a touching story is told of 
 some natives of Africa who accepted the faith, because, as they said, 
 "the Arabs enslave us, but you Christian English have set us free." 
 So true is it, that if we Avish to bring mankind to the faith of Christ, 
 we must live the life of Christ. Whatever a man's religious profession 
 may be, if he be not warmed by the spirit of love, "he is iu darkness 
 even until now." 
 
( loo ) 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN. 
 
 /"1H. ii. 1 2. — Having laid the foundation broad and deep 
 ^ that love and hate are the practical embodiment of 
 light and darkness, the conditions of being in Christ or out 
 of Christ, the fulfilment or non-fulfilment of God's com- 
 mandments, the Apostle, in vers. 12-16 inclusive, makes 
 an earnest appeal to those under his charge to avoid that 
 which constitutes the greatest snare in the believer's path. 
 That snare is the world. We shall see hereafter what 
 interpretation is to be placed upon this word. But it 
 seems clear that the introduction here of the exhortation 
 not to love the world, together with the particularly 
 solemn way in which this exhortation is introduced, is 
 connected in the Apostle's mind with the thought that 
 the world is dangerously likely, by its enticements, to 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. ii. 12. — This verse suggests a variety of tliovights, wliicli require, 
 in any homiletic treatment ■which does not combine the expository 
 element, to be kept distinct. 
 
 I. The eelation of pastoeto flock, (i) St. John addresses his 
 people as reKvia (children Avhom he had begotten) and Traidla (children 
 under his care). So does St. Paul (i Cor. iv. 15 ; Gal. iv. 19 ; i Tim. 
 i. 18; Philem.io). (2) At first sight this would appear to be forbidden 
 by our Lord's words (Matt, xxiii. 9). But in truth there is no con- 
 tradiction. St. Paul and St. John were careful enough to teach that 
 
THE APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN. lOI 
 
 draw the believer from the path of duty so plainly put 
 before him. 
 
 Our first task is to ascertain the actual form of the 
 exhortation in vers. 12-14. And this is rendered some- 
 what more difficult by the occurrence of a various read- 
 ing in ver. 13. It is unnecessary to inform the reader 
 of the Greek Testament that the word translated " write " 
 in our Version is in two different tenses in the original. 
 In the Eec. text, the first four times it occurs it is in 
 the present tense. The last twice it stands in the aorist. 
 But the great majority of editors and MSS. have the pre- 
 sent three times consecutively, and then the aorist three 
 times consecutively. And with this reading, which is 
 obviously to be preferred, the two verses arrange them- 
 selves in parallel form : first, a general address to St. 
 John's disciples, who are spoken of as reKula in the one 
 case and TraiSla in the other; next, in each case, an 
 address to the older ; and lastly, in each case, to the 
 younger members of the Church. " Whether older and 
 younger in a physical sense must as yet be left undeter- 
 mined " (Haupt). If, on the contrary, we follow the 
 reading of the Eec. text, we must suppose the word 
 TraiSia to refer to actual children. But then it becomes 
 unintelligible why children should be addressed in the 
 
 they were only ministers, that God was the fountain of all grace (r 
 Cor. iii. 6 ; cf . i Cor. i. 30, xv. 10 ; 2 Cor. iii. 5,6, iv. 5 ; Gal. iii. 5, 
 unless this verse refers to Christ Himself ; Epli. iii. 7 ; Col. i. 23, 25, 
 &c.) Yet (3) though all that is done be God's work, though ministers 
 be but the channels through which God's blessings flow (see i Cor. iii. 
 7, 8 ; Eph. iv. 16 ; Col. ii. 19), the Gospel of Christ, which is intended 
 to promote love, does not forbid, but rather enjoins that we should 
 love those who are made the means whereby God's gifts are imparted 
 to us (Phil. ii. 29, 30 ; i Thess. v. 12, 13 ; Heb. xiii. 7, 17). And it is 
 a law of nature and grace alike that men love those toivhoni they have 
 been engaged in doing good. (4) Thus, then, it is well-pleasing to 
 
102 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHK 
 
 lirst part of the exhortation and not iu the second. 
 Thus on every ground, whether the external evidence of 
 MSS. or the internal necessities of the exegesis of the 
 text, we are driven to reject the Eec. text. The next 
 difficult}'' that meets us is, why the present is used in the 
 first, and the aorist in the second, triad of exhortations. 
 And here we are met by almost every conceivable variety 
 of interpretation. Thus Ebrard, after rejecting summarily 
 every other hypothesis, very confidently pronounces that 
 ypacpco refers to the Epistle, eypa^a to the Gospel, to 
 which many, as we have seen, regard the Epistle to be a 
 kind of preface. Braune adopts this view, dismissing, 
 like Ebrard, other interpretations a little too curtly. 
 Luther has avoided the difficulty in characteristic fashion, 
 by adapting his rendering to his theory, translating otl 
 in the first, fifth, and sixth times " that," and in the re- 
 mainder " for " or " because." But it is obvious that 
 grammar and common sense require otl to have the 
 same meaning throughout, and that here " because " must 
 in each case be that meaning. Liicke thinks that ejpay^a 
 refers to the preceding, ypdcpco (I am now writing), to the 
 following part of the Epistle. De Wette and Huther, 
 agreeing in this interpretation of eypa>\ra, interprets 
 ypacpco of the Epistle as a whole. The interpretation 
 
 God (a) that those wlio " labour in the word and doctrine " should 
 take a deep and affectionate interest in all who are placed under their 
 charge, " never ceasing their labour, their care and diligence " in the 
 work of bringing them " to ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ " 
 (Prayer Book, Ordination of Priests) ; and (b) that those who owe, and 
 feel they owe, to any minister of God either first religious impressions 
 or useful counsel in the way of holiness and salvation, should, without 
 flattery or undue and foolish worship of the man, preserve those affec- 
 tionate and filial relations which those Avho receive the treasures of 
 God in Christ naturally owe to those who give them. How (5) we 
 may best instruct those committed to our charge so as to bring them 
 
THE APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN. I03 
 
 of Beza, followed iu later times by Dusterdieck and, 
 with some slight variation, Haupt, seems to approximate 
 more nearly to the truth. Haupt lays down with his 
 usual clearness that if both ypdcfxa and 'iypa^a refer to 
 the Epistle at all, they must necessarily refer to the whole 
 of it. And he regards the Apostle as meaning by jpacpw 
 the work of writing in which he is at present engaged, 
 and by eypay\ra the Epistle regarded as a finished con- 
 ception iu his mind before beginning it, Beza and 
 Dusterdieck would rather refer the eypa^a to the mind, 
 not of the writer, but of the reader, before whom the 
 Epistle would come as a finished work. It seems best, 
 in a question of such nicety, to give the student a choice 
 of interpretations, even at the risk of perplexing him by 
 their variety. But even at the hazard of adding to their 
 number, it would seem reasonable to question whether 
 the force of the Epistolary aorist has been sufficiently 
 weighed in any of these interpretations. And Bishop 
 Wordsworth has called attention to a fact no other inter- 
 preter apparently has noticed. It is that whereas, up to 
 this time, the Apostle has used the present exclusively, 
 from ver. 1 3 he uses exclusively the aorist. This may 
 be seen by comparing ch. i. 14, ii. i, 7, 8, with ch. ii. 
 21, 26, and V. 13. The whole scope and drift of the 
 
 to spiritual maturity will appear best from a consideration of the 
 ■whole chapters now under review. 
 
 II. What should be the results of remission of sin. We 
 have seen (ch. i. g) (i) that tlie words d<pirjfjLL, &<pe<ns, must not be con- 
 lined to the simple act of forgiveness, but involve a more complicated 
 process, bound up not with any special portion, but with the vjhole of 
 Christ's mediatorial work. We may observe (2) that the remission of 
 sins does not henceforth involve the impossibility of falling, since the 
 Apostle proceeds immediately afterwards to warn his Hock of the 
 danger of being led away by that which is in direct antagonism to 
 God (vers. 15, 16, ch. v. 4; cf. St. James iv. 4; also John xv. iS). 
 
I04 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Epistle would henceforth appear to be before St. John's 
 mind, rather than the particular passage with which he 
 is at the moment engaged. It is clear therefore that in 
 the present he regards the act of writing, in the aorist 
 the Epistle as a whole. But whether we should inter- 
 pret with De Wette or Haupt, or regard the aorist to 
 refer to the fact of writing at all, is a question. If the 
 suggestion now made have any probability, the meaning 
 of the two members of the sentence would be as follows : 
 •'The reason why I am writing what I now write is be- 
 cause your sins are forgiven you, and I am desirous that 
 such forgiveness should not be in vain. The reason why 
 I took pen in hand to write this Epistle to you at all 
 is because ye have known the Father, &c., and I am 
 anxious that no surrounding temptations should rob you 
 of that knowledge." That the tckviu and TaiSia refer to 
 the whole body of believers, and not to believers of any 
 particular age or period of religious immaturity, is shown 
 by Haupt, who says, " If actual children had been intended, 
 the Apostle would certainly have arranged the terms in 
 natural order, either advancing from the youngest to the 
 eldest, or taking the inverted line, but to mention the 
 children first, then the fathers, and then again young 
 men, has in it somethincj inharmonious." — I write unto 
 
 Therefore (3) the result of the remission of sins sliould be (a) a holy 
 watchfulness not to offend again ; and this (b) bj* a more careful 
 inquiry into -what sin is, and how, by the help of God's Spirit, we may 
 best avoid it. To those entering on life's battle it is of God's mercy 
 that the distinctions between evil and good are usually plain and 
 unmistakable. As we advance in life they grow subtler and more 
 concealed, and more watchfulness than ever is needed in dealing with 
 them. The temptations of the flesh are exchanged for those of the 
 world. We are bound, as life advances, by ties of ever-increasing 
 complexity to our fellow-men, ties of kindred, interest, business, and 
 the like. By the example and persuasions of others, nay, even some- 
 
THE APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN. I05 
 
 you, little children. The address here is somewhat less 
 affectionate than in eh. ii. i (where see note), where the 
 Apostle has reKvla /uov, thus indicating the special interest 
 he takes in his flock. — Tjecause your sins are forgiven you. 
 It does not appear at first sight very clear why these 
 exhortations should flow out of the fact that the sins of 
 those addressed have been forgiven (observe the force of 
 the perfect here, as a completed act), or rather remitted 
 (see ch. i. 9), nor, it must be confessed, do the commen- 
 tators throw much light on the subject. ISTor does the 
 comparatively modern notion that a full and free remis- 
 sion of sins, once applied in faith to the soul, preserves 
 him who has received it from future reprobation, alto- 
 gether fall in with the caution so clearly implied in 
 these six verses. It may be therefore not out of 
 place to inquire what the connection of thought is. 
 "We have seen that St. John's object in writing (ver. i) 
 has been to preserve his converts from sin. The 
 thought of the propitiation removes all sense of hope- 
 lessness (ver. 2). There is henceforth light on the 
 believer's path, so that he need not go astray. But 
 darkness is still around, though (ver. 8) it is passing 
 away. Dangers and difficulties beset the disciple on all 
 sides. The world with its allurements is very near him. 
 
 times bj'' their power over us, -vve are drawn to forget the law of love. 
 And yet such conduct, whatever our religious profession may be, is 
 the result of darkness, not light. The love of the world, in Avhatever 
 shape it may take possession of us, is the opposite of the love of the 
 Father. Lastly (4), the force of the appeal lies in this, that he whose 
 sins are forgiven has at least no clog of past sin to weigh him down. 
 He may forget those things that are behind. He may forget those 
 sins which, by reason of his faith and repentance, have been washed 
 away in the blood of Christ. He may feel confidence that He who 
 has forgiven his infirmities in the past will forgive them also in the 
 future, provided he still girds himself up to fight the battle of the 
 
I06 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 and (ch. v. 1 9) it is plunged in wickedness. Therefore lie 
 has need of care, lest he lose the gift of God, even eternal 
 life. His sins have been forgiven him, but it is in order 
 that his hands, once " tied and bound by the chain " of 
 sin, may be untied, and he may thus be enabled to struggle 
 with it unto the end. " I write unto you, little children, 
 because your sins have been forgiven you, that you should 
 not wantonly heap up fresh sins that need forgiveness. 
 There are enemies abroad. Beware of them. Love not 
 the world, neither the things of the world. If any man 
 love the w^orld, fair and enticing as it seems, the love of 
 the Father is not in him." For the form acpecovrai, see 
 Winer (" Gr. Gram.," Part II. sec. 14, 4), who regards it 
 as a Doric form of the perfect passive. — for his name's 
 sake. For the Hebraism of the name instead of the thing 
 named we may take as an instance Acts iii. 1 6. The idea 
 was no doubt derived from the practice in early times 
 of worshipping a national deity, with a special name of 
 his own, to which God condescended at Moses' request 
 (Exod. iii. 13). The god each nation worshipped had a 
 separate name (see, for instance, i Kings xi. 5), round 
 which every sentiment of gratitude or awe was wont to 
 entwine. To his favour were all successes attributed, 
 while all misfortunes were caused by his wrath. This 
 
 Lord with miabated energy, and the watchfuhiess which experience 
 alone can give. 
 
 Vers. 12 (6), 13, 14. — Advice to the flock in general. 
 
 I. Grounds for encouragement. These are twofold as regards 
 the fioclc in general, addressed as reKvia and waLoia. 
 
 I. The consciousness of forgiveness. St. John liere desires to inspire 
 those to whom lie is writing with conhdence. He has Avarned them 
 against sin (ver. i), of the hypocrisy of pretending to be Christ's 
 disciple without endeavouring to do His Will (ver. 4), of the antiquity 
 of the commandment to love and of the new sanctions it has lately 
 received (vers. 7, 8), of the glory of the light and the wretchedness of 
 
THE APPEAL TO THE CHRTSTTAN. lO/ 
 
 we see not only in the Hebrew Scriptures, but it meets 
 us on the Moabite stone, and is also to be found, but to 
 a much slighter extent, in the Egyptian and Babylonish 
 monuments. Thus the Name of God, that which brought 
 His personality home to the individual, is spoken of con- 
 tinually in the devotional language of Israel as synony- 
 mous with Himself (see Ps. xx. i, xxix. 2, cxxxv. i, 
 &c.) The point is of some importance, moreover, as 
 bearing on the question of authorship. The idea is not 
 a Greek one at all. The use of the expression, " for His 
 name's sake," stamps the author as one well versed in the 
 Hebrew Scriptures (see Ps. cxliii. 11, &c.) It may be 
 well to notice, with Braune, that here the idea is not 
 that of remission of sins through Christ's humanity, but 
 on account of His life and death. 
 
 Vek. 13. — I write unto you, fathers. The veavicrKoi 
 might possibly be interpreted as neophytes in the faith. 
 But then we should have had in this member of the 
 sentence Trpea^Srepoi or some other word signifying 
 greater knowledge and experience, but hardly, one would 
 think, the word " fathers." Thus we are compelled to con- 
 ceive rather of the older and more experienced members of 
 the Christian body, who already, it may be, even before 
 their conversion, had learned something from the serious 
 
 the darkness (9-1 1). And now he desires to point out that all is in 
 the believer's favour, if he will but believe. His past darkness will 
 not be imputed to him ; his past ofteuces will not be cast in his teeth, 
 if he will but believe in the great Propitiation which has been made 
 for sin (ii. 2) and the Paraclete who stands by him and pleads on be- 
 half of his sins. The greatest hindrance to repentance is the conscious- 
 ness of past transgression. ]\Ian cannot believe that his past neglects, 
 his contempt for the Divine Law, his indifference to Him who has 
 made and redeemed him, can possibly be atoned for. Once convince 
 him that this weight of former transgression is removed, and he can 
 begin to advance with confidence on the heavenward path. 
 
I08 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 responsibilities of life and in the care of their families. By 
 the young men, on the other hand, are meant those who are 
 young, not in faith, but in years, as will appear more clearly 
 below. — because ye have known him that is from the be- 
 ginning, i.e. Christ (see ch. i. i). What it is to know Him 
 we learn from John xvii. 3 ; i Cor. viii. 2,3; Gal. iv. 9. 
 Life from Him, issuing in love to Him and all whom He 
 has created, is the result of the knowledge which comes by 
 faith, air ap-)(rj<s here must have the same meaning as in 
 ch. i. I. St. John writes to the elder members of the 
 Church, the heads of families, those charged with the 
 responsibility of bringing up the younger members of the 
 Church in " the nurture and admonition of the Lord " in 
 order that they may be warned of the snares which the 
 enemy has set for them. For it is difficult to understand 
 the solemnity of this address, unless it is connected both 
 with what goes before and with what follows. With 
 what goes before, because it is necessary that all who 
 profess faith in Christ should know to what practical 
 conclusions they stand pledged. With what follows, 
 because it is equally necessary they should know what 
 disturbing forces there are around, by which they may 
 be " moved away from the hope of the Gospel " (Col. i. 
 23), and be deprived of that life of love which has been 
 
 2. The co7iscionsness of God's Fatherhood. Another hindrance to 
 the spiritual life is here touched upon. God's name is Jealous (Exod. 
 XX. 5, &c.) He will " by no means clear the guilty " (Exod. xxxiv. 7). 
 He is "of purer eyes than to behold evil" (Hab. i. 13). How then 
 can a sinner dare to approach Him ? Such is the idea of man without 
 the Gospel. But those whom St. John addresses are haunted by no 
 such fears. They have " known the Father." They have seen Him 
 in the Person of Jesus Christ. They can thus discern His pity, His 
 love, His tenderness even to the end. They now understand how He 
 can be "just and the justitier of them that believe in Jesus" (Rom. 
 iii. 6). For Jesus has fulfilled His requirements. And they who are 
 
THE APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN". IO9 
 
 made tlieirs by the knowledge of God. — I write unto you, 
 young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. This 
 passage also makes it clear that the words " young men " 
 are to be understood literally. Were the neophytes in 
 the faith addressed, we should scarcely have the perfect 
 tense here, nor even the word " overcome " at all. We 
 should rather have had serious admonitions regarding the 
 tremendous reality of the conflict to which they were 
 pledged — exhortations couched in the form of Eph. vi. 
 10-18; I Thess. V. 4-10; I Pet. v. 8, 9. See also 
 I Tim. iii. 6 for the danger of speaking to one who has 
 but just put on his Christian armour as one who is 
 putting it off. We have to conceive here of a body of 
 Christian young men, who may perchance have been in 
 Christ from their infancy, who at least have been long 
 enough in Him to have approved their fidelity in many 
 a long and weary, but in the end victorious, conflict with 
 the evil one. These young men, sanctified in the Spirit, 
 strong in the knowledge of God which comes through 
 faith in Jesus Christ, have kept youthful lusts at a dis- 
 tance; have preserved their purity in the midst of a 
 society corrupt and self-indulgent to a degree which we 
 in a Christian age and country can scarcely conceive. 
 Yet the aged Apostle, as he looks out upon that corrupt 
 
 united to Him by faith, are accepted because of His all-holy Life 
 which is given to them. Let them turn their back on the unworthy 
 past ; let them give their hearts and lives to Jesus in the present, and 
 they need feel no apprehension for the future. 
 
 II, The experience of advanced believers. 
 
 I. St. John speaks next to fathers. He appeals to them (a) because 
 of their influence, and (b) because of their experience. 
 
 (a) Because of their influence. This influence is naturally greatest 
 with their own children, whose early opinions and habits they have 
 power to form. But it is not confined to them. In many relations of 
 life those who advance in years are looked up to for sympathy, help, 
 
IIO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 society, as he sees the toils of the enemy of souls lying 
 in wait for the believer even in the most innocent pur- 
 suits, the most hallowed relations of life, trembles still 
 for those whom he has brought to the knowledge of the 
 Saviour, and bids them beware lest he, whom in his own 
 form they would resist or flee from with horror, should 
 beguile them by presenting himself to them under the 
 cloak of the natural allurements of the world which God 
 has made. It will be undesirable to enter at length into 
 the consideration of the words tov 7rovr]p6v here, in its 
 bearing on the controversy as to the rendering of the 
 words in the Lord's Prayer. Here, however, they un- 
 doubtedly (as the gender, here unquestionable, elsewhere 
 often doubtful, shews) refer to the devil. Even were the 
 gender doubtful here, St. John could not have congratu- 
 lated the young men on having obtained a final victory 
 over the evil from which he warns them they are still in 
 danger. But for him to congratulate them on many a 
 decisive victory over an enemy who, though defeated, will 
 be sure to renew the attack, is reasonable enough. This 
 much, however, is clear, that the personality of the author 
 of evil, and his connection with every manifestation of 
 the evil which he brought into being, is as clearly asserted 
 
 guidance. We may complain that the young are heady, and bent on 
 going their own way ; but this is the case only with the minority. 
 Both the wiser and the weaker (who together constitute the majority 
 of the young) feel their need of advice. The wise under all circum- 
 stances, the weak, at least in very many cases, when not alienated by 
 want of sympathy, will turn for counsel to those older than themselves. 
 And not only advice, but power rests as a rule rather with the older 
 than with the younger members of society. Thus the influence of the 
 " fathers" is far greater in the community than that of the " young 
 men ; " and therefore there is far greater need of its being duly exer- 
 cised. "Fathers " have also (b) experience, especially spii-itual experi- 
 ence. Not only have they known inward trials, inward wrestlings 
 with the evil one, these are common to old and young alike ; but they 
 
THE APPEAL TO THE CHPJSTIAN. I I I 
 
 here as anywhere else in Holy Writ. For the expression 
 see Matt. xiii. 19, 38 ; Eph. vi. 16; 2 Thess. iii. 3, &c. 
 Vek. 14. — I write unto you, little children. Eather, 
 (see above) / have written unto you, little on£s. We have 
 here TraiSla, not reKvla. And xa?? has the sense rather 
 of servant than of child, " of subordination rather than of 
 kinsmanship " (Westcott), See Matt. xiv. 2 ; Acts iv 
 25 ; Luke i. 69. — because ye have known the Father. 
 We have no longer the fact of the remission of sins as in 
 the former address to the rcKvla, but the result to which 
 it leads, knowledge of the Father. And knowledge of 
 the Father may he distinguished from knowledge of " Him 
 that is from the beginning " if we remember that the 
 former strikes a deeper and tenderer chord than the 
 latter. We know not merely the eternity, but the 
 Fatherhood of God. Thus St. John, as his manner is, 
 with repetition adds confirmation. — I have written unto 
 you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the 
 beginning. It seems difficult to assign any reason for 
 this clause having been repeated unaltered, when the 
 others are repeated but strengthened. Bengel suggests 
 that it is from reverence to the " fathers." But this 
 hardly seems satisfactory, for the " fathers " and " young 
 
 liave also been able to see the issue of these things. They have seen 
 good come out of evil, untold blessings come out of what they have 
 supposed to be the great misfortunes of their lives, temptations even 
 the means of disciplining the soul in holiness, so that they can both 
 counsel and encourage those in trouble. Thus in a double sense they 
 are fatliers — in a natural sense as the parents of their own children ; 
 and in a spiritual sense as the source, under God, of the spiritual life 
 of many who owe religious impressions or perseverance in the work of 
 grace to their teaching. 
 
 III. The encouragement to young men. St. John speaks to 
 young men Avho have knoAvn Christ, and walked in His ways, as 
 already acquainted with the strength that is in Him. Through that 
 strength have they been enabled to "flee youthful lusts." In that 
 
I I 2 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 men " alike are the reKvla arid irai^la of the Apostle, 
 whom he addresses as such, before he divides them into 
 classes. We must be content to leave the fact without 
 explanation. — I have written unto you, young men, because 
 ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye 
 have overcome the wicked one. As the age and authority 
 of the fathers have been appealed to, so is the energy 
 of the young of the flock. Once more the thought 
 is strengthened as well as repeated. Not only does the 
 Apostle speak of the victory over the temptations that 
 " do most easily beset " young men on their entrance into 
 the world, but of the natural vigour with which they are 
 able to encounter them, as well as of the supernatural 
 power with wliicli they are armed for the conflict. The 
 "word of God" here (the Vatican MS. omits tov Oeov) 
 probably means the same as in ver. 5, and in John v. 38, 
 X. 3 5 ; Eev. i. 9, and elsewhere. 
 
 strength they may look confidently forward to new victories in years 
 to come. He bids them to be watchful, for new and more hidden 
 temptations are in store for tliem ; but the last tiling he thinks of is 
 to chill tlieir spirits with despair. On the contraiy, he nerves them 
 to future warfare by their exiierience of the past. I write to you, not 
 to go forth to your warfare in a spirit of anxiety and trembling, but 
 only of wise caution and foresight. " He who hath begun a good 
 work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. " The very 
 fact that you liave overcome before is a reason why you should over- 
 come again. You have conquered evil witliin ; now you must learn 
 to conquer evil from Avithout. " He that is born of God overcometh " 
 not merely the tlesh, but "the world. And this is the victory tliat 
 overcometh the world, even our faith." 
 
( 113 ) 
 
 yii. 
 
 THE OBJECT OF THE APPEAL— LOVE NOT 
 THE WOELD. 
 
 CH. ii. 15. — After the solemn adjuration to all the 
 members of his flock, who are all, old or young, 
 little children, both in age and in opportunities of know- 
 ing Christ, compared with the Apostle, he goes on to say 
 what lesson it is he especially desires to emphasise just 
 now. As we have seen, that lesson is, that there is one 
 very great disturbing force close at hand, which may pre- 
 vent them from realising that life of light, that separation 
 from darkness, which he has been pressing upon them. — 
 Love not the world. This is the great snare which may make 
 all belief in Christ useless, if it be not carefully avoided. 
 Our first question then is, What is meant by the term 
 " world " here ? It is necessary to remember that two 
 words are thus rendered in our version, aioov and Koa-fxo^. 
 The first of these, derived from ael and wv, and denoting 
 continuance of existence, relates to a course of events of 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 I. The Christian is bound to renounce the world. 
 
 1. What is mccmt by the world ? (See Exposition.) 
 
 2. In what sense are we to renounce it ? Are we to hate all Ave see ? 
 No, for God made it. Are we to hate our fellow-creatures ? No, for 
 
 H 
 
I 1 4 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 very vast duration. We find it in Matt. xii. 3 2 ; xiii. 
 39; Gal. i. 4; Eph. vi. 12, &c. In the phrase eig rov 
 aiwva it is translated for ever, as in ver. 17. The other 
 word, Kocr/uio?, has a different signification. Connected 
 with KO(7iJ.e(io, and probably with the Greek /coV'? and the 
 Latin coma, it has the idea of order, arrangement. Thus 
 it refers primarily to the physical universe, which God 
 brought into being, subjected to certain laws, and pro- 
 nounced " very good." Of this visible order, however, 
 man forms a part. And both the Old Testament and 
 the New tell us how " an enemy " sowed tares in the 
 field, disturbed the good order of God's universe. 
 Henceforth, now that man's whole moral nature is 
 deranged, this visible order is no longer a blessing, but 
 a snare. It has become subjected to another ruler, who 
 is described as ruling over both the present alwv and the 
 Kocr/j-o^ (John xii. 3 1 , xiv. 3 o, xvi. 1 1 ; 2 Cor. iv. 4). 
 And it is precisely this double aspect of all around us, 
 God's order at the outset, but perverted by an evil 
 influence, that constitutes the difficulty. There is a 
 compass, but it is out of order; it no longer points true. 
 We have to look up to the heavens to see how far it has 
 been diverted from its proper direction. Many different 
 interpretations of this word koctixo^ have been given, as 
 may be seen by a reference to almost any commentary 
 on this passage. Some of them give a different sense to 
 Koa-fxo^ in this verse and the two which follow. It is 
 needless to say that this is extremely arbitrary. It is to 
 put man's fancies in the place of God's word. The 
 
 God "loved them, and gave Himself for tliem." But we are to take 
 care (a) to esche\v the evil that is now inextricably Intermingled in it, 
 .and (b) to be watchful over that evil in ourselves which might lead us 
 to set an undue value even on things innocent — such a value, that is, 
 as might lead us to prefer them to God. 
 
LOVE NOT THE WORLD. I 1 5 
 
 notion even of Ebrard and Haupt must be given up 
 here. They regard cr/cor/a and koct/ulo? as almost con- 
 vertible terms. The Koa/xos, says the former, is "the 
 world ruined by Adam's fall, so far as it is still the world, 
 and still bears Adam's sinful nature in it ; " " arKoria," 
 says the latter, "is the animating principle, Koar/mo? the 
 element in which it works." Here we are very near 
 the truth, but we do not seem to have quite reached it. 
 If we take Koa-jULo^ iu the simple sense in which we have 
 taken it above, as God's order, in which nevertheless an 
 evil principle still works, and even to a certain extent rules, 
 we shall have reached the solution, and have escaped a 
 difficulty which has given infinite trouble to expositors. 
 The difficulty is this : How can we be commanded not 
 to love what God loves ? " God so loved the world," we 
 are told, " that he gave His only begotten Son " in order 
 to save it. God does love the world, and He intends to 
 save the world, and when He has saved it, then we may 
 venture to love it again. But just at present, while we 
 and it are in a transition state, we cannot venture to give 
 our whole heart to it, lest we should by so doing be drawn 
 away from Him who alone is worthy of our love. He, in 
 Christ, is now reconciling the world unto Himself. The 
 mediatorial work is being carried on. When it is com- 
 pleted, then we may love the work as well as the Worker. 
 Until then, the very fact that it is partly His work and 
 partly not demands that we should not give ourselves 
 unreservedly to it, but attach ourselves to Him. The 
 notion that " man and man's world " (Alford, following 
 
 IL Why a Christian is bound to renounce the world. 
 Because it is con-upt. It is no longer what it was when God made it. 
 It is full of snares and temptations of every kind. So evil has it 
 become that all that is must be destroyed and re-created before man 
 can be safe among things visible. 
 
Il6 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Diisterdieck) is here meant is too contracted. There is 
 nothing in this world below that may not be a snare to 
 us, for the corrupting principle in the world is in ourselves 
 also, and may pervert the most innocent things around to 
 our hurt. — neither the things that are in the world. This 
 might seem a needless repetition ; but in truth not one 
 jot or tittle of God's word can be said to fall to the ground. 
 A man cannot renounce the world in general unless he 
 renounces it in particular. On no point have more 
 mistakes been made than in this. One man makes a 
 resolution that he will devote himself to the monastic 
 life, and because he has thereby cut himself off from a 
 great number of pleasures and temptations, he fancies 
 he has renounced the world. Another adopts a parti- 
 cular style of phraseology, gives up certain amuse- 
 ments, devotes himself to certain " religious " works 
 and devotional practices, and because he has thereby 
 separated himself from certain openly ungodly persons, 
 fancies that he has renounced the world. Another 
 is a philanthropist, and because he devotes his life 
 to good works, fancies that he is a perfect Christian, 
 and does not see how much the love of being conspicuous, 
 of being looked up to, of being a leader of others, directs 
 him in his actions. How necessary then the caution 
 here given, that to love any one of the things of this 
 world (see original, imrjSe, no nor yet) better than God is 
 to love the world which God has bid us shun. — If any 
 man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
 The best explanation of this passage will be reached by 
 
 III. What temptations ake there in the world ? These may 
 be summed up in three heads. 
 
 I. The lust of the flesh — the incitement proceeding from our corrupt 
 humanity. Every desire implanted in us lias its proper object, and 
 proper laws to regulate its action. Man's corruption has altogether 
 
LOVE NOT THE WORLD. I I 7 
 
 observing the force of the word ayaizaw, -which, as we 
 have seen, denotes a love of a higher order than is 
 implied in (piXeco. The sort of love here intended is 
 not personal affection merely ((piXLo). It implies satis- 
 faction, approbation. It involves something in relation 
 to good of the feeling which St. Paul condemns in Eom. 
 i. 32 in relation to evil, where he regards it as the 
 worst feature of those of whom he is speaking, that they 
 not only commit crimes themselves, but " have pleasure 
 in those that do them." Prof. Cremer puts the matter 
 well in his Lexicon (2nd edition), where he tells us that 
 ayairav is used (i) in all places where the direction of 
 the will is the point to be considered, and therefore (2) 
 when an eligere or negligere takes place. Thus, then, 
 if a man can regard the world in its present condi- 
 tion, or the allurements it offers him, with any degree 
 of satisfaction, he must of necessity be estranged from 
 God. Some MSS. read " God " here ; but the reading 
 is rejected by most editors from external and internal 
 evidence alike. It is far more likely that a copyist should 
 have substituted " God " for " Father " than " Father " for 
 " God." It has been asked whether the phrase " the love 
 of the Father " means our love to God or His to us ? 
 The love of God to us cannot here be meant, if it be 
 only because He does and can love the world, though 
 we cannot venture to do so. But the love of God in us 
 may be meant, which produces in us a reciprocal love 
 to Him, a recognition of His Fatherly kindness, and 
 an irreconcilable opposition to all that He hates. Such 
 
 destroyed his sense of the harmony of things, his conceptio* of the 
 laws which ought to regulate his desires. He now desires wliat he 
 ought not to have. He desires even what is lawful beyond the 
 bounds of moderation. Heuce the disorder both witliiu and without, — 
 
I 1 8 THE FIKST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 a love would implant in us an unconquerable aversion to 
 the world, as it now is, and all things in it, when put into 
 competition with Him. 
 
 Ver. 1 6. — For all that is in the world. Either (i) " all 
 that is in the world " is in apposition to " the lust of the 
 flesh," &c., so that the words refer only to these three 
 sources of evil. Or (2) perhaps the Apostle here means 
 all that is both in the world and o/it, or (3) he may be 
 using the word irav in its usual Hebrew sense of by far 
 the greater part; or (4) he is taking a comprehensive 
 view of the motives of human action in the world of 
 his day, and classes them under the threefold heads, the 
 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. 
 Such is life from a general view of it, such the principles 
 on which men act who live for this world and it alone. 
 — the lust of the flesh (eTnOvjuia). The longing desire 
 after anything ; used generally in the N". T. in a bad 
 sense. " Of the flesh," that is, which is prompted by 
 that part of man which we call the flesh. This flesh 
 (<Tap^) is not the body of man {(rw/uLo), which is God's 
 workmanship, and can be redeemed (Eom. viii. 23; cf. 
 I Cor. vi. 19), but the corruptible principle thereof, 
 which was introduced into the world by sin. The lust 
 of the flesh therefore comprises those animal and other 
 passions arising from that part of our nature which is in 
 conflict with the laws impressed upon us in the begin- 
 ning by God. " The lust of the flesh " signifies inward, 
 as opposed to outward temptations, mentioned under 
 the head " the lust of the eye." To confine the meaning 
 
 in man's heart, and in the world. And all this proceeds from the 
 present condition of the world, which is no longer as God made it. 
 
 2. The lust of the eyes. External objects have an exaggerated 
 power over us since man fell. In his normal state his desires would 
 be moderate, rational. Now he desires all he sees that seems pleasant, 
 
LOVE NOT THE WORLD. II9 
 
 here to mere animal passions is to misconceive the 
 Apostle's meaning. All irregular desires arising from 
 within are here meant. — the lust of the eye. And to 
 these correspond the incitements arising from without, 
 which ^ often stir up the unruly passions within. The 
 lust of the eye, that is, the desire of possession 
 which is aroused in us by seeing any object (see Matt. 
 V. 28), is frequently the cause of bringing the lust of 
 the flesh into action. — and the pride of life. Eather, the 
 hoastfulness of our way of living (see Eom. i. 20 ; 2 Tim. 
 iii. 2). For there are three words which are trans- 
 lated 'life' in our Version. The first, ^wj/, is life in 
 itself: life such as God lives, and such as flows from 
 Him, the eternal life which He promises to His creatures. 
 The second, ^v)()j (often translated 'soul,') means the 
 mere animal life of man, breathed into him by God at 
 his creation (Gen. ii. 7), but not involving those higher 
 attributes of perfection which come to him by his posses- 
 sion of a TcveviJia. The third, ^'10^, the word used here, 
 relates to our mode of passing life, and the means whereby 
 we sustain it ; " table, furniture, equipage, income, rank " 
 (Alford). See Mark xii. 44; Luke viii. 14, 43, xv. 12, 
 30, xxi. 4 ; I Tim. ii. 2, &c. The hoastfulness of life, 
 then, is the spirit that sets value upon such things as 
 these, that prides itself upon rank, wealth, power, educa- 
 tion, talent, cleverness, or any other gift that is the 
 source of envy or admiration among the children of this 
 world, and despises those who do not possess them. Such 
 satisfaction have men ever felt, and continue still to feel, 
 
 and is discontented if he do not obtain it. Hence envy and malice on 
 the one hand, luxury and riot on the other. 
 
 3. The iJride of life. The special guilt of this sin is in the fact that 
 it does not recognise the blessings of life as God's gifts. Taking them, 
 not as a trust, but as an inherent right, it prides itself ou them, and 
 
I20 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 secretly or openly, in the perishing things of this world. — 
 is not of the Father, but is of the world. Here, again, we 
 have an apparent truism, but in reality an important 
 truth. There are three principles which rule the world 
 as the Apostle saw it, and which still continue to rule it 
 as we see it, though with a diminished power. These 
 are the corrupt instincts of unregenerate humanity, the 
 tempting baits of pleasure and ambition which stir those 
 instincts, and the disposition to set a value upon external 
 things, to pride ourselves upon having them, to despise and 
 treat contemptuously those who have them not. These 
 principles seem natural and reasonable enough to those 
 who know not Christ, but to those who have known Him 
 it is sufficient to say that these things come not from the 
 Father of Him Who has redeemed us from these corrupt- 
 ible things, but that they are of the essence of that 
 corruption which has seized on the world which God 
 created. 
 
 Yek. 17. — And the world passeth away. Eather, is 
 passing maay (cf. 2 Cor. iv. 18). The present order of 
 things, which is corrupted, shall be destroyed (see Matt. 
 xxiv. 35 ; Heb. i. 1 1 ; 2 Pet. iii. 7, 10, 12). And there 
 shall be a regeneration (Matt. xix. 28), a restoration of 
 all things (Acts iii. 21), "a new heavens and a new earth 
 wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Pet. iii. 13). The 
 words are almost the same, but the thought is somewhat 
 different to that in ver. 8. The passing away of the dark- 
 ness is a matter of sight, the passing away of the world is a 
 matter of faith. The Apostle sees as an actual fact the light 
 
 uses them to humiliate a neighbour. There is no sin more common 
 in social life than this. To desire to set our neighbour down by 
 reason of our wealth or position, the desire to eclipse by vain- 
 glorious display, either of wealth or knowledge, the greed for power 
 and the anxiety to display it when we have it, the use of all we 
 
LOVE NOT THE WORLD. 12 1 
 
 of Christ entering one heart after another, and dispelling 
 the darkness there. He also beholds in faith the world 
 hastening to its destruction, and reads the truth in the 
 mutability of all earthly things. — and the lust thereof. 
 ' Thereof ' is bracketed by Westcott and Hort, with mani- 
 fest advantage to the clearness of the thought. The 
 avTov may easily have been added, from the idea that it 
 was wanted to the completeness of the sentence. But the 
 Apostle's idea was no doubt that lust itself was at least 
 as transient as the world which gave rise to it. Here, 
 no doubt, there is a nearer and a further fulfilment of the 
 Apostle's words. All earthly desires are fleeting. Some 
 pass away with fruition ; some are replaced by others 
 as we grow older, and our tastes alter; all vanish, as 
 far as we are concerned, when we bid farewell to this 
 world. Hence we may gather how all these earthly 
 lusts will disappear with the world that gives them being. 
 But one thing is unchangeable, and that is the will of 
 God. — but he that doeth the will of G-od abideth for ever. 
 The nature and completeness of the union between the 
 believer and Christ is not yet explained. It is more 
 clearly pointed out as the Epistle goes on. But here we 
 learn that if we desire to escape the sentence of death 
 which is pronounced upon all things here below, our 
 wills must be one with the unchangeable will of God. 
 We do not yet learn how this is to be, how that " God 
 hath given to us eternal life, and that this life is in His 
 Son" (ch. V. 1 1). To this great truth the various parts 
 of this Epistle lead up. A hint is given us in ver. 5 of 
 
 have to aggrandise ourselves and depreciate others, this is what St. 
 John means by the boastfulness — the empty strut, conceit, swagger — 
 of life. 
 
 IV. The reason why we should renounce the world. 
 Because it cannot last. It is hurrying to the end prepared for all 
 
122 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 this chapter that the believer is united with God. And 
 here we learn that if we are to be partakers of His life, 
 there must be a complete subjugation of our wills to His. 
 Our affections must not be set upon the perishable things 
 of the world we see, but upon the doing His will Who is 
 invisible to the eyes of sense, and can be discerned by the 
 eyes of faith alone. 
 
 things visible. If we cast in our lot with it, we too shall pass away 
 with it. If we choose a higher lot, there may be temporary incon- 
 venience, but there will be eternal gain (i Pet. v. lo). 
 
( 123 ) 
 
 VIII. 
 THE WOEK OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 CH. ii, 1 8. — After the solemn appeal to his "little 
 children," the fathers and young men of the flock, 
 to avoid the temptations which surrounded them and 
 threatened to engulf them once more in the darkness 
 which the revelation of God in Jesus Christ was removing, 
 the Apostle proceeds to enforce his exhortation from a 
 different point of view. This enticing world was ren- 
 dered yet more enticing by a spirit that dwelt within it. 
 The " last times " so often spoken of were at hand, and 
 the Antichrist who had been foretold had already his 
 forerunner in the world, corrupting the faith of many. — 
 Little children, it is the last time. More literally the last 
 hour, as Wiclif, the Ehemish, and the Eevised Version 
 translate. Our translation here, as in so many other 
 places, follows Tyndale. The literal translation empha- 
 sises the fact that the Apostle, like all his brethren, 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. ii. i8, 19. — Characteristics of the last time. 
 
 I. It is the last time. This expression has two meanings in 
 Holy Scripture. It means the last age of this present world, and next, 
 the life to come which is to succeed it. (i.) This last would appear 
 to be its meaning in i Pet. i. 5, when compared with the preceding verse. 
 Of course the "last time," when used strictly, refers to this new order 
 of things, the "times of restitution of all things" (Acts iii. 21), the 
 
124 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 believed the coming of the Lord to be nigli. " He at 
 once intensifies and sharpens the usual phrase ea-^arai 
 ^jmipai into ecr-^aTr] copa, and we are at once penetrated 
 by the feeling that he beholds this last preparatory frac- 
 tion as hastening to its end, and the final castastrophe as 
 impending" (Haupt). ffow near he regarded it as being 
 we need not ask. He must have well remembered the 
 words, " of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, 
 nor the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." 
 And though the selection of the word copa instead of 
 rjixepai implies a notion of nearness, yet on the other 
 hand the absence of the article clearly signifies that the 
 nearness was an indefinite nearness — that the termina- 
 tion of the " last hour " was in no man's power to fix. 
 (We may compare "the last day" in John vi. 39, 40, 
 44 — made definite by the article, and clearly signifying 
 the day of judgment.) What is meant by the last hour 
 there can be little doubt. The idea was familiar to the 
 writers of the Old Testament. The Achanth hayamim 
 (the aftertime), variously translated in our Version (see 
 Gen. xlix. i; Numb. xxiv. 14; Deut. iv. 30, xxxi. 29; 
 Isa. ii. 2; Dan. x. 14; Micah iv. i, &c.), is rendered 
 frequently in the LXX. by such expressions as ev eary^arai^ 
 ^fxepai? and the like. The Talmudic expression, which 
 may no doubt be traced back to times anterior to that 
 in which the Apostle wrote, spoke of this time as the 
 
 "regeneration" (Matt. xix. 28), Avhen the "new heavens and new 
 earth, wherein dwelletli righteousness" (2 Pet. iii. 13 ; cf. Isa. li. 16, Ixv. 
 17, Ixvi. 22; Rev, xxi. i), shall have appeared, when the "former 
 things shall have passed away " (Rev. xxi. 4), and " all things are 
 become new" (2 Cor, v, 17 ; Rev. xxi. 5). But (2.) it usually refers to 
 the last age of the present order of things. The history of the world, 
 regarded from the order of God's dispensations, is divided into four 
 parts. First, the antediluvian world, when mankind were given up to 
 
THE WORK OF ANTICHRIST. 1 25 
 
 coming era ('olam habba). This era had now arrived 
 (see also Acts ii. 17; i Pet. i. 20). Wliat its duration 
 was to be no one could tell. This only men knew, that 
 it was the last, and therefore a time for serious thought. 
 Moreover, the Christian Church had already had serious 
 warnings concerning those times. St. Paul had spoken 
 of them ^ in language sufficiently solemn in the two first 
 Epistles he had written (see i Thess. iv. 16, v. 4 ; 
 2 Thess. ii. i— 12). He had repeated his warning in 
 I Tim. iv. I ; 2 Tim. iii. i. St. Peter too had spoken 
 of the great day as coming " as a thief in the night " 
 (2 Pet. iii. 10), and of men living in the "last days" 
 in thoughtless indifference to its near approach (2 Pet. 
 iii. 3, 4 ; cf. Jude 18). Nor should we forget that the 
 Apocalypse had then been written, if we would enter 
 fully into the spirit of the exhortation, " Little children, 
 it is the last hour." Bengel's explanation may be noticed 
 as a curiosity, that the words mean the last days of St. 
 John's own life. — and as ye have heard that Antichrist 
 shall come. Here again our translation is due to Tyndale. 
 Wiclif, the Ehemish, and the Eevised Version render 
 
 ^ Haupt expresses a doubt whether the Epistles to the Thessalonians 
 had as yet reached Asia Minor. But St. Paul had been dead nearly thirty 
 years. He was well known to the Church at Ephesus. Is it likely that 
 his earliest Epistles would have been unknown to Churches in which he 
 had lived and taught, and which he had addressed in some of his most 
 striking Epistles ? See also below, on Antichrist. 
 
 their own devices, and finallj' perished in one common ruin. Next, 
 the patriarchal period, when men as a rule were left to themselves, 
 but a spark of Divine light glimmered in a single family. Next, what 
 may be termed the educational or preparatory period, when God's 
 chosen people lived under the training of the law, and other nations 
 were trained under the inferior but by no means useless method of 
 speculation and philosophy. And then, the final period, in which man- 
 
126 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 literally cometh, i.e. is to come. " The future," says 
 Braune, " is implied in the idea of coming ; the present 
 indicates the certainty of the event." Wordsworth refers 
 for this construction to Matt. ii. 4. The aorist rjKova-are 
 refers to some indefinite period of past time, and is well 
 rendered by our perfect here. Daniel had spoken of an 
 Antichrist (ch. viii.) ; St. Paul had spoken yet more dis- 
 tinctly (2 Thess. ii. 8) of a " lawless one " who should 
 set himself deliberately and distinctly, not only against 
 Jesus Christ, but against the God whom Jesus Christ 
 had revealed. This passage, as we have just contended, 
 could hardly have been unknown to the believers at 
 Ephesus. And the phrase " ye have heard " may not 
 unfairly be pressed to mean something more than could 
 be found in the Jewish Scriptures. St. John himself, 
 no doubt, had spoken of adversaries of God in the 
 Apocalypse, and these, no doubt, are included. But 
 inasmuch as he speaks, and that very mystically, of two 
 beasts embodying this spirit of resistance to the truth 
 (Eev. xiii.), we cannot help seeing that it is of something 
 more definite that he is speaking here. The auo/mos of 
 St. Paul, mentioned frequently no doubt in the oral as 
 well as written teaching of the Apostles, is the idea pre- 
 sent to the mind of St. John. The received text here 
 has the article before avTL-^pi<jTo^. Wordsworth and 
 Alford reject it. Haupt does not seem to have observed 
 
 kind enjoyed the full revelation of God's purpose in Jesus Christ. On 
 tliis last period we may remark — 
 
 I. That it has cUsajjpointed expectation. The Apostles looked for an 
 immediate end of the world. Nor was it suqjrising that they should 
 have done so. The hideous and revolting wickedness of the age, the 
 persecution of the elect, the huge antichristian tyranny of the Roman 
 Empire, seemed to f ulhl exactly the predictions of Christ. There have 
 been other periods which have struck men's imaginations with an awe 
 
THE WORK OF ANTICHRIST. 1 27 
 
 the various reading. As it is not found in ^< and B, we 
 shall naturally expect to find it absent from Westcott 
 and Hort's text. There can be little doubt that it should 
 be omitted. St. John's object here is to direct attention 
 rather to the spirit than to the person of Antichrist. " As 
 ye have heard that an Antichrist is to come, so I warn 
 you that practically you may meet him already." — 
 Antichtist. Two explanations have been given of this 
 word — (i) instead of Christ, (2) against Christ. The 
 supporters of the first opinion would see in the word one 
 of the false Christs whom Jesus prophesied should come 
 before His second advent. Those who advocate the 
 second see rather in Antichrist the impersonation in 
 bodily form of the adversary who resists Christ. The 
 majority of commentators prefer the latter, and it un- 
 questionably falls in with the view of Antichrist put 
 before us in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians. 
 It will hardly be expected that here we should enter 
 fully into a question of so great complexity and difficulty 
 as the nature and coming of Antichrist. Some salient 
 points, however, of his character as revealed in Holy 
 Writ may here be noted, (i.) St. John does not distinctly 
 speak of a personal Antichrist, though, as Haupt remarks 
 (after Calvin, Neander, and others), his teaching does 
 not exclude the possibility of the coming of such a being. 
 The word only occurs here, hi ver. 22, in ch. iv. 3, and 
 
 of His immediate coming. At the time when the Western Roman 
 Empire broke up, the hordes of barbarians who overran the empire, 
 their unbridled lust and pitiless ferocity, tlie unscrupulous tyranny of 
 their leaders, seemed again to answer to our Lord's description. Once 
 more, when the tenth century drew near its close, men imagined that 
 the cup of iniquity was full, and that the world would soon come to 
 an end, a conviction which shaped itself into the lines of St. Bernard 
 of Morlaix — 
 
128 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 in his second Epistle, ver. 7. (2.) He seems to regard it 
 (Ebrard) as an embodiment of the principle of a-Koria, 
 or opposition to light, of which he has before spoken. 
 (3.) The special form which this opposition to light takes 
 in all time is worthy of special note. It consists in the 
 separation between Jesus and Christ (ver. 22), the denial 
 (ch. iv. 3 ; 2 John 7) that Jesus is come in thejlesh. (4.) St. 
 John seems to distinguish between the spirit of Anti- 
 christ and his personal revelation. Of the latter he says 
 nothing, of the former he says much. And this is pro- 
 bably because he would have us understand, after St. 
 Paul, that the mystery of iniquity is already in active 
 operation (n^n evepyelrai, 2 Thess. ii. 7), but that in 
 every age there are certain antagonistic influences at 
 work, which prevent the combination in one man of all 
 the evil influences working against the Divine Person 
 and purposes. Thus there are many antichristian influ- 
 ences in the world, and many people inspired by 
 them, who are all more or less embodiments of that 
 great principle of evil which is destined one day 
 to find a personal representative on earth — one, that 
 is, who, without a direct incarnation of the spirit of 
 evil, which would hardly be permitted, will lend himself 
 to carry out that evil spirit's purposes in all their 
 entirety. Thus the view which has regarded as Anti- 
 christ either the Popes or the Pioman Catholic Church 
 
 "The world is very evil, 
 The times are waxing late." 
 
 Again, in the sixteenth century, the Papal party imagined that they 
 saw the end of the Avorld in the rush of independent thought, not 
 always unmingled with scepticism, which overwhelmed the barriers 
 erected by authority, and seemed to many likely to sweep away truth in 
 the flood of licence. Later still, those mIio regarded the Papacy as the 
 
THE WORK OF ANTICHRIST. 1 29 
 
 from its position as a worldly institution, designed to 
 win temporal authority, has some foundation in the 
 facts of the case, insomuch as facts clearly show that 
 this authority, as practically exercised in the working of 
 the Eomau Catholic Church, is not that of Christ, but 
 frequently issues in a direct defiance of His precepts, and 
 thus is in open opposition to Him. But as Antichrist is 
 to be one man, he cannot, of course, be the Popes in 
 general. Nor can he be the Eoman Catholic Church, for 
 no man can worship the beast, or receive his mark on 
 forehead or hand, without drinking of " the wine of the 
 wrath of God " (Eev. xiv, i o). We cannot say this of 
 every member of the Eoman Catholic communion. We 
 are therefore driven to look for the revelation of Antichrist 
 as still to come.^ In what direction we are to look for it 
 we may discover from what has already been said. The 
 denial that Jesus has come in the flesh, the separation 
 between Jesus and Christ, is the sign of Antichrist. 
 That is, the denial of the truth that in Jesus Christ we 
 have God incarnate in the flesh; the assertion that God 
 has not revealed His will to us, that He remains ever 
 " unknown and unknowable," and that Jesus Christ was 
 
 ^ Bishop Wordsworth regards the Man of Sin in 2 Thess. to be distinct 
 from Antichrist. The former he sees in the Church of Rome ; the latter 
 in the " open, impious denial of the Father and of the Son." Most 
 commentators, however, identify the two. 
 
 true Antichrist, observing the signs of its decay, have seen in the 
 growing weakness and final destruction of the temporal power the 
 sign that the end is approaching. But "the end is not yet." Many 
 a principle has yet to be worked out ; a new conflict is at hand under 
 new conditions. The Gospel has still to be preached throu(;Iiout the 
 whole "world. Like all other prophecies, this of Antichrist (see 
 " Davison on Prophecy ") has a nearer and a further fulfilment. The 
 Neronian era, or downfall of the Roman Empire, is the nearer one. 
 
 I 
 
T30 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 a simple Galilean peasant of pure morals and extra- 
 ordinary abilities, who contrived to persuade His disciples 
 that He had Divine powers, and that He had come to 
 make known God's will to mankind. This is the direc- 
 tion in which we are to look for manifestation of the 
 Antichristian spirit. This manifestation has lately taken 
 a new direction, which may very possibly be the last one. 
 The Positivist philosophy consists in a denial of God and 
 a deification of man. " God is man, and man is God," 
 it cries, in a strange travesty of the Christian creed. On 
 this principle it is proposed to found a Church. That 
 Church is to have one object of worship, the spirit of 
 humanity. It is to have a ritual, involving the worship 
 of famous men, but above all of the " spirit of man." 
 The goal is the perfection of humanity through the 
 progress of science, the spread of knowledge, the in- 
 tellectual and material advancement of mankind. And 
 with the immense material resources at the command of 
 mankind, and the increasing distaste of Christians for the 
 appeal to force, such a principle might easily develop 
 into a tyranny of a most formidable kind. There are 
 not wanting signs of a possible outbreak in the direction 
 of Nihilism — the negation, that is, of all that men have 
 hitherto held to be truth. Such a power would combine 
 in itself all the Antichristian elements which have 
 existed in the world before its time. It would display 
 
 But as regards the final one, it is still true that " of that day and that 
 hour knoweth no man." 
 
 2. Yet it is always at hand. Antichrist is ever "ready to he re- 
 vealed." And it may he said that he is more ready now than ever. 
 The least thoughtful among us must see what a vast yet silent revolu- 
 tion is passing over us. The ends of the earth are brought together 
 by steam and electricity. Ideas flash -with lightning rapidity to the 
 ends of the earth. Movements arise and are brought to their comple- 
 
THE WORK OF ANTICHRIST. I3I 
 
 the cynical contempt for human life and liberty, for the 
 rights of conscience, the sacredness of the family, which 
 have distinguished the Eoman hierarchy, with the greed 
 for gain and conquest, the disregard of one's own word, 
 of treaty obligations, of the claims of right and justice, 
 which have characterised Autichristian rulers and con- 
 querors, as well as the disregard of morality, of law, of 
 everything but force, which animated the fierce soldiery 
 who have in past times been let loose upon the world. 
 Its vehement hostility to Christianity might impel it to 
 " wear out the saints of the Most High." But its reign 
 would be short. Perhaps the " thousand two hundred 
 and ninety days" — the "time, times and a half" of Dan. 
 xii. 7, II, — are to be understood literally, and we are to 
 expect a brief reign of force, coupled with a denial of 
 God and a contempt of all His laws, as that "great 
 tribulation " which must herald the coming of Jesus 
 Christ, and the destruction by the breath of His mouth 
 of all who oppose Him. Braune reminds us that we 
 must reject all those interpretations of Antichrist which 
 regard him as a "solitary historical personage" in days 
 already past. Thus the Greek Fathers, and after them 
 Luther, and Calvin, explain the passages of Ebion, or 
 Cerinthus, or other heretics. So Grotius applies it to 
 Barcochba, the false Messiah who perished in Hadrian's 
 time ; Calovius to Mohammed ; Luther, again, not very 
 
 tion ill a generation which once M-ould have required centuries for 
 their development. The whole world is fermenting with new ideas 
 and the new application of old ones. Evil men have a new and fearful 
 power of working their evil deeds. The secrets of Nature have been 
 explored, and men can now do evil upon a gigantic scale. And the 
 restraints of force are being slowly and surely removed. There is an 
 impatience of control, a prejudice against punishments, against inter- 
 ference with personal liberty, which sets men more free than evep 
 
132 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 consistently, to the Pope ; and the Eoman Catholic 
 expositors to Luther. Dr. Yon Dollinger, in his " First 
 Age of the Church," Appendix I., regards the whole 
 passage in 2 Thess. concerning the Man of Sin as re- 
 ferring to the then Eoman Emperor, and the mention of 
 the temple must mean, in his opinion, the then existing 
 temple at Jerusalem. But he does not exclude altogether 
 a belief in a final apostasy and an appearance of Anti- 
 christ before the last judgment. — even now there are many 
 Antichrists. That St. John is here referring to the 
 Gnostic heresies there can be no doubt. The disciples of 
 Simon Magus and Nicolaus, who taught all kinds of 
 strange travesties of the Gospel ; the Ebionites, who 
 many of them reduced Jesus to a mere man ; the 
 Cerinthians, who taught that the ^on Christ descended 
 upon Jesus at His baptism, and left Him before His 
 passion, were all manifestations of the Antichristian 
 spirit, as were also the later Gnostic heresies which as 
 yet had not appeared. The philosophical tendencies of 
 that age, which supposed matter to be essentially evil, 
 and a union between the material and the Divine to be 
 absolutely impossible, were striking at the two main 
 doctrines of Christianity, the sovereignty of God and the 
 regeneration of man. They taught that there was a 
 whole region which lay outside the power of God, and 
 that in this region was comprised an integral portion of 
 
 before to work their will whether for good or evil. It is therefore 
 quite possible that the present age may see an outbreak of wickedness 
 more formidable than any tliat has yet been experienced. 
 
 II. There are many Antichrists in the world. This is as 
 true as ever. But our space will not permit us to enlarge on the truth. 
 We will briefly enumerate them, (i) Disrespect to authority. (2) Im- 
 patience of restraint. (3) Unchecked licence of speech and thought, 
 even on the most sacred subjects. (4) Contempt for moral considera- 
 
THE WOEK OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 03 
 
 human nature. Thus the redemption and sanctification 
 of the body, the possibility of a pure and innocent life in 
 accordance with the natural laws of the world, was 
 rendered an impossibility, and a man. must either be- 
 come unnatural or immoral. To these two tendencies 
 Christianity was irreconcilably opposed. And it set 
 in opposition to them the one harmonising, reconciling, 
 atoning principle, "Jesus Christ come in the ficsh." — 
 whereby we know that it is the last time. Because Jesus 
 Christ had foretold that false Christs and false prophets 
 should arise, who should deceive, if it were possible, even 
 the very elect (Matt. xxiv. 24). And His Apostles had 
 re-echoed the warning (see passage cited in p. 125). 
 One of the signs of the " last days " would be the 
 number of false doctrines and evil men to be found. 
 Among the most necessary duties of the elect were 
 watchfulness, that they might not be beguiled by teach- 
 ing which was inconsistent with that of their Master, 
 and steadfastness, whereby they might persevere to the 
 end in spite of opposition of every kind. 
 
 Ver. 19. — They went out from us. The "many Anti- 
 christs " mentioned in the last verse are obviously re- 
 ferred to here. And one point to be noted in the 
 character of Antichrist is that it involves rejection of 
 Christ. Had these teachers not gone out from the 
 Christian Church, they would not have been Antichrists. 
 
 tions (in some quarters). (5) Disbelief in revelation, and even in the 
 existence of God. (6) Schemes of public plunder, advocated by- 
 Socialists and Communists in opposition to the Christian theory, 
 Avhich recognises a man's right to his own, though he is encouraged 
 to share it with others. (7) Nihilism, the belief in nothing— the 
 denial of religion, morals, property, honour, temperance, the family — 
 the absolute reversal of all that has been hitherto held sacred among 
 mankind. This, and nothing else than this, is the Nihilistic platform, 
 
134 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 The particular circumstance which aggravated their guilt 
 was, that they had had the opportunity of knowing Christ 
 and had flung it away. The heathen world at large was 
 not Anti christian. The opportunity of knowing Christ 
 had not as yet been given it. But a special guilt must 
 clearly have attached to those who had joined the 
 Christian Church, had taken part in its worship, had 
 tasted of its spirit of unselfish brotherhood, had enjoyed 
 the privilege of its inner spiritual teaching, had feasted 
 on the Body and Blood of the Incarnate God, and had 
 then gone forth and " denied the Lord that had bought 
 them" (2 Pet. ii. i). Somewhat of the same feeling 
 may be discerned in Acts xx. 30, where St. Paul evidently 
 feels it a great aggravation of the offence of the false 
 teachers of whom he speaks that they would arise "out 
 of your own selves." It was the very spirit of Judas 
 which such men shared, to whom Christ Himself had 
 applied the words of the Psalmist, " he that hath eaten 
 bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me " (John 
 xiii. 1 8). Some discussion has arisen on the question 
 whether, with the Vulgate, we should render prodierunt, 
 which is equivalent to " they originated with us," or simply 
 exierunt, i.e. " they went forth," which is the rendering 
 of all the chief English versions, even those which, like 
 that of Wiclif and the Ehemish Version, might be sup- 
 posed to be most under the influence of the Vulgate. 
 
 as put forward openly hy its advocates. The Christian has still, as 
 ever, but one weapon to encounter these adversaries with. It is that 
 placed in our hands by St. John, "Jesus Christ come in the flesh." 
 
 III. One special characteristic of Antichrist is the rejec- 
 tion OF Christ. " They went out from us." The Antichrist must 
 arise from among Christians. And in Christian nations there are 
 many who deliberately reject Christ. This rejection may be (i) 
 speculative, (2) practical. And each one of these ultimately leads up 
 
THE WORK OF ANTICHRIST. 1 35 
 
 As Alford reminds us, we must take the e^ of tlie verb 
 ia a slightly different sense to the preposition that 
 follows. The former means simply local separation, 
 the latter unity of origin : " they went away from 
 among us because their present principles are in no 
 sense derived from us." We must not forget that 
 these words have a special historical sense. Early 
 Christian history tells us of several of these Antichristian 
 teachers. Simon Magus (see note on last verse), as we 
 might have imagined from his utterly unspiritual con- 
 ception of Christ's kingdom, was one of those who had 
 "no root." "When he found that only persecution and 
 suffering, instead of worldly success, was the lot of the 
 disciples of Christ, he speedily separated himself from 
 among them, and became one of their chief opponents, 
 borrowing as many of their ideas as suited him, and 
 combining the grossest impostures with a life of open 
 immorality. The Nicolaitans again (Eev. ii. 6, 15), 
 whether they were the disciples of Nicolaus the deacon, 
 as some say, or not, were among these apostates from 
 the Christian Church ; for the similarity of the Greek 
 Nicolaus to the Hebrew Balaam (lord of the people) sug- 
 gests a connection between the passage just cited and 
 2 Pet. ii. 16 and Jude 1 1, while the allusion to Balaam 
 would lose its point if there were no abuse of spiritual 
 gifts. St. John's horror of Cerinthus, too, as displayed 
 
 to the other. There are those who profess to reject Christ, but to hold 
 fast to the morality which He first brought to light. These have let 
 go the anchor ; and though at present they may seem to reiiiaiu safely 
 Avhere they were, they are sure at the first stress of weather to be 
 driven ashore. There are those, again, Avho professedly believe the 
 doctrines of Christianity, but who positively refuse to be guided in 
 their conduct by Christ's precepts. These must ultimately be driven 
 to deny the doctrines which have no real hold on their consciences. 
 
136 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 in the well-known and well- authenticated story of his 
 refusing to remain a moment in the bath with such a 
 heretic, lest the roof should fall on their heads, would 
 seem to indicate that he also had had the opportunity of 
 knowing Christ and had rejected Him. The earliest 
 accounts of this heretic, however, do not say that he ever 
 joined the Christian Church, but they agree in imputing 
 to him a denial of the truth that " Jesus Christ is come 
 in the flesh." He taught that the union between Jesus 
 and the ^on Christ was merely temporary ; that it began 
 at the baptism of Jesus and ended before His crucifixion. 
 It is generally supposed that St. John's teaching in the 
 Gospel and Epistle is more especially directed against 
 his heresy than against any other. Eather, however, we 
 may suppose that it was directed against the general 
 tendency towards Gnosticism which was in the air, so to 
 speak. All the Gnostics, in one way or other, made a 
 distinction between Jesus and Christ. They could not 
 conceive of an union between spirit and matter. They 
 could not grasp the idea of a purification of the flesh. 
 All that they could imagine Christ doing was purifying 
 us from the flesh. And thus two radically false tendencies, 
 which are still to be found in men's minds, diverged on 
 either side from the eternal truth as revealed in God's 
 Word : the one regarding all that was connected with the 
 flesh as sinful, and thus confounding innocent and guilty 
 
 And both must end in the rejection of Christ. Thus is Antichrist 
 ever "ready to be revealed" in the persons of those who "will not 
 have this man to reign over them. " 
 
 IV. The last times are times of testing. "They went out 
 from us " because "they Avere not of us." Time and circumstances 
 have tested the reality of their belief. To this testing process every 
 man's Christianity must be submitted. It is a law of this disordered 
 world that wherever the truth is proclaimed it will be resisted. As 
 Hiibner puts it, " where God builds a temple Satan is sure to build a 
 
THE WOEK OF ANTICHRIST. 1 57 
 
 enjoyments in one common condemnation ; tlie other 
 regarding all that was connected with the flesh as utterly 
 indifferent, and so teaching that no amount of fleshly 
 indulgence, however sinful, could touch the calm and 
 pure intellectual or spiritual life, which lay in a sphere of 
 its own entirely apart from the world of sense. These 
 tendencies existed in St. John's time. They blazed up 
 into sudden and dangerous activity a few years afterwards. 
 They still smoulder unsuspected in many regions of the 
 Christian consciousness. We may observe, in passing, 
 how they are condenmed by a single word in the Church 
 Catechism, which calls the Christian to renounce only 
 " the sinful lusts of the flesh," thus explaining the some- 
 what indefinite word " carnal," which meets us in the 
 Baptismal service. — "but they were not of us. This phrase 
 has already been explained ; but we may add a very 
 pertinent illustration which Alford quotes from St. Augus- 
 tine's treatise on St. John's Epistle. That Father com- 
 pares these spurious Christians to certain corrupt humours, 
 which, though they are in the body, are not only no part 
 of its proper constitution, but are opposed to it. Hence 
 they are expelled by the action of the various functions 
 of the body. This serves still further to manifest their 
 incompatibility with the body which refuses to retain 
 them. And the reason why these persons did not remain 
 in the Christian Church is because they had not expelled 
 
 chapel by the side of it." So the Scriptures invariably represent this 
 life as a time of testing (see Matt. xiii. 20 ; i Cor. iii. 1 3 ; James i. 2, 
 3, 12 ; I Pet. i. 7, iv. 12, 13, &c.) And so when any new form of 
 resistance to God's truth arises among us, Ave can easily see in whom 
 that truth has taken firm root, and in whom it has not. There may be 
 a good deal of outward profession of religion ; but though outwardly 
 reckoned in the Church, those could never be really of it whom the 
 first breath of temptation carries away. 
 V. Separation from the Church shows previous alienation 
 
130 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 these evil liumours from their own hearts. So says 
 St. Augustine. " Qui se in melius commutat, in cor- 
 pore membrum est ; qui autem in malitia permanet, 
 humor malus est." — for if they had heen of us, they 
 would no doubt have continued with us. On this passage, 
 among others, has the Predestinarian system been built 
 up. But it does not touch the question either way. 
 Alford has well remarked here how the attempt of the 
 Vulgate and the English Version (here following Tyn- 
 dale) to translate av has sometimes altered the sense of 
 the passage in which that particle occurs. The words 
 " no doubt " are not in the original, and are omitted in 
 the Revised Version. If au be translated at all, the 
 Ehemish " surely " is the best way of rendering. But 
 it is simply the particle expressing uncertainty, which 
 appears in every hypothetical sentence, and has no proper 
 equivalent in English. The meaning of the passage is 
 simple enough. It contains no deep theological principle 
 of the indefectibility of grace, nor can such be legitimately 
 deduced from it. There is no assertion of a general 
 theological principle; what is said refers solely to the 
 persons here spoken of. We may not unreasonably, 
 however, go so far as to draw the inference from this 
 special statement that the Apostle regarded it as a 
 very unlikely thing — a thing practically impossible — • 
 that any one who had ever properly realised by faith 
 
 OF SPIRIT. To avoid misinterpretation, it may be well to state that 
 the word Church here is used in its widest sense, of the whole body of 
 baptized believers who are manifesting their present acceptance of 
 their Lord by participation in the Lord's Supper, which He has 
 ordained specially to be a means of confessing Him before men. And 
 separation from the Cliurch is regarded as involving nothing short of 
 a denial of Christ as Lord. No mere separation between those who 
 confess Christ is meant, but the actual refusal to acknowledge Him. 
 And here it may be observed — 
 
THE WORK OF ANTICHRIST. 1 39 
 
 the intimate personal union between a believer and his 
 Lord would ever draw back from that union. But there 
 is no definite assertion, either that no combination of 
 unfavourable circumstances could render such backsliding 
 possible, or that there were no rudimentary stages of 
 Christian faith short of that vivid realisation of the 
 personal presence of Christ in the heart which constitutes 
 the true blessedness of the mature Christian, and with 
 which it is most improbable that he would allow himself 
 to part. See, for the distinction between the immature 
 and mature Christian, such passages as i Cor. iii. i ; 
 2 Cor. V. 16; Heb. v. 12-14; i Pet. ii. 2, 3. The 
 difference between the spiritual and the carnal Christian, 
 between the vyittlo^ and the riXeiog, is distinctly marked 
 in such passages. Both, in a sense, are in Christ ; both 
 are partakers of the privileges of the Christian life. But 
 in the latter the new life is far more deeply " rooted 
 and grounded " than in the former, and consequently 
 it is far more difficult for such to be " moved away 
 from the hope of the Gospel." The v/jirioi, though to 
 a certain degree "in grace," can hardly be said to be 
 " of us " in the sense in which St. John uses the 
 words. " Of us " would seem to imply something more 
 than a mere rudimentary reception of the life of Christ. 
 Eather it is the being "rooted and grounded in love," 
 Eph. iii. 17. Alford has a long note here on the 
 
 I. That the passage does not involve Predcstinarian doctrine. For 
 there is no assertion of the doctrine that "once in Christ, always in 
 Christ." Wliat is said is, not that these persons never were "of us," 
 but that wliether they ever were or not, their departure proved tliat 
 they had ceased to be so. It is quite possible to suppose that a gradual 
 deterioration may have taken place, a gradual decay of love and 
 faith, until the once sincere believer has become a mere external pro- 
 fessor, and only needs the stimulus of outward circumstances to sever 
 himself altogether from the company of the faithful. 
 
I40 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Predestinarian question, and Diisterdieck a far longer 
 one.-'^ — but they went out, that they might be made manifest 
 that they were not all of us. The first question tliat occurs 
 here is, How is the blank in the original to be filled up ? 
 A glance at the Authorised Version will show us that 
 the words " they went out " are no part of the original, 
 but are supplied to fill up the meaning. The Eevised 
 Version supplies the same words as the Authorised 
 Version. Many of the early English translators leave 
 the passage as it stands in the Greek. Tyndale fills up 
 with " it fortuned." The Geneva Bible has " this cometh 
 to pass." The turn of phrase is characteristic of St. John 
 (see John i. 4, ix. 3, xiii. 18, xiv. 31, x v. 25). It would 
 give a very good sense if in all these passages we could 
 translate " and so it comes to pass that." But the 
 grammarians are almost unanimous against such a render- 
 ing. The question is of course debatable whether St. 
 John uses Greek particles in their strict grammatical 
 sense. In the same way some learned Hebraists have 
 denied that IV^^ is always used in the sense of in order 
 that, and Ps. li. 6 and Amos ii. 7 are cited in support of 
 this view. Here, however, the telic sense of 'Iva suits the 
 passage very well. We must supply some words such as 
 
 ^ " The fact of separation revealed the imperfection of their fellowship. 
 The words will not admit of any theoretical deductions. The test of 
 experience is laid down as final." — Westcott. 
 
 2. That watchfulness is a necessary characteristic of the spiritual 
 life. We have here before us the example of those who have 
 apparently been members of the Christian Church, enjoying all the 
 privileges of membership. And yet their fellowship with Christ was 
 no real fellowship. A sudden blast of vain doctrine, and they cease to 
 be members of Him altogether. Had they really believed in Him, 
 they would not have denied Him. What more necessarj'-, then, than 
 to inquire carefully whether our profession of Christ be a real pro- 
 fession, or whether we be deceiving ourselves. If we believe in 
 
THE WOEK OF ANTICHRIST. I4I 
 
 the Authorised Version supplies. The Syriac supplies 
 "this they did;" Calvin "this God did." But the con- 
 clusion is just the same whatever words we add. It all 
 happened in order that the true character of these persons 
 might be known. And this is not unreasonable. It 
 was God's will that their character should be manifested 
 in this way, as a warning to Christians to remember the 
 words " all are not Israel that are of Israel," nor all 
 Abraham's true seed who are lineally descended of him 
 (John viii. 39; Eom. ii. 28, ix. 7; Gal. iii. 7, 29). 
 There might be " spots in their feasts of charity " (or 
 love-feasts, as the Eevised Version translates) of whom 
 it was their duty to beware. And the secession of these 
 persons from their midst was Divinely ordered, in order 
 to make those who remained more careful in their scrutiny 
 of their own lives and conduct. That some such idea 
 was in the Apostle's mind will hardly be doubtful to 
 the reader of such passages as Eev. ii. 2, 14, 20. 
 The modern commentators have taken infinite trouble 
 to justify the rendering " they were not all of us ; " 
 and, as it appears, in vain. It is quite impossible that 
 any of such persons could have been " of us " in the 
 Apostle's meaning of the words. And therefore Grotius' 
 translation, so contemptuously rejected by most modern 
 commentators, "that none of them were of us," is, we 
 may venture to believe, the true one. There is a third 
 
 Him, it must be as One ■who can sanctify our mortal flesh, can 
 "mortify and kill all vices in us," and who not only can do so, but 
 is doing it. Is this our condition ? " What I say unto you I say unto 
 all, Watch." 
 
 3. There are many, externally menibers of the Christian Church, who 
 never attain to a real saving knoivledge of Christ. To be vitally in 
 union with Christ, Ave need (i) God's election to spiritual jjrivileges, 
 and (2) our acceptance of that election. If, by virtue of our admission 
 into the Christian Church, we become entitled to all the blessings of 
 
142 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 rendering suggested which is at least admissible, and 
 it is the one adopted by most modern commentators, 
 " that not all (who are among us) are of us." But had 
 this been the Apostle's meaning, he would surely have 
 expressed himself more precisely to that effect. The 
 fact is that sufficient allowance has not been made for 
 the Hebraistic idiom of the Apostle. Thus in Exod. 
 xii. 1 6 the literal rendering of the original is " all work 
 shall not be done," and the construction is so common as 
 to defy all attempts to enumerate the passages in which 
 it appears in the Old Testament. We have instances of 
 the same construction in Matt. xxiv. 22 ; Mark xiii. 20; 
 Luke i. 37 ; Eom. iii. 20 ; Eev. xxi. 27. It is true that 
 Alford endeavours to escape from the force of such 
 passages by declaring that the word " all " is emphatic in 
 each of them. But this is not the case with i Cor. i. 
 29 (where the use of //?/ instead of ou does not affect 
 
 the question, since the construction of the Hebrew is? 
 
 and yi^ are precisely alike with ^D). Where ov and 
 Tra? come together it is admitted that the proper translation 
 is " not all," but here they are separated by a verb. And 
 not only in the present verse, but in vers. 21, 23, we 
 have a similar construction. " No lie is of the truth " 
 (ver. 21); and again, " No one who denieth the Son hath 
 the Father" (ver. 23), where, though we have ovSe instead 
 of ov, the Apostle means to include not some, but all. 
 
 spiritual union Avith Christ whicli it is His Avill that all memljers of 
 His Church should receive, it needs an act of faith on our part in order 
 to appropriate these blessings, and make them actually, as they have 
 hitherto been virtually, ours. God does not repeat the proHer; it 
 remains ever in force, but it becomes efficacious only when -we stretch 
 forth our hands to make it our own. The lives of many in the 
 Christian Church show only too plainly tliat in their case this 
 appropriation of God's profl'ers of grace has not been made. These 
 
THE WORK OF ANTICHRIST. 1 43 
 
 within the scope of his meaning. Thus then it seems 
 far more probable that the rendering of Wiclif, Tyndale, 
 and Cranmer, as well as the Peshito, in which " all " is 
 omitted, comes nearer to the sense than that of our 
 Version, or the proposed modern emendation. It is not 
 that some of the seceders were not imbued with the true 
 spirit of Christianity ; it is not that a general allegation 
 is made that not all Christians must be regarded as 
 genuine ones, but that none of those who had abandoned 
 the Christian Church had ever really known what its 
 true principles were. This rendering at least makes the 
 connection of the next verse more clear. If it be true 
 that what the Apostle meant was to lay down the prin- 
 ciple that many professing Christians were not real 
 Christians, the question irresistibly forces itself upon us, 
 who were the vfxel<s of vers. 20, 21? And to that 
 question it is impossible to find any answer. Translate ov 
 Trai/re? none, and the sense is clear.^ Those who were 
 so ready to leave us were all mere surface believers, who 
 "had no root." But ye who remain steadfast to your 
 principles, who have not followed them in their desertion 
 of the Lord, " we are persuaded better things of you." 
 
 ^ ' ' When the irfij is separated by the verb from the ov, the negation, 
 according to the usage of the New Testament, is always universal (all . . . 
 not) and not partial (not all)."— Westcott. 
 
 are they who, morally or doctrinally, are ready at any moment to 
 break loose from the restraints of Christianity. Hence the sad 
 scandals of shameful lives or open apostasy from Christ. The object 
 of all faithful teaching should be to urge men to exchange tliis mere 
 formal lip-profession into that inward union with Christ which displays 
 itself iu a character and course of conduct modelled on His. Those 
 only who possess that union can be said to be "of" the true assembly 
 of believers. Those M'ho have it not are sure, sooner or later, to 
 "make it manifest that none of them were of us." 
 
( 144 ) 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE EFFECTS OF BELIEF IN THE TEUTH. 
 
 rm. ii. 20. — But ye have an unction from the Holy One. 
 
 ^ There can be no doubt that the unction here has 
 some reference to Christ and Antichrist. The disciples 
 of the Anointed partake of His unction, of which those 
 who reject Him are utterly destitute. But (i) what is 
 the connection between this verse and the foregoing, and 
 (2) what is meant by the unction? As regards (i) we 
 may remark that the kui of the original has become hut 
 in our Version. This adversative sense causes great 
 surprise to Alford (and to Haupt, who supposes that 
 because Se is not used there is no immediate connection 
 with what precedes), who, as has frequently before been 
 remarked, has no clear apprehension of the strong Heb- 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ver. 20. — The unction from the Holy One. 
 
 I. The unction is the gift of the Holy Ghost. (See 
 Exiiosition.) 
 
 II. That unction is promised to every believer (Jolm iii. 5, 6 ; 
 Acts ii. 38, viii. 15, xix. 2 ; 2 Cor. i. 22, v. 5 ; Eph. i. 13, 14, iv. 30; 
 also Rom. viii. 15 ; i Cor. ii. 12, xii. 13 ; Gal. iii. 2, 3, &c.) 
 
 III. It is imparted to us through various channels. There 
 is no disposition to insist upon -what is matter of controversy. Those, 
 therefore, who are not disposed to agree with Avhat is set down under 
 this head can pass it over. But a large number of Christians in the 
 Church of England accept it as truth. 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BELIEF IN THE TRUTH. I45 
 
 raistic element in the Greek of this Epistle, That v/xetf 
 (emphatic) is in opposition to the seceders of the last verse 
 can hardly be doubtful. And if so, any one acquainted 
 with the various shades of meaning of Vau copulative 
 in Hebrew would not fail to render the kul here by 
 " but ; " not with any strong disjunctive force, but simply 
 as marking the antithesis between the true and false 
 believers. As regards (2) we have to remember that the 
 word here used does not mean the act of anointing, as 
 the rendering of the same word anointing in ver. 27 
 would lead us to suppose,- but the fact of having been 
 anointed. The ointment is the Holy Ghost Himself, who 
 comes a-TTo too aylov (see Acts x. 38). Dusterdieck refers 
 us here to the various ways in which Christ Himself 
 is anointed and imparts the Holy Ghost to those who 
 believe on Him (see John i. 33, iii. 34. Also Acts 
 ii. 33; 2 Cor, iii. 17, 18; Gal. iv. 6 ; Eph. iii, 1 6 ; 
 Phil. i. 1 9 ; and Eom. viii. 9, 1 4), We may observe 
 that unction is closely connected with the gift of the 
 Holy Spirit in such passages as i Sam. x. i, 6, 10; 
 xvi. 13. What effect this unction has upon the position 
 of Christians is not difficult to understand. Since it 
 served to brighten and beautify men's countenances (Ps, 
 
 1. Ba^itism is a channel whereby the "unction" is conveyed. Tliis 
 is supposed to be, if not proved, at least indicated, by such texts 
 as John iii. 5; Acts ii. 38 ; i Cor. xii. 13 ; Tit. iii. 5, 6 (especially in 
 the Greek). It should be explained here that it is not supposed (i) 
 that the unction thus conveyed cannot be withdrawn, or (2) that it is 
 effectual until the faith of the believer conies into co-operation with 
 the will of God (see notes on last verse, III. 3). 
 
 2. Confirmation is a means of fresh and fuller tinction. This 
 doctrine is supposed to be conveyed by Acts viii. 17, 18, xix. 6, by 
 comparison with i Tim. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. i. 6. 
 
 3. The Holy Communion reneivs this unction. If it be true that 
 he who comes in faith to this sacrament is fed with the spiritual 
 food of the Body and Blood of Christ (John vi. ), it is also true that 
 
 K 
 
146 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 civ. 15; cf. also Ps. xlv. 7 ; Heb. i. 9), ointment became 
 the symbol of consecration to a particular office. The 
 priests were set apart by anointing to their sacred calling 
 (see again Exod. xxx. 22-33; ^^so xxix. 7; also Levit. 
 vi. 22, viii. 12, xxi. 10, 12). Prophets were anointed 
 (i Kings xix. 16). Kings, moreover, were, and are still 
 anointed. And He who bears the title of the Anointed 
 nnited in Himself all these three offices, and imparts in 
 their measure this threefold character to all who are 
 united to Him by the Spirit. Two of these three charac- 
 teristics of the believer are mentioned in i Pet. ii. 9, and 
 Eev. i. 6. It is the third, the gift of supernatural know- 
 ledge, which is more particularly indicated here. Again 
 we may remark that oil had a threefold use in the 
 ancient world. It was used (i) to soften the skin, 
 which might be burnt up by the heat, and to ward 
 off the stings of insects. It might (2) be used as 
 food, or at least in the preparation of food, whence we 
 find it frequently mentioned with corn and wine in the 
 Scriptures (as in Neh. x. 39, xiii. 5, 12; Numb, xviii. 
 12; Deut. vii, 13, &c.) It was also used (3) to give 
 light. In all these capacities it was used in the worship 
 of the sanctuary (see Exod. xxx. 22, xxxvii. 29; also 
 
 the Spirit of God is the means whereby this union is effected (ver. 63). 
 It is the Spirit who enriches us with all the spiritual blessings wliich 
 come from union with Christ. The "unction" is the Spirit and 
 Being of the Anointed. (Whether i Cor. xii. 13 is to be referred 
 to this or to the last head depends upon whether we render 
 eworiadTiixev "were made to drink" or " were watered.") 
 
 4. The ministry of the ivord imparts this unction. This we learn from 
 passages such as Gal. iii. 2 ; Acts x. 44 ; i Cor. ii. 4, 13, iii. 2 ; 2 Cor. 
 iii. 3, 6, 8, 9, and perhaps Gal. iii. 5, &c. 
 
 5. None of these means are efficacious apart from the union of the 
 sold with Christ. See Acts ii. 42, iv. 29, vi. 4, ix. 15 ; i Cor. x. 16 
 (where blessing is an act of worship) ; Eph. vi. 18, 19 ; Col. iv. 3, 4; 
 2 Thess. iii. i. 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BELIEF IN THE TEUTH. 1 47 
 
 XXV. 6, xxvii. 20; Levit, ii. i, 2, vi. 15). The 
 unction of those who were called upon to " offer up 
 spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus 
 Christ," might partake of all these characteristics. By 
 the " Holy One " may either be meant the Father, the 
 " Holy One of Israel," who is the ultimate source of 
 " every good and every perfect gift " ; or it may be 
 Christ, who is thus spoken of in Acts iii. 14 (cf. James 
 V. 6, and i John ii. i and Eev. iii. 7). See also Mark 
 i. 24; Luke iv. 34, and the reading of the best MSS. in 
 John vi. 69. Practically it makes no difference whether 
 we interpret of the source or the stream, since the latter 
 is the only channel through which the living waters of 
 holiness, flowing down from the Author and Giver of all 
 good things, can reach us. One of the gifts of the Holy 
 Spirit is knowledge (John xiv. 26, xvi. 13), and this is 
 the gift which is spoken of here. — and ye know all things. 
 Here many of the later editors, including Westcott and 
 Hort, read " ye all know " (Tra^re? for Trdpra). Westcott 
 and Hort also (with the Codex Vaticanus) omit Kai 
 Thus in their edition the words run, " and ye " (emphatic) 
 " have an ointment from the Holy One — ye all know." 
 The MSS. reputed the best are divided on the point. 
 
 IV. The gift is inward. 
 
 1. It isnot merely outward. (See Exposition.) Tlie modern sacerdotal 
 theory, which reaches its highest development in the Cliurch of Kome, 
 would tell you that each lay person should resort to his priest, and the 
 priest to the bishop, and so on till we reach the infallible Head of the 
 Church. It Avould have been impossible, had any such theory been 
 present to the mind of the Apostle, that he should have neglected such 
 an obvious course as to point out such an authority, as a means of 
 escaping the snares of heresy. The absence of any such advice is a 
 pretty clear proof that no such infallible authority was known to 
 him. 
 
 2. The outivard is not altogether excluded. The Apostle says "ye," 
 and not "each one of you." He does not regard each of us as standing 
 
148 THE FIRST EPISTLE OP ST. JOHN. 
 
 The Alexandrian supports the Eeceived Text, the 
 Sinaitic and Vatican the emendation. It may be 
 questioned whether iravra was not rejected because (in 
 spite of John xiv. 26, xvi. 13, which probably did not 
 occur to the transcriber) it seemed to assert too much of 
 the knowledge of the believer. And Travreg may have 
 commended itself to him from the Trdvre^ in the last verse. 
 It may be questioned too whether internal considerations 
 are not against Trdvreg. To predicate knowledge of these 
 things of every individual believer would seem to con- 
 tradict what the Apostle had just said concerning the 
 possibility of there being those in the Christian Church 
 who were not of it. Whereas if we understand o'lSare 
 potentially, as of a Divine power existing in the Christian 
 Church, which if properly used would lead every member 
 of the Christian Church, not perhaps to the solution of 
 every problem which might be submitted to his intellect, 
 but to the full understanding of everything practically 
 necessary to his salvation, we shall be giving a rational 
 explanation of the passage. " You need not be led away 
 by these Antichristian doctrines which surround you on 
 every side. You have been anointed with the Holy 
 Ghost, and in Him you will find the explanation of every 
 
 alone, but as parts of a great whole. There are some -who would, in 
 their denial of the infallibility of the Pope, take refuge in the infalli- 
 bility of the individual Christian, as though any one of us could sum 
 up in himself all the graces and perfections of the Christian character. 
 INo one who has grasped the foundation of all Christian virtue, humility, 
 Avould think of pretending thus to stand alone. When we are in 
 difficulty we must take counsel with God and our brethren, in accord- 
 ance with the precept, "if anything be revealed to another that sitteth 
 by, let the first'hold his peace " (i Cor. xiv. 30). Nor would any one who 
 seeks true enlightenment despise the voice of the " Apostles and elders" 
 of the Christian Church. The Ultramontane theologians, it is true, 
 pretend that the Pope only delivers his sentence as the mouthpiece of 
 Christendom. But any one w^ho possesses the least particle of fairness 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BELIEF IN THE TRUTH. 1 49 
 
 difficulty that may assail you." It will be observed how 
 entirely this passage negatives the idea of any external 
 authority to settle disputed points of doctrine or of morals. 
 Such an authority is not even hinted at. The true refuge 
 from all the vexed questions of life is a full faith in the 
 " unction from the Holy One," that Holy Spirit who will 
 " make it plain ". to all who will trust in Him. Nothing 
 could be more utterly alien to the spirit of this passage 
 than the explanation of the Jesuit commentator Estius, 
 who expounds it as follows : " Ye have bishops and pres- 
 byters, by whose care and %Yhose anxious thought for 
 your Church you are sufficiently instructed in the things 
 which relate to the truth of Christian doctrine." The 
 interpretation of the passage which has been given derives 
 additional support from ver. 27. There the unction 
 is said to place him who receives it in a position to 
 dispense with all teaching, and to teach him " concerning 
 all things," It is clear that only an inner illumination 
 could be spoken of in this way. 
 
 Vek. 2 I. — I have not written unto you because ye know 
 not the truth, but because ye know it. For " I have not 
 written " see the note on ver. 1 4. The connection of 
 
 can see what a caricature of full and free Christian discussion a 
 Roman Catholic Council is. And here the Apostle speaks not of the 
 recourse to official authority, but of the gift witli which the Church as 
 a whole is endowed. 
 
 3. The final decision comes from within. The ultimate court of appeal 
 for each one of us is his own conscience. We seek what illumination 
 we can from our brethren, who have tlie same promises as oiu-selves, 
 we weigh them, we lay them before God in prayer, we wait for the 
 answer, and then we niay fearlessly act upon it. And thus, eventually, 
 we "need not that any one should teach us," for we have the inward 
 conviction that what we have learned is true. Not that at any particular 
 moment of our lives we actually "know all things;" but we have 
 .sufficient lij.dit for our present needs, and we may rest secure tliat in 
 the end we shall be guided "into all the truth." It must be remem- 
 
150 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 this with the preceding is as follows : " I have said that 
 ye know all things, in virtue of the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
 But this knowledge is virtual, not actual. It requires 
 to be put into operation. Without this power of know- 
 ing all things, inherent in you as Christians, my Epistle 
 would have been useless. It is the consciousness that 
 I am appealing to a faculty within you which needs only 
 to be stirred up, which has induced me to write this Epistle. 
 Use this faculty of spiritual insight, and my object in writ- 
 ing, which was simply to quicken in you the action of gifts 
 which you already possess, will not have been frustrated. 
 The snares of Antichristian teaching will have been 
 spread before you in vain." — and that no lie is of the truth. 
 There are two ways of translating this part of the verse. 
 The first is to take the on here as depending, like the 
 former on, upon eypa^^ra, and translating it " because." 
 The second is to take otl as depending on o'lSare, and to 
 translate " that," as our own Version does. The Eevisers 
 prefer the former rendering, which gives this clause as 
 one of the Apostle's reasons for writing, " I write unto you 
 because no lie is of the truth." All the chief ancient Eng- 
 lish versions, except of Wiclif, agree with the Authorised 
 
 hered that we are speaking here, not of the ministry of reconciliation, 
 but of the deciding of controversies. 
 
 V. The unction consecrates us to be— 
 
 1. Pro2}hefs. We may each one of us be inspired to dechxre the will 
 of God to others (though we may not be commissioned to declare it 
 publicly) if we seek the inspiration. 
 
 2. Priests, "offering spiritual sacrifices" to God through Jesus 
 Christ, through (a) prayer, (6) praise, (c) obedience, {d) devotion of 
 ourselves to God. 
 
 3. Kings (Rev. v. 10, xx. 6, xxii. $), who bear rule first over 
 themselves, and then over others who are as yet babes in Christ ; but, 
 observe, not by force and authority, but by the hidden influence of 
 purity and love. 
 
 VI. The ointment is fragrant (Exod. xxx. 22-33). 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BELIEF IN THE TRUTH. I51 
 
 Yersion, and so do the great majority of the expositors. 
 As Haiipt remarks, " the koi oti adjoins, as is fully 
 acknowledged hy expositors, the matter of the following 
 clause as a second and co-ordinate element in the know- 
 ledge of the truth." He refers as an illustration to ch. 
 i. 5. There may seem to be something in Alford's defence 
 of the former rendering, that it removes a little of the 
 apparent truism contained in the sentence ; though we 
 must not forget that the whole Epistle seems full of 
 truisms to those who do not penetrate beneath the surface. 
 He adds, " The two facts, the one, their knowing the truth, 
 the other, that no lie is of the truth, are concurrent reasons 
 for the Apostle's writing, viz. that he may set plainly 
 before them what the lie is, that they may at once discern 
 their entire alienation from it." But it may be remarked, 
 on the other hand, that this would imply that they did 
 not know the truth as St. John had just declared they did. 
 Thus the two reasons for writing would be mutually self- 
 destructive. On the whole, therefore, the Authorised 
 Version is to be preferred, and St. John is here only pre- 
 paring the way, as his custom is, for the introduction of 
 a new point. " You know the truth. You know that 
 
 1. With the fragrance of sacrifice to God (2 Cor. ii 15, 16; Phil 
 
 iv. 18). 
 
 2. With tlie fragrance of a lioly life. 
 
 Vek. 21.— I. There is an inner instinct in a Christian 
 WHICH responds TO THE TRUTH. Hence (i) the value of the Chris- 
 tian ministry. Human efforts for the sanctification of believers ■will 
 not be in vain. The treasure is committed to earthen vessels, but the 
 human is the channel of the Divine. And human hearts are so 
 fashioned as to respond to human efforts. There is something to work 
 on. Somewhere iu each heart there is, however hidden or defaced, 
 the image of God. If wilfulness and pride be set aside you may reach 
 it after all. We should never despair of any soul. And here (2) is 
 the test of the Christian ministry. If tiiere be no response to our efforts, 
 if all be dead, dull, indifferent, if we influence none, reach the hearts 
 
152 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 no lie can possibly be of the truth. But the Antichristian 
 spirit is essentially a lie, since it denies the Person and 
 twofold nature of Him who has revealed Himself as ' the 
 Truth.' " ' 
 
 ^ Professor Westcott inclines to the view adopted by Alford. Haupt, 
 though he regards the clause as a co-ordinate one, regards it as depending 
 on otdare. It is not, according to his view, that one Sn is co-ordinate with 
 the other, but that this clause introduces a co-ordinate element in the 
 knowledge of the truth. 
 
 of none, there must be something wrong Avith the message. We are 
 building "wood, hay, stubble" instead of gold, silver, and precious 
 stones. 
 
 II. It eests with each individual whether he will obey 
 THAT INNER INSTINCT OR NOT. For general failure the teacher is 
 responsible; for indivichial failure not so. Even Jesus Christ Him- 
 self did but sharpen some men's antagonism to truth. Of St. Paul it 
 is written that some believed the things which he said, and some 
 believed not. There is a tremendous and awful power of self-deter- 
 mination resident in each man which decides his future. And equally 
 tremendous and awful is the responsibility of using that power. 
 
( 153 ) 
 
 X. 
 
 EEJECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF GOD'S 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 /IH. ii. 2 2. — Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus 
 ^ is the Christ? We have here a statement very 
 similar to one in eh. iv. 3. At first sight it would seem 
 that the Apostle is but repeating there in other words 
 what he has said here. This is not precisely the case. 
 There the statement is in connection with St. John's 
 doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Here it refers to the 
 spiritual condition of the believer. Here he deals with 
 opposing principles ; there he refers these principles to 
 their source, the Divine Spirit, and the spirit of Anti- 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Vees. 22-24. — ^^^^ antagonism between truth and falsehood. In 
 ver. 21 the radical antagonism between truth and falsehood is pointed 
 out. At first sight the words appear mere repetition, and as such (see 
 Exposition of ver. 21) their purport has been misunderstood. But the 
 reason why they have been added can only be understood by referring 
 to the drift of the whole section. We have on one side God, on the 
 other the world ; on the one side Jesus, the Christ — God's Anointed 
 One, on the other Antichrist ; on the one side truth, on the other lie. 
 An active effort (see vers. 18, 19, 26) is being made to pervert the 
 truth, and by this means to draw away believers from the faith. And 
 the Apostle strives on the one hand to comfort and strengthen tiie 
 Christians of his day by pointing out the unchangeableness of the will 
 
154 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Christ. This verse carries forward the statement, so 
 carefully led up to in the last verse. Ye know the truth. 
 Ye know that no lie is of the truth. But I proceed to 
 warn you that there are those who teach lies, and would 
 fain persuade you that they are truth. These are they 
 who deny that Jesus is the Christ. Some discussion has 
 been raised on the form " the liar ; " " the Antichrist," 
 which is the correct translation, and is given by the 
 Eevised Version, though all the earlier English versions, 
 without exception, have neglected to give the force of the 
 article. Some have thought that Antichrist was signified 
 (just as the devil is called the liar kut e^o-)Q}v, in John 
 viii. 44). Others have supposed some particular false 
 teacher to be aimed at. Eather the article refers back 
 to the idea of the last verse. " No lie is of the truth. 
 And who is guilty of a lie (Bengel), but {el /jlyj, if is not) 
 the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ ? " The 
 words had of course an immediate significance. Cerinthus, 
 as well as other heretics, made a separation between 
 Jesus and Christ. Yet on the identity between Jesus 
 and Christ depended the whole scheme of redemption. 
 If Jesus were a mere man, and Christ a Divine Being 
 
 of God, which designs their salvation through the sanctifying influences 
 of His Spirit (i Thess. iv. 8, v. 9), and on the other to warn them by 
 reminding them of the Aveak and variable human will, Avliich renders 
 them so easy a prey to the deceitful utterances of the spirit of evil 
 which is in the world. Thus, then, he points out to them that there is 
 but One Truth ; that all error comes from the spirit opposed to God ; 
 that all error is fatal in its tendencies and ultimate results ; and that 
 all error springs from one root, the denial of the INIessiahship and Son- 
 ship of Christ. Apply this to the present day. There is evidently 
 error enough in the world. Let us consider it under two aspects : (i) 
 its deadly nature, (2) its connection with a denial that Jesus is the 
 Christ, the Eternal Son of the Eternal Fatlier. 
 
 I. All error is deadly. This is one of the doctrines most ener- 
 getically denied in our times. The most favourite doctrine of the day 
 
REJECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST. 1 55 
 
 temporarily united to Him, the redemption of man 
 became an impossibility. This is the immediate reference 
 of these words. But there is of course a sense in which 
 they are always true. To deny that Jesus is the Anointed 
 of God is in effect to deny that He is the Eternal Son of 
 God ; and this denial of His Eternal Sonship is in effect 
 the denial of all revelation and redemption, — lie is Anti- 
 christ, that denieth the Father and the Son. Observe how 
 the Apostle's language increases in sternness and strength, 
 as he points out more clearly the necessary consequences 
 of a denial of Christ. It seems probable that the effect 
 of the Antichristian spirit (as in ch. iv. 3), rather than 
 the personal Antichrist, is here referred to (see also ver. 
 18). Every man who denies the Messiahship of Christ 
 is himself Antichrist, so far as that denial is concerned 
 (see notes on ver. 18). For, as we have seen, he strikes 
 at the root of all revealed truth. And, as Ebrard pro- 
 ceeds to remark, he implicitly teaches all lies, since all 
 false doctrine has either assumed the form of teaching 
 that Jesus is not the Christ, or that Christ is not Jesus, 
 but a general idea of salvation, realised not in the Person 
 of a God-Man, but in humanity collectively. The one 
 
 is that it does not matter what a man believes, as well as that a man 
 is not responsible for his belief. Since Pope's time the couplet has 
 been an embodiment of popular belief, — 
 
 "For modes of faith, let graceless zealots fight ; 
 He can't be wrong, whose life is in tbe right." 
 
 Now (i) this doctrine is opposed to Scripture. Nothing is more 
 clearly laid down there than that faith alone can save. And this 
 faith must be a right faith. It were a ludicrous absurdity to say that 
 a wrong faith can save a man. All faith, so far as it is saving in its 
 nature, must be a right faith. Either, then, a right faith is necessary, 
 or no faith at all is. For this truth see John iii. 15, 16, vi. 40, xi, 
 25, &c. ; Acts XX. 21 ; Rom. i. 17, iii. 30; Gal. v. 6 ; 2 Tliess. ii. 13 ; 
 Heb. xi. 6, &c. 
 
156 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 denies the incapacity of man to save himself, the real 
 seriousness and awfulness of sin ; the other takes away 
 the only real hope of redemption, which consists in 
 appropriating by faith the holiness of the one only 
 Perfect Man. Only, as Haupt reminds us, no mere 
 theoretical or intellectual acknowledgment or denial is 
 here intended. The whole scope of the Epistle pre- 
 cludes such a supposition. The acknowledgment or 
 denial must be taken as a basis of action. And thus the 
 acknowledgment that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 
 is the only permanent basis upon which the regenerating 
 process in man can take place, just as on the other hand 
 the denial of the only restorative and life-giving power 
 vouchsafed to us must end ultimately in utter wicked- 
 ness and alienation from God. 
 
 Ver. 23. — Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not 
 the Father. This verse explains the former. How is it 
 that to deny Christ is to deny, not only the Son, but the 
 Father also ? Because " no man knoweth the Father, but 
 the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him " 
 (Matt. xi. 27; Luke x. 22; cf. John i. 18, xiv. 9). To 
 
 2. A wrong faith must necessarihj produce a lorong practice. We 
 may see this in the affairs of this world. Any man who labours 
 under a mistake of any kind must suffer in consequence. If a man 
 takes a wrong road, under the impression it is the right one, he must 
 find out, confess, abandon his mistake, or he can never get to his 
 journey's end. If a man does not understand his orders, or his 
 business, inconvenience and even ruin is the result, unless he finds 
 out his mistake in time. In a thousand ways we find error is the 
 parent of mischief and misery. And so, if we misconceive God, we, 
 and the world in general, m 1st suffer countless ills in consequence. 
 
 3. Tendencies do not alivuijs produce their full results. The reason 
 why the world is not utterly ruined is because error has been but 
 partial. A wrong faith on some points has been in some degree com- 
 pensated for by a right faith on others. Faith, so far as it is right, 
 lias saved the individual and society from the result-; which wrong faith 
 
REJECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST. I57 
 
 deny that Jesus is the Christ, is to deny his Eternal Son- 
 ship, To deny the Eternal Sonship is to deny the Father 
 also. For we only know the Father through the Son. 
 The denial of the Son therefore leaves us, in regard to the 
 Essence and Nature of the Father, at the mercy of every 
 blast of vain doctrine. And worse ; for since we have 
 rejected the teaching of the only One Who can tell us 
 what He is, we must of necessity believe Him to be what 
 He is not. And since He is the source of all moral per- 
 fection, and we have proved ourselves not only unable but 
 unwilling to recognise moral excellence when we see it, 
 there remains for us nothing but a gradual declension 
 from all that is good, a gradual separation from all that 
 is Divine, and from all that is wise, tender, and loving, 
 such as the idea of the Father contains within itself. 
 So Haupt : " If no man hath ever seen God or can see 
 Him, but He is declared only by His only-begotten 
 Son, it follows that he of necessity loses the know- 
 ledge of the Father, who rejects the way in which 
 alone it is to be found. If Christ as the a-Travyaa-fxa 
 of the Father is equally with the Father the truth, 
 
 has produced, and is producing. A good many erroneous beliefs, be it 
 remembered, are a mixture of truth and error. Thus superstition 
 mingles belief in God ■with wrong conceptions of His nature, and 
 thus it leads to mixed results. 
 
 4. It is a matter of inqxjrtauce to believe the truth. All the misery 
 and distress in the world is due to wrong beliefs. Some men believe 
 that God will not punish sin. That leads to the belief that we 
 may sin with impunity. Some believe that there is no life beyond 
 the grave. That tends directly to despair ; to take away the motive 
 for good. Some take a view of God incompatible with. His justice. 
 That leads directly to confusion between right and wrong. Some 
 re,i;ard Him in a way irreconcilable with a belief in His love. That 
 leads either to superstition or recklessness. Some men reject His 
 revelation in Christ. That leaves the world without a standard of 
 right and wrong. Some believe in the doctrines of Christianity, but 
 
158 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 it follows that he who has not the One has not the 
 Other, else would he at once have and not have the 
 truth." It is remarkable to see how Socinian interpreters, 
 like Socinus himself and Grotius, strive to evacuate the 
 word " hath " of its force. They would explain it, " hath 
 not a right opinion of God," " knoweth not God's will 
 towards the human race." Their great difficulty is to 
 evade the force of the truth that by Jesus Christ alone, 
 by the communication of His Divine Humanity, do we 
 attain to fellowship with the Father. St. John is lead- 
 ing up to this truth all through this Epistle. At the 
 end (ch. v. 11- 13), he at length declares it in all its 
 fulness, even as his Master had declared it in the words 
 he records in his Gospel (ch. iii. 15, 16, iv. 14, vi. 27, 
 47, 57, &c.) Even commentators like Diisterdieck water 
 down the force of this passage by saying that without the 
 Son, the Father cannot be " perceived, believed on, loved." 
 So hard does it appear to be to grasp the truth that the 
 Apostle is speaking of a communication through Christ of 
 the Divine Life. — but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath 
 the Father also. This passage is in italics in our Version, 
 
 not in its practice. That leads to hypocrisy and practical disbelief in 
 revelation. Yet the belief of all men, while on earth, is imperfect. 
 It is the imperfection of the saints which gives half its vitality to sin. 
 Hence the importance of believing implicitly God's Revelation (i) in 
 His Word, (2) in His works. For this cf. Rom. i. 16, 17, 20. 
 
 5. Hoiv is a right faith to be attained'? Here (a) comes in the 
 Roman Churcli with lier favourite proposition that some external 
 authority is necessary in order that we n\&\ be able to decide which 
 of the many conflicting sects holds the right view of the truth. But 
 she is put out of court by two considerations ; first, that she confines 
 her articles of belief to the theological, rather than the moral doctrines 
 of the Gospel ; and second, that she stands condemned by the precept 
 of our Lord — "by their fruits ye shall know them." The fruits of 
 faitli (and they are many) in the Roman Church do not usually dis- 
 play themselves in those in authority, nor are tliey any results of her 
 
EEJECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST. 1 59 
 
 not because it was iuterpolated by the writers, but because 
 it was absent from several of their copies. All the best MSS. 
 have it, as well as the Vulgate. The confession (this is 
 the literal meaning of the word translated" acknowledge th") 
 here referred to is primarily of course outward (cf. Eom. x. 
 10). But of course the confession meant is a sincere, not 
 a hypocritical confession. Hence the Authorised Version 
 gives the real sense of the original. He who acknow- 
 ledges the Son ; that is, who confesses the Son to be the 
 true revelation of the Father, and acts upon his confession, 
 he has the Father as well as the Son (cf. John xiv. 23, 
 xvii. 21, 23). Before we leave this verse the "three 
 steps of the argument " (Diisterdieck) are to be noted. 
 (i) The denial of Christ is a lie, and even breathes the 
 spirit of Antichrist himself. (2) It is a denial of God's 
 own Son. And since He, the Father, manifests Himself 
 by the Son, and Him alone, (3) to deny the Son is to 
 deprive ourselves of the Father. Similarly, to confess 
 the Son is to receive the Divine life of the Father. For 
 to confess the Son is to realise what He is, namely, the 
 imparter of the Divine light and life, the medium 
 
 despotic system. They are produced rather in spite of, than in con- 
 sequence of, that system. They result from the amount of truth 
 which is preserved Avithin her pale. But her system of authority has, 
 during its sway, sanctioned every kind of crueltj^ perfidy, and murder 
 —the very opposite of the morality of Christ. It has resulted in the 
 substitution among the majoritj' of a dull acquiescence for a living 
 faith. And where it has had due play, it has ended in the revolt of the 
 mass of the population from the faith, the Name, and the example of 
 Christ. That there must be something wrong about a system that 
 produces these results is tolerably clear. What, then, (6) is the means 
 wliereby a right faith is to be attained ? In answer to this we must 
 (a) dismiss the idea that any man, while in the flesh, can possibly 
 attain to infallible certainty on all points whatsoever. For (^) our 
 condition here is progressive. Enough knowledge is given us to guide 
 our actions bv. The revelation of God in Christ is clear enough to 
 
l6o THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 whereby all tluat is in the Father is given to the 
 world. And he who acknowledges this, opens his 
 soul to all the fulness of Divine Being which is given 
 to the Son. 
 
 Vek. 24. — Let that therefore aMde in you which ye have 
 heard from the beginning. On " from the beginning " see 
 ver. 7. Here, however, as Alford remarks, the ^//foJo-are 
 restricts the meaning of " from the beginning," just as the 
 w of ch. i. I extends it indefinitely. Here it no doubt 
 does mean from the beginning of the Gospel, as in ver. 7 
 it might, but probably does not mean, and as in vers. 1 3 
 and 14 it clearly does not mean. The Authorised 
 Version does not give the emphatic force of vfxei^, which 
 is correctly translated in the Eevised Version " as for 
 you." The Apostle desires to mark the contrast between 
 the true disciples of Christ and they who follow after 
 Antichrist. It must be remembered that the object of 
 the whole section, from ver. 1 5 especially, is to mark 
 this contrast, to remind the flock (l) of the advantages 
 and privileges they possess as members of the Christian 
 Church, and (2) of the dangers which threaten them from 
 
 enable ns to ascertain His will for ourselves, by diligence and prayer. 
 The general consent of Christians on the main points of the Christian 
 faith, as displayed in the Christian creeds, is hardly likely to be 
 Avrong. And those points are clearly enough laid down for ns in 
 Scripture. If we meet with people who do not believe them, we shaU 
 find that they do not accept the teaching of Scripture. Nor is this, as 
 some say, faith in a Book. The only ground on which we accept the 
 Sci'iptures is that they tell us what was the teacliing of Clirist — rudi- 
 mentary in the Old Covenant, authoritative and final in the New. 
 Let us read Scripture with humility, teachableness, and prayer, and 
 we shall not long be in doubt either what Christ would have us believe 
 about Him or do by His indwelling, though we may be quite unable 
 to lay down a complete system of theology for the instruction of man- 
 kind in general. The further consideration of this subject wiU be 
 found under the next head. 
 
REJECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST. l6l 
 
 without. If they will but be true to themselves, the Apostle 
 implies, they are safe. " No one," save themselves, " can 
 pluck them out of the Father's hand" (John x. 28, 29). 
 The ovu has been rejected by most editors. It is 
 certainly omitted in the best MSS. and versions. But it 
 is a particle most characteristic of St. John (take for 
 instance a single page at random, it occurs in ch. xii. 50 
 of the Gospel, in ch. xiii. 6, 12, 13; and again in ch. 
 xiiL 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31). And when we see that 
 the following letters are OHKOTS, it is by no means 
 impossible that it was originally omitted by inadver- 
 tence. It is, however, equally probable that it was added 
 to lessen the abruptness of the transition. The word 
 fxeveru) is a reminiscence of St. John xv. As is the 
 case there, so here, the force of the passage is much im- 
 paired in the A. V. by the use of "abide," "continue," 
 and " remain " as the translations of one Greek word. 
 Haupt has reminded us how exactly the form of the 
 exhortation here corresponds to that in John xv. 7. The 
 disciples are told (for various readings, see below) that if 
 they take care to keep what they have been taught, they 
 
 II. All error is based upok the denial that Jesus is the 
 Christ. 
 
 1. Revelation is necessary. For otherwise we are left on all points, 
 "whether relating (i) to the unseen world, (2) to man's future, {3) to 
 man's conduct, to the teaching of man. And men have arrived at 
 agreement on no single point. They do not know (i) whether there 
 be a God, (2) whether man is immortal or not, (3) in what the founda- 
 tion of morals consists. 
 
 2. The only revelation is that made hy Jesus Christ. Briefly, every 
 other religion professing to be a revelation from God has broken down — 
 notably the last, that of Mohammed. 
 
 3. The essential feature of revelation is that it ivas made by one 
 Anointed, i.e., cominissioned to declare God's will. Thus we are for- 
 bidden, on any point on which God's will is clearly declared, to ques- 
 tion it. To deny Jesus to be the Christ is to deny all authority to His 
 
 L 
 
1 62 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN, 
 
 shall abide in the Son and in the Father. To believe 
 what Jesus teaches is to acknowledge Him to be the 
 pouring forth of every good thing that comes from the 
 Father. And to accept this truth is equivalent to re- 
 ceiving the abundance of good gifts which the Father 
 has to give, the fulness of life that dwells in Him. Haupt 
 further discusses the reversed order in which the thoughts 
 occur here to that in which they are presented to us 
 elsewhere. Sometimes the abiding in God comes first, 
 and the abiding in His word afterwards. In one sense 
 this is the true order. No man can come to God of 
 himself. The presence of God in the heart is necessary 
 before the first faint stirrings of the spiritual nature can 
 be discerned (see John vi. 44). On the other hand, the 
 order in which the thoughts are presented here is equally 
 true from the point of view of Christ's redemptive work. 
 Here it is " God in Christ, reconciling thq world unto 
 Himself," "putting the word of reconciliation into His 
 ministers," and thereby, when those words are received, 
 implanting that regenerating power in the heart which 
 
 teaching. He has announced himself to be the Only Begotten Son of 
 the Father. When He speaks, therefore, all men must hear. All 
 that He means by what He says we may not expect to know in this 
 world. Enough to " save ourselves from this untoward generation " 
 we can know, and we need no more at present. 
 
 4. How, then, do unbelievers in Chrid lead moral and admirable 
 lives ? They can do so, only so far as they believe what Christ tells 
 them. If they believe that to be right which Christ says is right, they 
 are, so far, believers in Christ. A belief in a correct standard of duty, 
 and in a power which enables us to perform it, is a belief in God, in 
 much that God has revealed, and iu His Holy Spirit sent from Him. 
 A belief in the dignity and perfectibility of humanity is, so far as 
 it goes, a belief in a power which has regenerated, and will save 
 mankind. And no doubt such beliefs as these are better than the 
 most implicit acquiescence iu the Athanasian Creed, the Creed of 
 
REJECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST. 1 63 
 
 produces conformity to God's will, the result of the 
 Divine indwelling. We may further observe with Ebrard 
 that the doctrine does not remain with us, as many in 
 these days seem to imagine, but in us. It is a seed sown 
 in the heart springing up into everlasting life. — If that 
 wMch ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, 
 ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. The 
 word abide (see above) should be retained here through- 
 out. And the use of the aorist here requires us to 
 translate " shall have abode," i.e. at the day of Christ's 
 coming. We ought not to pass over the closeness of the 
 union between the believer and God here indicated. 
 That union with the Son involves union with the Father 
 we have already seen. But the inward and hearty accept- 
 ance of the facts of the unseen world as revealed to us 
 by Christ, produces, as its natural fruit, a participation of 
 the Divine life. The Socinian attenuation of this blessed 
 truth may serve to give point to our realisation of it. It 
 is not, as Grotius interprets, to enjoy to a very high 
 degree the favour and friendship of God. It is not 
 
 Pope Pius the Ninth, or the Westminster Confession, wlien coupled 
 Avith the distinct refusal to follow Christ's Example. But it is none 
 the less true that "not one jot nor tittle of the Law shall fail;" not 
 one jot or tittle of Christ's teaching can be allowed to fall to the ground 
 Avithout eventually producing evil results of greater or less consequence. 
 5. Continuance in the Son and in the Father the only possible means 
 of salvation. The denial of this truth leads directly to tlie destruction 
 of all moral principle whatever (see above, head i). The moral lives 
 of unbelievers are due to their acceptance of the moral principles of 
 their age. These moral principles are Christian principles. But 
 Christian moral law without its Law-giver is a superstructure with- 
 out a foundation. And a superstructure Avithout a foundation cannot 
 stand long (Luke vi. 48; i Cor. iii. 11 ; Eph. ii. 20, &c. ) Denial of 
 revelation, then, is ultimately denial of all truth. And it also cuts 
 away the only poAver that can enable us to "do the truth." Thus 
 
164 THE FIKST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 merely to revel in the possession of God's good gifts. 
 No ; what God gives to the believer is Himself. 
 " Because I live, ye shall live also," said the Saviour. 
 " In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, 
 and ye in Me, and I in you " (John xiv. 20). 
 
 continuance in the Son and in tlie Father is the only means Avherehy 
 (i) error, the source of all evil, can be gradually dispelled, and (2) truth, 
 the source of all holiness and goodness, enabled to take full possession 
 of the heart. 
 
( i65 ) 
 
 XI. 
 
 THE BLESSING OF ABIDINa IN THE TRUTH. 
 
 fMI. ii. 25. — And this is the promise that he hath promised 
 ^ us, even eternal life. Familiar as the word e-waj- 
 yeXia is to us in the New Testament, it only occurs once 
 in St. John's writings. This fact has been noticed by 
 the commentators. But the fact shows that too much 
 stress must not be laid on the absence or presence of 
 certain words as a proof of genuineness or the reverse. 
 We use words when we want them, or as the course of 
 our argument dictates. They may be entirely absent 
 from many of our writings, and may appear in the most 
 natural way when circumstances require. The truth is 
 that arguments about style require the finest tact, the 
 most delicate appreciation of likenesses and differences. 
 It is a coarse and clumsy way of treating a question of 
 this kind to say, " Here is a word which we do not find 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ver. 25.— T/te Life Eternal. 
 
 I. The result of denying the truth. We sum up in ver. 25 
 the teaching of the previous verses. In them Ave learn that to deny 
 that Jesus is the Christ is to lose Himself, and to lose Him is to lose 
 the Father. Thus we learn that the only Avay to ahide in Christ is to 
 believe what He has told us. The acceptance of the revelation He 
 has brought is an indispensable condition of salvation. And this 
 
1 66 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 elsewhere in this writer, therefore the book, or the passage, 
 cannot be genuine." No one has impugned the authen- 
 ticity of this particular passage on these grounds. But 
 in the discussions on the genuineness of other writings 
 of the New Testament a great deal has been built in this 
 way upon a very slender foundation. The promise of 
 life eternal mentioned here is found in many places iu 
 Scripture. (See Matt. xix. 29, xxv. 46; Mark x. 30; 
 Luke X. 25, 28; John iii. 16, vi. 47, 54, &c., xi. 25, 
 26.) The mention of this promise is the climax to which 
 vers. 23 and 24 lead up. To have the Father through 
 the Son, to abide in the Son, and through Him, in the 
 Father, is to realise the promise which God has given us 
 in His Son, even eternal life. St. John recurs to this 
 doctrine towards the close of the Epistle, and asserts it 
 in even fuller terms, ch. v. 11, 12. We next come to 
 a summary of the present section, concluding St. John's 
 remarks on the dangers which beset the Christian, and 
 repeating, more emphatically and earnestly than ever, the 
 advantages which the y^pLo-tJ-a of the Holy Spirit confers 
 on Christians. If they employ that blessed gift as they 
 should, it leads them to abide in God, and thus to secure 
 the promise of eternal life, 
 
 Vek. 26. — These things have I written unto you concern- 
 ing them that seduce you. Eather deceive you. Our 
 translators have here followed the Ehemish Version, and 
 
 acceptance must embrace the whole man. It must not be an intel- 
 lectual assent merely, but it must include the will, affections, desires. 
 Without such a faith there can be no salvation. Either the intellectual 
 or the practical denial of Jesus as the Christ, the Anointed One of God, 
 is ultimately fatal to our whole complex being. 
 
 II. The result of acceptance of the tkuth. Three steps are 
 here placed before us. If we accept God's revelation iu Christ (a) we 
 abide in the Son ; [h) in the Father ; (c) we have eternal life. That is 
 to say, we participate in the common life of Father and Son ; we are 
 
THE BLESSING OF ABIDING IN THE TRUTH. 1 6/ 
 
 departed from the rendering of Tyndale, Cranmer, and 
 the Geneva Version, which render here "deceive you," 
 The Eevised Version has " lead you astray." The word 
 does mean "cause to ivander" but it seems strange that 
 here our revisers should not have restored Tyndale and 
 Cranmer's rendering when they have adopted it in chapter 
 i. 8, and in 2 John 7, as well as in 2 Tim, iii. 13, and 
 elsewhere. This is especially noteworthy, as one of their 
 canons has been to render, wherever possible, the same 
 Greek by the same English word. This passage plainly 
 points out the object of the foregoing section, namely, to 
 set before the Christian community the dangers that beset 
 it. In fact, this verse is intended as a conclusion to this 
 portion of the Epistle, as ver. 28 opens the second por- 
 tion (see below). As was said in the introduction, the 
 Epistle is divided into two chief portions: (i) God is 
 Light ; (2) God is Eighteousness. Eitly, therefore, does 
 the first part end with a reference to that unction from 
 the Holy One which teaches all things to God's people, 
 and leads them to abide in the life which comes from Him. 
 The Revised Version agrees with our own in rendering 
 eypa-y^a " have I written." Perhaps the most strictly 
 accurate translation, according to the tisus loqitcncli of the 
 New Testament in regard to the aorist, is " have I been 
 writing," and this also keeps the fact that the Epistle is 
 not yet finished before the reader. But " have I written " 
 
 made partakers of the Divine nature [deias koivwvoI <pvaeus ; 2 Peter i. 4). 
 To such a high privilege are the sons of God, through faith, advanced, 
 that they not only abide in God, but partake of the very life that 
 dwells in Him. Such is the " promise " of which St. John sijeaks, 
 identical, as we see, M'ith the " exceeding great and precious promises " 
 of St. Peter (2 Peter i. 4). Such promises we hnd in John xiv. 19; 
 xvii. 2, 3. 
 
 Vers. 26, 27. — The/n that seduce you. This verse is for all time. 
 They that seduce, or rather, deceive us will never cease until the 
 
1 68 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST, JOHN. 
 
 conveys the sense fairly enough. The present tense of 
 TrXavwvTcciv shows that the seductions of the false teachers 
 are a present danger, " those who are deceiving ■ you." 
 Their influence for evil did not cease when they left the 
 Church. It needs continual watchfulness to guard one's 
 self from their suggestions of error. 
 
 Yee. 27. — But the anointing which ye have received. 
 Eeceived, not, as A. V., " have received." The word anoint- 
 ing i?, translated unction above, ver. 20. And the vfieh is 
 emphatic. " And as for you." See above, ver. 20. Nor is 
 there any " but " in the original. We owe its introduction 
 to the Geneva Version. The Ehemish is strictly accurate 
 here. The " but," perhaps, a little obscures the sense, 
 though only a little. The Apostle is giving here, as we 
 have seen, a brief summary of the section, with a special 
 reference to the practical duty it involves — that of abiding 
 in God. — of him abideth in you. Ratlier, from Him. 
 From whom ? The avrov here refers to the same Person 
 as the ai/To? in ver. 25, and is therefore Christ, cf. ver. 
 20, as well as the promises of the Holy Spirit in chapters 
 xiv., XV., xvi. of St. John's Gospel. — and ye need not that 
 any man teach you. It will be observed that these words, 
 like those in ver. 20, are addressed to the community. 
 They were ^potentially true, of course, of every member of 
 it. But they were not actually true of each individual 
 Christian, otherwise there would have been no need to 
 
 eternal flame? of God's wrath have consumed ungodliness. Their 
 seductions are divided into two classes— deceits from without, and 
 deceits from within. 
 
 I. Deceits from without. The spirit of Antichrist was in the 
 world when St. John wrote. It has never ceased to Avork since. 
 " Evil men and seducers" still ahound, "deceiving and being deceived." 
 And perhaps the "deceived" are more dangerous, because more 
 irnconscious in their error, than the "deceivers." 
 
 I. Intellectual error. This has been largely dealt with in the notes 
 
THE BLESSING OF ABIDING IN THE TEUTH. 1 69 
 
 caution tliem. The fact is, that the spiritual gifts 
 vouchsafed to the members of the Christian Church are 
 conditional, like all other gifts, upon a proper use of 
 them. There is no warrant here for the presumption of 
 the fanatic, who imagines that because an idea has taken 
 strong possession of his soul, he is entitled to believe 
 that he has been led into all the truth. There is no 
 support to the arrogant notion entertained by some that 
 we have no need of any other man's assistance to under- 
 stand' " all mysteries and all knowledge." The fact is, 
 that here, as in many other points, the Gospel presents 
 to us a paradox like the two sides of Gospel teaching, as 
 regards faith and works, contained respectively in the 
 writings of St. Paul and St. James. We each of us have 
 sufficient enlightenment to be able to attain to the 
 knowledge of the truth, and yet humility forbids us to 
 imagine that we can attain to that knowledge without 
 the help of our neighbours. Each of us serves as a 
 "supplying joint" (see Eph. iv. 16) to his brother in the 
 things of God. It was " the foolishness of the preach- 
 ing " which spread the faith in Christ throughout the 
 earth. The ministrations of fallible men keep the torch 
 of truth burning throughout the world. Each man could, 
 if necessary, attain to all truth by himself, by virtue of 
 the inward enlightenment of God's Spirit ; but inasmuch 
 as God has ordained that mutual dependence is the law 
 
 to the preceding verses, so that there remains the less to be said here. 
 But we may observe that this error is abroad in various forms. All 
 error is to be traced to the denial that Jesus is the Christ, i.e., as He 
 Himself defines it, " He whom God hath sanctified and sent into the 
 •world." It matters not, therefore, whether it be the belief of the 
 humanitarian, who regards Christ as only a man pre-eminent among 
 men, though teaching the truth of God, or of those who go farther, 
 and reject His message ; all who fail to see in Jesus Christ the only 
 begotten Son of the Father sent into the world to reveal His sacred 
 
170 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 of humanity, it is by no means likely that he would. 
 The paradox is evident in St, John's own words. They 
 " have DO need that any man teach them." And yet he 
 does teach them. And that because however much, 
 theoretically, each man possesses in himself the capacity 
 of independently arriving at truth, he practically, as long 
 as he is encompassed with the infirmity of mortal flesh, 
 will need the assistance of his brethren to exhort, quicken, 
 warn him in his task. And thus St. John writes " ye," 
 and not " each one of you." Knit together in the Spirit, 
 sharing in the common life that comes from Christ, the 
 Christian community may rest secure from all deceits of 
 the enemy, and may ever, as need requires, draw truth 
 from the fountain of truth. If this picture has not been 
 realised, if Christians have diifted away from the truth 
 as it is in Jesus, if they have " taught for doctrines the 
 commandments of men," if superstition and self-assertion, 
 despotism and anarchy have rent the body of Christ in 
 a thousand pieces, it is not Christ's fault. The unction 
 of the Holy One was always there, but men would not 
 avail themselves of it. Human reason, human authority, 
 have taken the place of prayerful dependence upon God. 
 And not till men have learned to set aside their own 
 fancies, and to draw inspiration from God's Spirit alone, 
 will the time come when these words shall once more be 
 true. — but as the same anointing teacheth you. The 
 
 truth, well-pleasing to the Father by reason of His perfect obedience, 
 satisfying the Father's righteous requirements by His sacrifice of 
 Himself, giving life to the world by the power of His glorified 
 humanity, have gone astray from Him, have admitted the first germs 
 of error, which, if not burned up and destroyed by the fire of God's 
 truth, will " choke the word " in their hearts, so that it first "becometh 
 unfruitful," and finally destroys them in whom it has rooted itself. 
 This is true of all kinds of error, whether (as in some) it assume the 
 form of naked and outrageous blasphemy, and fiendish hatred of God's 
 
THE BLESSING OF ABIDING IN THE TRUTH. 171 
 
 anointing, referring, however, not to the process, but to 
 its results (see above, ver. 20), is the Spirit of Christ, cf. 
 St. John xiv. 16, xv. 26, xvi. 7-15. The best MSS. 
 and the later editors accept here avrov for avTo, "His 
 anointing" (or unction) for "the same." This reading 
 will be found adopted in the Eevised Version. It makes 
 very little difference here, but it affects somewhat the 
 interpretation of the latter part of the verse. — and is 
 truth, and is no lie. The following words have been taken 
 in two different ways, (i.) Some have supposed that the 
 sentence is to be broken up into two members. The 
 first begins with " as the same anointing," and ends with 
 " is no lie ; " the second with " and even as," ending with 
 " abide in Him." The sense would then be as follows : 
 " As the same (or His) anointing teacheth you of all 
 tilings, it is also truth and no lie. And as it has taught 
 you, ye shall abide (or ' abide ') in Him." The objection 
 to this rendering is, that it presents to us a complete non 
 scgiiihir. It does not in the least follow that because 
 the anointing teacheth us of all things, it is truth and 
 not a lie. Though many commentators of note, with 
 Luther at their head, adopt this rendering, we can hardly 
 consent thus to reduce St. John's words to an absurdity. 
 (2.) The other interpretation, which is that adopted by all 
 the English Versions (except the Ehemish, which is here 
 baldly literal, and therefore hardly intelligible), is rational 
 
 truth sucli as we have sometimes seen displaying itself even in a court 
 of justice ; or whether it assume the more delicate form of refined 
 ridicule and perversion of Christian doctrine ; whether it deny (with 
 some) a future life, or (with otiier so-called philosophers) the freedom 
 of the will, or (with others again) it deny tlie power of God to work 
 miracles — the order and subordination of all laws to the source of all 
 law, the wUl of God, exercised, as it is ever exercised, for the good of 
 His creation. 
 
 2. Moral error. "All error is deadly." INIoral error is as deadly 
 
172 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 and coherent. " Ye have the anointing, it abideth in 
 you. As it supplies all your needs, as it is true, and not 
 false, then follow its leading, and, as it teaches you to 
 do, abide in Christ." The translation " truth," is gram- 
 matically, though not spiritually, misleading. All the 
 chief early English translations have the accurate render- 
 ing " true," and the Revised Version has returned to it. 
 The strong desire of our translators to produce a version 
 which should be elegant and readable is tbe only reason 
 for the change here. Grammatically, it has been said, 
 the rendering is misleading. For the Apostle's statement 
 is that the anointing is true, not that it is truth. But 
 inasmuch as the anointing is the gift of the Holy Spirit, 
 and He is the Spirit of Truth (John xiv. 17, xv. 26, xvi. 
 13), nay even, is Divine Truth itself, there is no real 
 error here, nor difficulty, save upon the surface. If we 
 ask why the Apostle finds it necessary to repeat his 
 statement in other words, to strengthen it by adding 
 "and is no lie," we may find the answer partly (i) by 
 the form of the statement here, and partly (2) by re- 
 ferring back to vers. 21, 22. The unction, says the 
 Apostle, (1) is a triLe unction. But this may merely 
 mean subjectively true. It may signify that the unction 
 is a real process, admitting those who have received it 
 to a share in the threefold office of their Lord, namely, 
 the prophetic, priestly, and kingly office. But the Apostle 
 
 as intellectual, nay, even more directly deadly. And now, as ever, 
 there be those who " call evil good and good evil." There be those 
 now, as ever, who seduce the young by their lying words. The young 
 Christian is in as much need as ever of the caution, "INIy son, if 
 sinners entice thee, consent thou not ; " of the warning against those 
 Avho crj', "Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse." 
 Luxury and self-indulgence are the crying sins of this age, and they 
 are incompatible with devotion to Clirist. More than ever before 
 habits of extravagant expenditure, of dissipation of time in amuse- 
 
THE BLESSIKG OF ABIDING IN THE TRUTH. I J T, 
 
 adds, " and is no lie." That is to say, the essential 
 character of the anointing is the imparting of Truth. 
 The Spirit is a Spirit of Truth. He communicates 
 Truth to all on whom He is poured out. Not only is 
 the unction a real pledge of having received sanctifying 
 influence from on high, but it contains the special gift 
 with which the Apostle is at present concerned, namely, 
 the gift which enables a man to cast aside all the deceits 
 of Antichrist, to resist all the seductions of false teachers. 
 And a reference to vers. 21, 22, shows us (2) that the 
 words " and is no lie " were introduced to warn men 
 against these seductions. The spirit of Antichrist is in 
 the world, and it breathes no mere harmless set of 
 opinions or speculations, which men may amuse them- 
 selves with, may take up or lay down without injury to 
 themselves. They are in total antagonism to God and 
 Truth. If dallied with, they eat into the soul as doth a 
 canker. They are absolutely destructive of the life of 
 God in the soul. And so, if the Apostle here again 
 subjoins the words "is no lie," it is because he would 
 again warn his readers that the doctrine of Jesus, come 
 in the flesh, is one in which no compromise is possible. 
 Deceit there is everywhere in the world around. It lies 
 in wait on every side. But here, at least, no deceit is 
 possible. Here is a safe resting-place for the soul. 
 Jesus Christ came to reveal the Truth, and He Himself 
 
 iiients which do not profit, are prevalent among us, and the result is a 
 relaxation of moral fibre, an incapacity for serious thought or earnest 
 devotion to a purpose. Men make haste to be rich, and care not how. 
 They squander their riches in such a way as to increase the distress 
 their TrXeove^ia has caused. Self-indulgence leads to vice, and vice 
 produces misery. Hence the terrible juxtaposition in our civilisation, 
 in the closest vicinity, of the extremes of magnificence and misery, 
 wealth and destitution. Nor can the unremitting efforts of the toiler 
 in Christ's name overtake the evil which man's selfishness is daily 
 
1/4 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 is the Truth. Upon the ointment of His Spirit, poured 
 out upon your head, and running down even to the skirts 
 of your clothing, you may depend for protection against 
 all the wiles of the devil. — and even as it hath taught you, 
 ye shall abide in him. Perhaps the force of koi. KaOcog is 
 best given by omitting the " and " of our version, and 
 translating koi by evc7i. As His anointing (in the sense 
 not of the process, but of the process as accomplished — 
 the residts of the anointing oil) is teaching you concerning 
 everything, and is truth, and is not a lie, — well, then, 
 " even as it hath taught you, abide ye in Him." The 
 substitution of " He " for " it " as the nominative to the 
 verb eSlSa^e (Alford), can hardly be defended. If to 
 avrov ■^pia-jui.a is the nominative to StSacrKei in the former 
 part of the sentence, it must also be the nominative to 
 iSiSa^e here, otherwise we introduce another idea into 
 the sentence, for whose introduction the Apostle gives 
 no warrant. It is the Spirit Who teaches, — the Spirit 
 " Whose name is as ointment poured forth " (Cant. i. 3), — 
 " poured forth " from the day of Pentecost (see Acts ii. 
 33, in the original) even unto the end of the world. 
 The rendering /uevere for ixevelre, that of all the best 
 MSS. and versions, is adopted by our revisers ; but the 
 imperative rendering, which gives by no means a bad 
 sense, is relegated to the margin. On the whole, their 
 
 augmenting. "Tlie love of money is tlie root of all evil," says the 
 Apostle, and the men deride his saying and declare it to be the root 
 of all good. Not untU the spirit of Jesus has enslaved mankind to 
 the "law of the spirit of life;" not until God, and not self, is 
 acknowledged to be the object for which men live, shall we be free 
 from tlie need of warning against " them that deceive you." 
 
 II. Deceits from within. The devil is ever busy within the soul 
 in making "the worse appear to be the better reason." He is skilled 
 in putting the enticements of appetite in their most attractive light 
 He provides us with fine names to call our sins by. Extravagance is 
 
THE BLESSING OF ABIDING IN THE TRUTH. I 75 
 
 rendering is preferable. This clause then corresponds to 
 that above, " the unction ye received from Him abideth in 
 you." The drift of the passage then is as follows : — " I 
 have written this to you concerning those who are leading 
 you astray. But as far as you are concerned, the unction 
 you have received abides in you. Therefore you need no 
 teaching. You have only to listen on all points to the 
 true and infallible guide you have within, and then you 
 abide in Him whose unction it is, according to His 
 teaching." If we ask who " in Him " refers to, the now 
 accepted reading avrov for avro before y^p'ta-fjia assists us 
 to see that our abiding in Christ, and through Him 
 in the Father, is meant. This conclusion is established 
 by a comparison of ver. 28 with 24. And the Apostle 
 has clearly once more John xv. i — 10 in his mind, a 
 discourse which, having once heard, he was never likely 
 to forget. 
 
 To this conclusion, then, the Apostle leads us in the 
 first part of his Epistle. You have been called to 
 unspeakable blessings (ch, i. 1-7). But you are encom- 
 passed on all sides by dangers. First and foremost there 
 is your own sinfulness (i. 8, ii. i), though for that 
 God has provided a remedy (ii. 2-6). Then there is an 
 evil world, lying in darkness, in the midst of which your 
 lot is cast (ii. 7—19). Against this, too, God has 
 
 liberality and freeliandedness ; sinful indulgence is manly enjoyment ; 
 revelry and riot are companionableness and good felloAvship ; waste of 
 time is necessary amusement and sociability ; dilettante selfishness is 
 a taste for literature and the arts, culture, refinement, love of the 
 beautiful ; unbelief is free and independent thought, originality, 
 freedom from bigotry and superstition ; greed of gain is an honourable 
 ambition, development of material resources, commercial activity and 
 tlie like ; indifference is a laudable impartiality, the holding the 
 balance even between conflicting opinions. And tlius evil becomes 
 good and good evil, "unstable souls" are "beguiled." There are 
 
176 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 forearmed you (ii. 20-25). Therefore cling fast to the 
 one safeguard against all that may lead you astray. His 
 Divine guidance, vouchsafed in your hearts, is that 
 safeguard. You may dwell in peace, because you abide 
 in Him. 
 
 "mockers" who "walk after their own ungodly lusts. " "Sensual" (or 
 rather, " natural," i.e. unregenerate, — see 1 Cor. ii., iii. in the origiual), 
 " having not the Spirit," they "separate themselves" from the true 
 congregation of the faithful. One only is able to "keep us from 
 falling," and to "present us faultless before the presence of God's 
 glory, with exceeding joy," even He who has anointed us with His 
 Holy Spirit. We can be safe only if we "abide in Hun." "In him 
 is Life, and the Life is the Light of men." Believe in Him, and you 
 shall abide in Him. Abide in Him, and none of these "seducing 
 spirits" shall be able to "pluck you out of His hand." 
 
( 177 ) 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE EIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHEIST TO BE 
 MANIFESTED IN US. 
 
 r^H. ii. 28. — We now commence the second portion of 
 ^ the Epistle. Some commentators would begin this 
 portion at verse 29. But it is more in accordance with 
 St. John's manner to begin a new portion with the 
 repetition of the last idea of the old. No one who has 
 not devoted some time to the study of St. John's writings 
 can fully understand the wonderful coherence, as well as 
 depth of the thought, in this portion of the Epistle. 
 Under the apparent artlessness and simplicity there lies 
 an immense profundity and closeness, not of reasoning, 
 but of meditative interdependence. At first sight mucii 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. ii. 28. — Abiding in Christ (he source ofholchicss in our Christian 
 course. In the former portion of the Epistle, abiding in Christ is regarded 
 as the means Avhereby we may resist the temptations of tlie age and 
 society in which we live. Here it is put before us as the ground of 
 our boldness or "assurance," as it is sometimes calleil. 
 
 I. The nature of Christian boldness. The Christian scheme 
 is full of paradoxes. Indeed, as we have frequently had reason to ob- 
 serve, it is the nature of truth to be so. And one of the most prolific 
 sources of error is the firm grasp Ave are apt to take of some particular 
 truth, to the entire exclusion of the complementary truth with which 
 its existence is bound up, but which we, in our heat and haste, imagine 
 
 M 
 
178 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 appears mere repetition, and much has no visible connec- 
 tion with what has gone before. But the more we study 
 either Epistle or Gospel, the more we perceive the deep, 
 inner unity of each. Every thought arises out of that 
 which has preceded it. Every thought has some inner 
 relation to all that has gone before. And it is only 
 when we have pondered upon the passage verse by verse, 
 that the full majesty of the meaning dawns upon us. 
 To the superficial observer the language may appear, as 
 it did to John Stuart Mill, "poor stuff," manufactured 
 by the yard out of Philo. To the careful and reverent 
 student it is the inspired teaching of one whose face 
 beams with the light reflected from above. Here, then, 
 as Haupt points out, we can see the new section of the 
 Epistle arising naturally out of the old. And we may 
 remark in passing that Haupt here and in the next few 
 verses seems to surpass himself. Nowhere does his pro- 
 found study of the Epistle, and his clear insight into the 
 Apostle's meaning, appear to greater advantage than in 
 his exposition of this portion of the Epistle. He points 
 out how not only the ideas of being begotten of God, and 
 of doing righteousness, which we find in ver. 29, are 
 continually introduced in the remainder of the Epistle, 
 
 to be its contradictory. This is the case with our present subject. 
 Humility and confidence are alike characteristics of the Christian life 
 — distrust of ourselves, confidence in God. But it is difficult to be 
 truly humble without being in danger of distrusting God, or under- 
 valuing what " He has done for our soul." It is, on the other hand, 
 difficult to feel implicit confidence in God, absolute certainty that He 
 Avill complete the good work that He has begun in us, that He will 
 free us from sin, and work out in us the perfection of Jesus Christ, and 
 yet to prevent this confidence from gliding into presumption. It is 
 always possible for Christian reliance on God to degenerate into Phari- 
 saic piide, the more especially as our faith is faith in a Saviour from 
 sin, and our experience, if it is what it ought to be, is that He has saved 
 us from sin, and that He has enabled us to grow in wisdom, holiness. 
 
CHEIST TO BE MANIFESTED IN US. 1 79 
 
 but that the leading thoughts of ver. 28 also continually 
 recur. Thus, for instance, we find the idea of manifes- 
 tation in this verse recurring in ch. iii. 3—8 ; the idea 
 of boldness, in ch. iii. 21, iv. 17, v. 14; and in the 
 second of these passages, as here, it is connected with 
 Christ's coming. That coming is also referred to more 
 or less clearly (see exposition there) in ch. iii. 2. 
 And he remarks, in addition, that "all the ideas, with 
 the exception of the fxevere, with which he begins, are 
 new ones," and that it " would be a startling close of a 
 discussion which should introduce a new series of ideas, 
 instead of summing up the old ones ; " and, it may be 
 added, very much unlike St. John's manner. While the 
 Kal vyv, as he further points out, is used here, as it is 
 in ch. xvii. 5 of the Gospel, of bringing in some new 
 idea on the basis of the former ones. Further, the idea 
 of the first part of the Gospel is the antagonism of light 
 and darkness, of Christ and Antichrist ; of the second, 
 righteousness, or, as St. Paul would call it, sanctification, 
 flowing from the new birth or begetting, man has received 
 from God through Jesus Christ. In accordance with 
 this, ver. 28 looks to the future rather than to past or 
 present. Thus three considerations lead us to begin the 
 
 and knowledge of His Will. And one of the most common reproaches 
 against Christians, a reproach not always undeserved, is that they are 
 Pharisaic in their self-satisfaction, that they pride themselves on their 
 freedom from sins to which other men are prone. It may he well, 
 tlierefore, to point out the essential distinctions between Pharisaism 
 and Christian confidence, 
 
 I. The Christian's trust is in God, not in himself. He does not 
 attribute his good deeds to his own merits, but to an indwelling 
 Spirit. He does not regard the renewed life he possesses as anything 
 of his own, but as a " life hid with Christ in God." He acknowledges 
 with shame that whenever he lived or acted for himself, the result was 
 siu. He feels that it is the same with other men ; that when they 
 would live for themselves, think for themselves, act for themselves, 
 
l80 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 second portion of the Epistle here : ( i ) That it is in 
 accordance with St. John's manner to begin a new 
 section from the standpoint of the former ; (2) that the 
 words Koi vvv emphasise the fact that he is doing so ; 
 and (3) that the idea in ver. 28, its commencement 
 excepted, are introduced for the first time, and belong, 
 not to what precedes, but to what follows. — And now, 
 little children, abide in him. This repetition, in the shape of 
 a command, of what in the last verse stands as the asser- 
 tion of a fact, is in St. John's manner. See ch. i. 10, 
 and ii. i, ch. iv. 16, 21. It is as though he said, you 
 are able to abide in God. It is His Will and purpose 
 concerning you. Take care that it is the fact. For this 
 remaining firm in Christ, which was to keep them stead- 
 fast against the assaults of Antichrist and of the powers 
 of darkness, was to be the starting-point of a new depar- 
 ture in the Christian life. Not only was evil to be 
 resisted ; not only was the Christian to turn his face 
 from the darkness that was passing away, and allow it 
 to be irradiated by the light from heaven which was now 
 revealed, but this abiding in Christ was to lead to develop- 
 ment and growth in righteousness, to the putting on His 
 likeness from Whom all righteousness proceeds, to the 
 
 they fall into every kind of error and crime, and that it is only when 
 they realise how, with other men, they are possessors of a common 
 life, flowing to ihem from the Father, through the Son, and by the 
 Spirit, that they can possibly do anything that is good. Thus his 
 iiiipulse is not towards separation (the meaning of the word Pharisee), 
 but towards union. He longs to make all men possessors of this 
 common life. The more he possesses it himself, the more he yearns 
 to impart it to other men. So far from being puffed up witli pride, or 
 alienated by his virtues from those who possess them not, he becomes 
 ever more and more convinced (i) of the power of God, (2) that "He 
 hath made of one blood all nations that dwell upon the earth," and 
 3) that the same Spirit that has been miglity to the pulling down the 
 strongholds of sin in his own heart, can do the same great work in the 
 
CHRIST TO BE MANIFESTED IN US. iSl 
 
 preparing for the manifestation of that Presence before 
 which all that is base and wrong and wicked must vanish 
 away. — that, when he shall appear, we may have confi- 
 dence. Before we proceed to explain this passage we 
 must correct the translation. For orap the best MSS. 
 have edu, and the literal translation of (pavepcoO?] is 
 " shall be manifested." " Appear " is the rendering of 
 the early English Versions, but the Eevised Version has 
 " if He shall be manifested." It is easy to see how idv 
 would be corrected to orav, but not so easy to see how 
 edv could have been introduced. If it be the correct 
 reading it must refer to the uncertainty of the moment 
 of Christ's coming. For " of that day and that hour 
 knoweth no man." Therefore we must interpret with 
 Alford, " In case of His second coming taking place." 
 It is to be remembered, however, that the rule which 
 selects the more difficult reading may be pressed too 
 far, and that orav may be traced as far back as the 
 Vulgate and Syriac Versions. The word translated 
 " confidence " again is not ireTroidtja-i^ or vTroaraa-i^, but 
 7rapp}]crla or boldness of speech. The Authorised Version 
 here departs from Tyndale, who (with Cranmer and the 
 Geneva Version) has " that we may he hold " and follows 
 
 lieart of every other man, if he will but open that heart to its gracious 
 influences. 
 
 2. The Christian compares himself not with other men, but with him- 
 self and loith Christ, [a] He compares himself with himself (it is very 
 doubtful whether the true reading in 2 Cor. x. 12 is not that whicli 
 makes St. Paul praise, not blame, such self-comparison), not witli 
 other men. He looks back on his past life, and remembers with 
 shame the stains of sin which he allowed to rest on his soul befoi-e he 
 knew Christ as he does now. He knows that if he had been left to 
 himself he would still have been such as he once was. And so he gives 
 the glory, not to himself, but to God, the more so as he reflects how 
 His Spirit can do equal works of grace in every other man's heart, as 
 soon as that heart is given to God. (6) He compares himself with 
 
152 THE FIUST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 the Ebeims (Roman Catholic) Version, the Eevised 
 Version returning to the more correct translation (may 
 have boldness). Haupt draws out the inner meaning of 
 this passage very ably. He points out how, while the 
 other writers of the New Testament speak of Christ's 
 coming as an aTroKoXv^^i? or unveiling, St. John here 
 speaks of it as a (pavepcocrig or manifestation. He some- 
 what exaggerates, however, the contrast between the two 
 expressions ; a7ro«:a'Xu\|/t9, he says, invariably designates 
 a revelation which has taken place in an extraordinary 
 way, through a direct interposition of God, and there- 
 fore as a perfectly new development, whereas a (pavepoocrig 
 is in all cases a " making visible of potencies long working 
 secretly." But an a7ro/caXu\|/<9 is necessarily a drawing 
 back the veil from something already existing — a com- 
 munication to man of a hidden purpose of God already 
 formed, if not already in operation. Still, it may be 
 conceded that the word cpavepoco lays more stress than 
 avaKoKviTTO) on the present existence of the thing to be 
 manifested. And thus the coming of Jesus Christ is set 
 before us as simply the bringing to light of an existing 
 fact. He is ever present with His Church (Matt, xxviii. 
 20). His manifestation brings that fact to light. The 
 
 Christ, and finds nothing but shame and humiliation in the compari- 
 son of his weakness and imperfection Avith the glorious holiness of the 
 Lamb of God. Nor does he dwell simply on the sinlessness of Jesus. 
 This negative view is too common. But the instructed Chi-istian does 
 not forget to dwell on the active side of the holiness of Christ, and to 
 meditate on the streams of strength, and pardon, and forgiveness, and 
 enabling power which pour forth inexhaustibly from Him, as from a 
 well of life, and which every true believer is bound to minister to his 
 brethren. 
 
 3. The boldness consists in a belief in the Fatherhood of God. It is 
 this which gives the Christian confidence. It is not a mere belief that 
 he will be saved in the end, whatever other men may be. It is not 
 merely a belief that an atonement has been made for his sins. It is 
 
CHRIST TO BE MANIFESTED IN US. 1 83 
 
 Apostle even regards the Eesurrection as a thing present 
 (John V. 25, xi. 25). And here we may observe on a 
 remarkable confirmation of the genuineness of St. John's 
 narrative. Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Tim. ii, 18) said 
 that the resurrection was past already. It is easy enough 
 to see whence they obtained their doctrine. It was a 
 perversion of these words of our Lord, which, though 
 not yet recorded by St. John, were doubtless current in 
 the Church. The Apostle therefore describes by eav 
 (pavepcoOr] that day in which the Lord, who abideth with 
 His people always, will make His Presence apparent at 
 once and for ever to all eyes. The word Trapprja-la 
 means originally freedom of speech, and hence it comes to 
 mean that frame of mind which begets free speech, bold- 
 ness, absence of all fear. So we find it used in passages 
 like Eph. iii. 1 2 ; Heb. x. 1 9. Here it refers to the 
 calm and tranquil frame of mind which he who is and 
 feels that he is united to Christ by faith, will be able to 
 preserve when the final judgment is at hand ; not relying 
 on himself, but on Him AVho has destroyed the power 
 of sin within him. — and not be ashamed before him at his 
 coming. Literally, these words mean " not be ashamed 
 from Him," i.e., not shrink back abashed before His 
 
 the certainty that all slavish fear may be put aside, that God loves to 
 hear and grant our supplications ; that His " heart's desire" for us all 
 is "that we should be saved from sin and every other evil, that we 
 should dwell for ever in that unclouded happiness which only perfect 
 sinlessness can give." His boldness has nothing to do with self. On 
 the contrary, it forgets self altogether in the contemplation of a 
 Father's universal love. 
 
 II. What ground have we for this boldness ? Our boldness 
 to approach to the throne of grace is due to the reconciliation or 
 atonement which has been made between God and man by the life and 
 death of Jesus Christ. In the faith of that reconciling work we can 
 approach God as our Father, confident that the " handwriting that is 
 against us" has been blotted out. See Eph. iii. 12; i Tim. iii. 13; 
 
184 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Presence. The word translated Presence is Farousia, 
 which may almost be denominated the technical word 
 by which the Apostles of Christ are wont to express His 
 coming and its results. Among those results is the one 
 graphically and tersely referred to here, but which is 
 elsewhere spoken of in Scripture in language of a more 
 definite character. " Then shall they begin to say unto 
 the mountains, Fall on us, and unto the hills, Cover us " 
 (Luke xxiii. 30 ; cf. Isaiah ii. 19 ; Hos. x. 8). There is 
 a connection here with the thoughts so prominent in the 
 former part of the Epistle. These words express the 
 attitude of the children of darkness and Antichrist at the 
 coming of the Son of God, as contrasted with that of the 
 children of light. 
 
 Ver. 29. — If ye know that he is righteous. We have 
 first to consider what is the connection of this verse with 
 the preceding. St. John has just advised his " children " 
 to abide in Christ, that they might appear with joy and 
 not with grief, at His appearing. He now again knits 
 the second part of the Epistle with the first. " In the 
 first part " the fellowship between God and man " comes 
 into consideration as an internal habit; in the second it 
 is rather its confirmation in works " (Haupt). And as 
 
 Heb. iii. 6, iv. 16, x. 35. In the first of these passages it is connecteil 
 with the ready access we liave to God through Jesus Christ. See also 
 iii. 21, iv. 17, V. 14 of this Epistle. We must not forget that the 
 leading idea of this boldness is freedom of speech, and that it has 
 nothing to do with the other words translated "bold," "boldness," in 
 our version, derived from roX/xaw and dappiw. 
 
 III. This boldness is here connected with ouk abiding in 
 Christ. We must remember that the atonement spoken of in the 
 last head is not a mere blotting out of the memory of our transgressions. 
 Beyond and above this, it brings about union with Christ through the 
 Spirit, the indwelling of God in the soul. Not only is God not angry 
 with us ; not only is He willing to listen to us, but He dwells in us and 
 we in Him. It is obvious that this consideration infinitely streng- 
 
CHRIST TO BE MANIFESTED IN US. 1 85 
 
 he commences the second part with the conclusion to 
 which he had brought us in the first — the necessity of 
 abiding in Christ — so now he points out once more the 
 reason why he has taught us so to abide, because God 
 is righteous (ch. i. 9, ii. 2), and there can be no right- 
 eousness apart from Him, It is to the acquirement of 
 this Divine Eighteousness that he exhorts us, and he 
 takes care, before doing so, to lead us to seek its root not 
 in ourselves, but in God. The next question that arises 
 is, who is meant by " He " ? Both God Himself, and 
 Jesus Christ, His Son, have been declared to be righteous 
 in the texts just cited. We may therefore interpret this 
 passage of either, so far as the predicating of righteous- 
 ness is concerned. But as Haupt reminds us, the latter 
 part of the verse settles the question. We are " born (or 
 begotten) of Him." Now we are never said to be born 
 of Jesus Christ, but through Him to be born of God. 
 Hence it is the essential righteousness of the Eternal 
 Father that is spoken of here, as the reason why all His 
 children should be righteous. The righteousness of the 
 Son is derived from His Father and manifested to us. 
 But it is the actual source of all righteousness whatever 
 to which the Apostle now refers. "As the nature of 
 
 thens as Avell as justifies the belief in freedom of access and address 
 to God. 
 
 IV. This boldness will animate us in the Day of Judg- 
 ment. The feeling of the natural man at the thought of the coming 
 of Christ is well expressed by Malachi : — "Who shall abide tlie day 
 of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth ? " (Mai. iii. 
 2). The Apostle here encourages us by the thought that the day at 
 which all mankind else shall tremble, Avill not disturb in the slightest 
 the confidence of the Christian. ^^ Comfort (or encourage) one an- 
 other" with the thought of His coming, says St. Paul (i Thess. iv. 18). 
 And St. John here points out the indwelling of God in tlie Christian 
 soul gives it a confidence which even the great and terrible Day of 
 Judgment will not shake. The more we unite ourselves to Christ by 
 
1 85 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 God is Eighteousness, so must this same righteousness be 
 the token of sonship in relation to Him: the children 
 must bear the father's stamp upon them " (Haupt). — ye 
 know tliat every one which doeth righteousness is born of 
 him. As a specimen of the frigid and unmeaning expo- 
 sitions which have been wont to pass current as exegesis 
 of an author so difficult as St. John, we may instance 
 Ebrard's comment here. He says, " The exhortation 
 'Abide in Him' is changed (ver. 29) into the more gene- 
 ral exhortation to iroielv Ttjv SiKaioa-vvtjv." There is no 
 such meaningless change. There is not even an ex- 
 hortation to do righteousness. Even if there had been 
 it would be an exhortation to what it is the object of the 
 whole Christian scheme to effect. And the exhortation 
 would derive its whole force from the fact that every 
 believer is united to Christ and must maintain that union 
 unimpaired. So that a specific exhortation would not 
 have been changed into a general one, but an effect have 
 been derived from its cause. But in reality the Apostle 
 is pointing to the doing of righteousness as a proof of the 
 inward union of the believer with Him Who is Eighteous- 
 ness itself. " Abide in Him," he says, " as I have bidden 
 
 faith, the more thoroughly we conform ourselves to the pattern of His 
 life (the natural and necessary result of true faith), the more ardently 
 we shall long for the daj'^ of His manifestation, the more utterly will 
 all dread or fear of Him be banished from our minds. 
 
 Ver. 29. — The test of the new hirth. The connection of thought 
 between this and the last verse has been drawn out in the exposition. 
 It may be well here, before expanding the idea of this verse, to sum- 
 marise it briefly once more. The abiding in Christ is the ground of 
 our calm expectation of the Day of Judgment. This calmness in the 
 expectation of what others dread is strengthened by the thought that 
 we have received a new birth from God. And the proof of our having 
 received that new birth is the doing righteousness. If we can con- 
 scientiously feel that we are doing righteousness, our claim to be born 
 of God is established. We know (see notes on ch. i. 9, iL i) that He 
 
CHRIST TO BE MANIFESTED IN US. 1 8/ 
 
 you, and I will give you a fresh reason for doing so. 
 When He comes you will meet Him with boldness, and 
 not with trembling like the children of darkness. You 
 know that He is righteous, because I have told you so, 
 and because your own hearts bear witness to the truth of 
 what I said. And if you know this, if you know that 
 He is the sole fount of every good and righteous action, 
 you know moreover that every one who has conquered 
 temptation and sin, and has learned to do His Will, must 
 have received the precious gift of a new birth from 
 Him. See (ch. iii. i ) what love it is on God's part, that 
 He permits us to be called His children." There is a 
 doubt whether yivwa-Kere is to be regarded as indicative 
 or imperative. But the question does not much affect 
 the sense. The former is preferable. Some editors, again, 
 read nal after oti. The two favourite MSS. of modern 
 critics, the Sinaitic and the Vatican, are divided here. 
 But the omission or insertion of the particle does not 
 affect the sense appreciably. The Apostle's meaning 
 here is a practical one. It is equivalent to his Master's 
 " By their fruits ye shall know them." What he would 
 convey to us is (i) that God is the source of all righteous- 
 
 is righteous. And had we not been born of Him, we could not have 
 done that of which He is the only source. 
 
 I. What is the new birth ? The word used by St. John to express 
 this process means either birth or begetting. Hence it refers to the 
 first starting-point or origin of life, as distinct from its further develop- 
 ment. It means the implanting of the first germ of the renewed 
 humanity of Christ in the heart. It is the commencement of a process 
 which is destined eventually to revolutionise the whole man, to change 
 not only his relations to God, not only the point of view from which 
 he looks upon God and God upon him, but that which was formerly 
 corrupt and tending to destruction, into the image of its Lord and 
 Saviour. Sometimes Scripture views this process in its origin (as in 
 John iii. 3, 5), sometimes in its progress (as in the famous 7th chapter 
 
1 88 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 ness, and (2) that every man who does righteousness 
 must needs have been born of God. And thus the evi- 
 dence of a life conformed to God's Will is the only 
 evidence of the reality of our regeneration, the only 
 unmistakable proof of our dwelling in God and God in 
 us. And just precisely in proportion to the extent to 
 which we act on the eternal principles of truth and justice 
 is the process of our regeneration complete. Our whole 
 life here is, if we be true believers in Christ, one long 
 "travail in birth until Christ be fully formed in us." So 
 Haupt : " In the preceding passage the Trapptja-la, in the 
 Day of Judgment, was made dependent upon the fxeveiv 
 €v T(p Oew ; here it is said further how it is that this 
 irapprjcrla comes into effect, — that is, it operates thus, that 
 he who continueth in God, and therefore is born of God, 
 becomes firmly assured of this his fellowship with God, 
 through his Troieiv rhv SiKaioa-vvrji/." And Alford : " When, 
 therefore, a man doeth righteousness, yivcoa-KOfxep, we 
 apprehend, we collect from our previous knowledge of 
 these truths, that the source of his righteousness is God : 
 that, in consequence, he has acquired by new birth from 
 God that righteousness which he had not by nature. We 
 
 of the Romans), sometimes in its completion, as in this Epistle, where 
 St. John always refers to it in the perfect tense. 
 
 II. What is the sign of the new birth ? Invariably, in Scrip- 
 ture the evidence that a man is horn again is to he looked for in his 
 conduct. This fundamental principle is laid down by our Lord in His 
 first discourse (Matt. vii. 16). It is laid down alike by St. Paul, St. 
 Peter, and St. James (see Gal. v. 6, 22 ; Rom. viii. 5, 14 ; 2 Cor. iii. 
 18; Epli. iv. 24; 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14, &c. ; i Peter i. 21-23, "• i> 2, 
 9, 11-15, 21, &:c. ; James ii. 22). And here we have the following 
 principles laid down. The Christian abides in God. God is righteous. 
 Hence every one who " doeth righteousness" can discern that he has 
 been born of God. But the objection may be raised, Who is there 
 that doeth righteousness ? "There is none righteous, no, not one," 
 Therefore there is none that is bom of God. In one sense this is true. 
 
CHRIST TO BE MANIFESTED IN US. 1 89 
 
 argue from his Troielu rrjv ^iKaiocrvvt^v to his yeyevvricrOai 
 CK Oeou." We may add that when a man has attained 
 to that state described in ch. iii. 9, when his sinful 
 habits are broken off, when sin is slain within him, then 
 the process of birth is complete, then he is perfect in 
 Christ Jesus. This is implied here, and by the use of 
 the perfect tense in every case where this word occurs 
 in this Epistle, save ch, v. 1 8 (if indeed that applies to 
 the believer at all — see note there). See iii. 9, iv. 7, 
 V, I, 4, 18. It may be remarked, before quitting this 
 subject, that St. John's meaning has been strangely mis- 
 apprehended or attenuated by various classes of commen- 
 tators. Thus the Socinian writers, as Alford reminds us, 
 have read his meaning backwards, making the doing 
 righteousness the condition of our becomincj a child of 
 God, instead of the proof that we have become such ; — 
 while the mediaeval expositors have lost the fulness of 
 St. John's meaning in the fictions of so-called dogmatic 
 theology, and speak of works of infused righteousness, 
 which are given with grace, and which admit the man to 
 a sort of participation with the Divine essence, expositions 
 which are not so much incorrect as incomplete, exchang- 
 
 That is the sense in which the Apostle speaks in ch. iii. 9. No one 
 can lay claim to this impeccability in this life. St. John must be 
 referring to the time when tlie regenerating principle has completed 
 its working ; when the union of the believer with Christ has been 
 ])erfected. But on the other hand, Christ's redeeming Avork Avould 
 liave been an absolute failure unless His children should do at least 
 some righteousness here. As in one sense there is no one who " doeth 
 righteousness," that is, uniformly and invariably, so in another there 
 is not a single soul united to Christ by faith who does not " do right- 
 eousness " frequently and continually. And the more advanced in the 
 Christian life he is, the more accurately does the phrase " doing right- 
 eousness " express his life as a Avhole. Any one single act done simply 
 because it is right is an evidence, if not of faith in its fulness, at least 
 of a measure of faith in God (see Homiletics oq vers. 22-24 of this 
 
IQO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 in" the warmth and breadth of Christian doctrine for a 
 kind of hard scientific precision, substituting a system of 
 narrow technical definitions for the infinite mystery of 
 God's dealings, which pass beyond the boundaries of 
 human knowledge. 
 
 chapter, pp. 153-164). The germs of the Divine life are there, even in 
 the case when the actual entering into covenant with Christ has not 
 quickened them into full vitality, and placed before the soul the full 
 measure of God's requirements. If, then, you feel that iu any sense 
 you are " doing righteousness ; " if, that is, you find any motive direct- 
 ing your actions above that of your own interest, any standard of right 
 and wrong by which you desire to act which is based, not upon the 
 shifting passions, desires, opinions of men, but upon some eternal 
 standard outside and above the visible and the tangible, the signs of 
 the new birth are there. You have only to go on doing that Will 
 which has been revealed to you, and you shall " know of the doctrine." 
 You shall steadily make your way out of darkness to the Eternal 
 Light. 
 
( 191 ) 
 
 XIII. 
 
 THE PEIVILEGES OF THE CHRISTIAN". 
 
 rm. iii. I. — Behold, what manner of love the Father hath 
 ^ bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children 
 of God. This verse, as we have seen, is intimately con- 
 nected with the last, and arises out of it, as is St. John's 
 wont. " You may know," he says, " that any man who 
 doeth righteousness has been born of God. Think what 
 a great privilege and blessing it is to be so born." The 
 word TToraTTos (more properly iroSaTro?) signifies originally 
 " of what country." Hence it is here correctly trans- 
 lated " what manner," instead of (as is preferred by some 
 expositors) " how great." " St. John exhorts his hearers 
 to ponder not the greatness, but the kind and nature of 
 the love God has bestowed upon us " (Ebrard). But, he 
 adds, we need not go so far as Calvin and import the 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. iii. I. — God is our Father and u-e His children. 
 
 I. God is our Father. This doctrine («) -svas imknoAvn to the 
 world of St. John's day, save to the Jews, and misunderstood even by 
 them. The Gentile belief, originally a belief in a bright, glorious, 
 resplendent being, of which the sun was the type, had degenerated 
 sadly in the Apostolic times. The pages of the early Fathers teem 
 with denunciations of the monstrous, absurd, and immoral fables then 
 current respecting the gods — fables which would justify any crime, 
 
192 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 idea of desert — "how undeserved a love." It is the 
 quality of the love to which our attention is asked. This 
 thought may include the greatness, fulness, freeness of 
 the love, because these ideas are parts of its character, a 
 character unfolded in succeeding passages of the Epistle, 
 notably in ver. i6; iv. 8-10, 16, 19. And the special 
 feature in its character on which stress is here laid is 
 the fact that God has made us His children. It is a 
 thought which would strike those to whom the Epistle was 
 addressed far more than it does us, to whom the idea has 
 been familiar from infancy. The idea of the affectionate 
 relations of father and child being used to describe the 
 relations of God to man was a new one to all nations of 
 the world at that day, save the Jews. If the heathen 
 held themselves to be "God's offspring" (Acts xvii. 28), 
 it was a cold and distant relation that was thus implied. 
 His offspring by creation they undoubtedly were. But 
 of the near and tender relation between God and His 
 creatures described, for instance, in Psalm ciii., " Like as 
 a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
 those that fear Him," the Greeks and Eomans knew 
 nothing. Hence the reference to the quality of God's 
 love from this point of view would meet with a 
 hearty response from those who had just learned what 
 it was. The next point that invites our attention is 
 
 however horrible, and had little to do with either purity or love. 
 Plutarch has some striking observations on the slavish, superstitious 
 fear of hostile powers unseen, which reduced many a life in his time to 
 abject wretchedness. The Jews, again, if they theoretically believed 
 in God as tlieir Father, had practically brought down their belief to a 
 mere justification of their right to stand aloof from, and to despise 
 other nations. And {b) it cannot be said that Christians have risen to 
 tlie full conceptions of what is involved in the idea of God as a Father. 
 The idea that He is " far from every one of us," which St. Paul felt it 
 necessary to repudiate (Acts xvii. 27), that He needs all kinds of 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE CHRISTIAN. 1 93 
 
 the word SeSooKev. The Alexandrian MS. reads eScDKev. 
 But, as Ebrard remarks, the other reading is not only- 
 better authenticated, but is more internally appropriate. 
 It is a " good and pejfect gift " which God has given us 
 in this love. We next have to remark on the word 
 SeScoKev itself. God has given us love of a certain, kind. 
 Some expositors here, again, have been tempted to water 
 down the passage ; aydirri becomes with them '•' the gift 
 of charity," " a benefit," " an evidence " or "proof of God's 
 love." No; God gives us His Love itself, as Luther's 
 warm heart perceives, " Usus est Joannes singulari ver- 
 borum pondere : non dicit dedisse nobis Deum donum 
 aliquod, sed ipsam caritatem et fontem omnium hononcm, 
 cor ipsum, idque non pro operibus, aut studiis nostris, sed 
 gratuito." And next, observe the words, "the Father." 
 The emphasis of this word also is apt to escape us from our 
 very familiarity with it. The word, I say, not, alas ! the 
 idea. The idea of the Fatherhood of God is with some 
 as much obscured as ever. But that is the idea St. John 
 would make prominent here. God is "the Father." 
 Not the stern, wrathful, inexorable Judge Who is extreme 
 to mark what is done amiss. Who exacts relentlessly the 
 very last farthing. Who needed a Being of inexhaustible 
 love to arise and turn His wrath away ; but the Father — 
 the Being whose loving heart ever yearned towards His 
 
 expedients to propitiate Him, that His AVTath is stronger than His love, 
 that He is "extreme to mark what is done amiss," still lingers in 
 many a heart. And therefore (c) we need to lay greater stress, in our 
 preaching, on the truth that the gentleness, tenderness, and sympathy 
 of Clnist is but the revelation of a Father's heart ; that the Death upon 
 the Cross is nothing more than a Father's Will translated into action, 
 that everything that the fullest, freest, most expansive ideas of love 
 in its widest sense can suggest, is expressed in those words, " God so 
 loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
 
 N 
 
194 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 creatures, Who ever intended their restoration to the 
 fulness of His favour, and Who manifested His purpose 
 and His heart towards the world in the Person of His 
 " beloved Son, in Whom He was well pleased." He it 
 was, Who had given such tender love to mankind, as to 
 number them among His own children. Our next in- 
 quiry is into the meaning of the word 'Iva here. Are we 
 to press the strict meaning of the word, and to explain 
 the passage thus : that God gave this love to us in order 
 that we might become His children ? Or are we to 
 regard this becoming His children as simply the 7^esult of 
 the love that He has shown ? We have already more 
 than once observed that the strict sense of 'Iva cannot 
 always be pressed in the New Testament. And there- 
 fore we must decide from the context in each particular 
 passage what interpretation to put on it. Here the 
 more natural interpretation would certainly be the latter. 
 It is the fact that we are the children of God which 
 indicates the manner of love that God has bestowed upon 
 us, rather than the love is bestowed upon us in order 
 that we should become His children. " The great 
 majority of commentators, ancient and modern, assume, 
 correctly, that the clause with a>a serves to specify 
 wherein this SeSooKevai ayairfiv consists " (Ebrard). He 
 would supply ev TM ^ovXeaOai, &c., before 'Iva. Instead 
 of calling upon us to remark on the nature of God's love. 
 
 II. We are God's, children. It would be imi^ossible to enumerate 
 the various consequences which flow from this thesis. Suffice it to 
 notice two, obedience and affection. With regard to the first, it must 
 be remarked tliat it is nothing if not complete. There is no man who 
 is not jeopardising his Sonship if he does not set himself to do his 
 Father's will in everything. Any one who is content deliberately to 
 disobey God on any one point, is doing his best to sever the connection 
 between his Father and himself. A man is a " debtor to do the whole 
 law." If he "offend in one point, he is guilty of all." And they 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE CHRISTIAN. 1 95 
 
 we should have rather expected, if the telic sense of "iva 
 is to be pressed, the sentence to run thus : Behold, my 
 brethren, the reason why the Father has bestowed His 
 love upon us ! It is that we might become His children. 
 With regard to the expression tckvu Oeov, Haupt points 
 out the special love involved in the expression. He is 
 disposed to exaggerate the difference of thought between 
 St. John and the other writers of the New Testament 
 here. He insists that St. Paul lays greater stress upon 
 the return to the original nature of man in his references 
 to the new creation (Gal. vi. 15), the avaKaivwa-i^ (Eom. 
 xii. 2 ; Col. iii. 10, and elsewhere), rather than upon a 
 new creation from God ; that he speaks more strongly of 
 adoption (vioOecria) than of the actual sonship on which 
 St. John insists. There is much less difference than 
 Haupt supposes. The avaKuivuiari^ of St. Paul means 
 rather a return to the original plan of humanity existing 
 in the Mind of God, than to any concrete embodiment of 
 that plan in the person of Adam ; and if he speaks of the 
 process of reconciliation as an " adoption," there is no 
 mistake about the reality of the Divine Sonship which he 
 supposes to have come about thereby (Piom. viii. 14, 16; 
 GaL iv. 6). When Haupt says that St. Paul regards the 
 Sonship of the Christian as the result of "renewal or re- 
 impartation of the original gift of the Spirit, whereas St. 
 John never fixes his eyes upon the mere outpouring and 
 
 therefore are much to blame ■who make their assurance of Sonship rest 
 upon something which took place in their past lives, instead of upon their 
 loyal and dutiful obedience to their Father in the present. While as re- 
 gards the second, affection, it points out the claim our Father has upon 
 our heart. Not only ought we to say we love Him, but there ought to 
 be no difficulty in doing wliat we say. Whether we look at the Avorld 
 of nature or of revelation, we have evidence sufficient of His love. We 
 ought therefore to pay Him a tvilling and not a grudging obedience. 
 We ought not to look upon our service as a tribute liarslily exacted by 
 
196 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 help of grace, but always on the communicatiou oF God's 
 own Divine Nature," he forgets for the moment that the 
 impartation of the Spirit is the communication of God's 
 own Divine Nature. Theology, at least in the West, has 
 preferred too much to dwell on " the mere outpouring and 
 help of grace," rather than on the gift of the Divine 
 Nature itself. But it cannot claim St. Paul as an abettor 
 of this natural tendency of the human heart to put God 
 further off than He really is. Regeneration and renewal 
 by the Holy Ghost are a communication to us of the 
 Divine Nature (as St. Peter expressly says — 2 Peter i. 4 ; 
 and St. Paul, almost as clearly, Pom. vi. 23, in the 
 original) ; grace is simply the favour and goodness of 
 God in giving us this precious gift of life in Him. It is 
 not merely, as Haupt says, that St. Paul teaches that for 
 Christ's sake God gives us the rights of children, while 
 St. John regards us as receiving through Christ the nature 
 of children, but that both alike regard the faith which 
 rests upon the Divine power to transform us into the 
 Divine image (2 Cor. iii. 1 8), as the means whereby we 
 are, in point of fact, united to God, by virtue of which 
 union we are not simply regarded as God's children, but 
 have actually become so ; and that, with each of them 
 equally, the reconciliation between God and man is not 
 merely a process carried on between God and Christ 07i 
 our behalf, but one which, beginning with Christ, is 
 
 a hard taskmaster, but as the offering of an affectionate heart to One 
 who has a thousand claims upon that affection. We ought not only 
 to take a pleasure in serving Him, but in -svorshipping Him, in public 
 or in private. His Word, His Day, His Praise, the privilege of 
 addressing Him in prayer, all ought to be inexpressibly dear to us. 
 And any sacrifice of our own wills which He may desire of us, in order 
 to carry out His wise purposes for the good of all mankind, ought to be 
 cheerfully rendered, not as if to One who took a pleasure in seeing 
 His creatures unhappy, but as to one who knows that only by the 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE CHRISTIAN. 1 97 
 
 actually carried on in each one of His members by the 
 bringing every act and thought into submission to the 
 Divine law. Our next point is the word KXtjOwjuLeu. The 
 commentators here have been very anxious to repel any 
 idea that this was any mere empty title. Unnecessarily 
 anxious, perhaps it may be added. Few of tliem seem 
 to have connected the word with the well-known expres- 
 sions of St. Paul, K\T](n9, eV/cXj/cr/a, with which every one 
 St. John was addressing must have been familiar, as well 
 as the Hebrew bnp (one of the most common words to 
 denote the congregation), and the constant reference to 
 God's calling in the Old Testament. The best MSS. and 
 the Revised Version add here "And such we are." 
 Erasmus, it is true, regarded these words as spurious, and 
 the Vulgate misinterpreted them (et simus). The words 
 might, of course, have been added by those who felt the 
 difficulty which the word k\}]6uijul€v has occasioned to 
 expositors. But all the best MSS. and Versions contain 
 them. Cranmer inserts them " and be in dede." Haupt, 
 on the other hand, rejects them from internal evidence 
 as an early gloss. They make but very little difference 
 to the sense, though they certainly emphasise it. For 
 we are told in the next verse that we are {ea-fxev) the 
 children of God. And besides, " God's gifts and calling 
 are without repentance" (Rom. xi. 29). God's calling 
 is a real calling:. If He calls us to be His children, we 
 
 crucifixion of all unrenewed affections and passions can we arrive at 
 the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
 
 III. The Fulness AND Freeness OF THIS LOVE. God has "given 
 it lis," we read. " He has given us His heart itself, the very fountain 
 of love and of all goods," as Luther says. There is no arbitrary 
 selection of this or that person. There is no stint in its overflowing 
 abundance. " God Avill have all men to be saved and come to the 
 knowledge of the truth." Full and free salvation from all evil and sin 
 and misery is offered to every one who will embrace it. All the fulness 
 
198 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 scarcely need to be told that we are such. If such 
 express information be needed, it can only be by reason 
 of our weakness, not of His changeableness. Still, this 
 is no argument against the genuineness of the words koi 
 ear/ut-ev. St. John does not elsewhere use the words 
 KoXeu), K\rj(n9, and he would naturally desire that no one 
 should mistake his meaning here. St. Augustine has 
 seen that " hie non est discrimen inter dici et esse," and 
 Calvin remarks that " in his titulus esse non potest." But 
 even with the rest of the New and Old Testament before 
 them, expositors have launched into profitless discussions 
 on the possible meanings of the expression KXrjOcofxev, and 
 whether it could or could not be equivalent to ecr/j-ev. 
 It is therefore far more likely than not that an inspired 
 writer like St. John would take care from the first to 
 avoid all misunderstanding, and explain carefully to 
 those whom he addressed that they w^ere not only called, 
 but actually were, the children of God. Another reason 
 may have weighed with him. The very closeness and 
 affectionateness of the relation thus affirmed between 
 God and man may have been a reason why people 
 should fail to apprehend it. Indeed, the history of the 
 last eighteen centuries shows us that it has been so. 
 There was therefore the more need that the Apostle 
 should emphasise the closeness of the relation, and 
 
 of God is to be ours, according to our capacity for receiving it. " Every 
 good and perfect gift" (James i. 17), not only is His to give, but it 
 " Cometh down from the Father of the lights," upon all who dispose 
 their hearts for the reception of such gifts. The gift of being a child 
 of God involves likeness to our Father. And so St. John saj's (ver 3), 
 " When He shall be manifested we shall he like Him," Who is the dKdiiv 
 of His Father, the beaming forth of His glory, and the xapaKT^p of His 
 substance (Col. i. 15 ; Heb. i. 3). 
 
 IV. The world knoweth us not, as it knew Him not. It 
 knew not God, for it neglected the revelation of Himself that He had 
 
 I 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE CHRISTIAN. 1 99 
 
 remind those to whom he wrote that the words " children 
 of God " were no mere title, but the expression of a fact, 
 a fact which was to colour all their thoughts and actions, 
 to banish superstitious fear, and to fill them with a 
 thought of ever-present love, which should sustain them 
 in all the trials and distresses of the world. That this 
 last thought was in the Apostle's mind is shown by 
 what follows. — for this cause the world knoweth us not, 
 because it knew him not. Here Tyndale, Cranmer, and 
 the Geneva Version read " you " for us, a very common 
 various reading in the New Testament. But as St. 
 John has taken care in the former part of this verse to 
 include himself in his mention of the privileges of 
 Christians, it appears probable that he would do so here. 
 And the authority for the reading of the Authorised 
 (which is also that of the Eevised) Version is very con- 
 siderable. We have here a touch of that sadness which 
 must affect every good man when he looks upward to the 
 ideal of life displayed to him by God, and then outward 
 to the degree in which that ideal is comprehended and 
 realised by man. The Baptist felt it (John iii. 3 2) ; 
 St, John himself felt it (John i. 5 , 10); our blessed Lord 
 Himself frequently expresses the feeling' (Matt, xxiii. 3 7 ; 
 Luke xiii. 34, xix. 42, 44 ; John v, 42, 43). And all 
 who have laboured in His cause have at one time or 
 
 made from the beginning (Rom. i. 21, 22). Even in the centre of the 
 intellectual life of the civilised world, it confessed its ignorance (Acts 
 xvii. 23). And so when the last and most perfect revelation of Him 
 was made in the Person of His Son, it not only did not recognise Him, 
 but displayed the fiercest hostility against Him, even unto deatli. It 
 treated God as the \ilest criminal, so far were its perceptions blinded 
 by sin. His disciples cannot expect any other treatment. They 
 ought not to complain if their actions are misconstrued or their motives 
 misrepresented. They must not be surprised if men fail to understand 
 them, if their " life " is regarded by " fools " as "madness," and their 
 
200 THE FmST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 another felt the weight of this burden. St. John desired 
 to comfort those whom he addressed in the manifold 
 cares and troubles of their lives by the thought of their 
 heavenly calling and its reality. " You are encompassed 
 about with hatred and opposition, but be of good cheer, 
 there is One whose child you are, and He will not 
 forsake you. The world is still in darkness, but ye are 
 the children of light. The very fact that you are such 
 will bring hostility upon you. ' The disciple is not 
 above his Master.' They persecuted Him and put Him 
 to death, and you cannot expect that it will be otherwise 
 with you. Eemember His words, ' If they have perse- 
 cuted Me, they will also persecute you ' (John xvi. 20). 
 Therefore comfort yourselves with the thought Whose 
 children you are. It is this, no doubt, that brings upon 
 you the troubles you endure. But from that very fact 
 also, remember, you can derive your consolation." There 
 is some difficulty in deciding to whom the word avrov 
 refers — whether to the Father or to Christ. But no 
 doubt the indefiniteness was in the mind of the Apostle. 
 They knew neither the Father nor the Son, neither the 
 Eevealed nor the Revealer (ch. ii. 22, 23). " Ye neither 
 know Me nor my Father; if ye had known Me, ye 
 should have known my Father also" (John viii. 19). If 
 this be so, how can you be surprised that you are living 
 
 "end" believed "to be without honour" (Wisdom of Solomon v. 4). 
 The wonder would be if it were otherwise. The children of this world 
 live for immediate gratification. Their conscience is " the experience 
 of the tribe," the public opinion of the hour. Their desire is the 
 gratification of their passions, the satisfaction of their appetite for 
 riches and honours, their ambition the approbation of their fellow- 
 men. What have they in common with men who set themselves 
 against the "vox populi" iu matters of the gravest importance ; who 
 put a curb upon their passions ; who despise riches, and set no store 
 by honours, and regard the approbation of their fellow-men as a snare? 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF THE CHRISTIAN. 20I 
 
 iu a world which misunderstands aud misrepresents your 
 conduct and principles of action ? They know not the 
 Father ; they do not receive the Eevelation of Him 
 which the Son came to bring ; how should they know 
 you, who have been begotten as His children by His 
 Spirit ? 
 
 How can they expect that men shall understand their zeal for the 
 spread of (^od's kingdom, their interest in religious and charitable 
 works, their regard for the honour of God, their reverence for His 
 Word, their zeal for His worship and His House ? Must they not feel 
 daily that between themselves and those who live for this world there 
 is "a great gulf fixed ; " the only difterence between this world and 
 the next being that here one can pass at will from one side to the 
 other? If we are disposed to complainthat we are misunderstood and 
 calumniated in tliis life, let us remember that on the entrance to God's 
 kingdom stand inscribed the words, " Perfect through suffering ; " and 
 over the doorway is upreared the Cross of Jesus Christ. "For even 
 hereunto were ye called, because Christ also sufiered for us, leaving us 
 an example, that ye should follow His steps" (i Pet. ii. 21). 
 
( 202 ) 
 
 XIV. 
 
 THE rUTUEE OF THE CHILDEEN OF GOD. 
 
 /^H. iii. 2. — Beloved. Once again, as in ch. ii. J , do we 
 ^ find this affectionate expression, and once again we 
 may call attention to it as introducing quite a new style 
 of address into the world. We are familiar with the 
 (^iKxa or personal affection of a philosopher towards 
 his pupils, in the case of Socrates, as depicted by 
 Plato. We see warm affection breaking through the 
 stern rebukes of the Jewish prophets. But nothing like 
 this habit of love of the brethren, as such, had ever been 
 introduced into the world until Christ came. — now are we 
 the children of God. St. John repeats himself once more 
 here, and once more with the intention of taking a new 
 departure. The assertion in the last verse that we are 
 the children of God looks backward to the former section, 
 and regards the fact as explaining the hostile relations 
 between the Christian and the world. This time it looks 
 forward to the future of the Christian in the next world, 
 for which (ver. 3) we are bidden to prepare. St. John 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. iii. 2. — The Vision of the Future. 
 
 I. At present we cannot conceive what is in stoke for us. 
 There is a "glory to be revealed in us" (Rom. viii. 18). What that 
 glory is, the Spirit will reveal (i Cor. ii. 10). For He searcheth the 
 
THE FUTURE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 203 
 
 emphasises the fact which he has just stated (ver. i) in 
 order that it may be the starting-point of a new career. 
 We are the children of God. What this will lead to we 
 do not at present exactly know. Yet we know that it 
 must lead to a likeness to our Master. — and it doth not 
 yet appear what we shall he. There are two difficulties 
 here, (i) the tense, (2) the nominative to he supplied 
 before ecpavepcodtj. Dean Alford (i) would translate it 
 was never yet manifested. Professor Westcott regards the 
 aorist as "pointing back to some definite occasion on 
 which the revelation might have been expected." Yet 
 if the view we have previously expressed of the aorist be 
 correct, and that it is frequently used as the equivalent 
 of the Hebrew imperfect, it may relate to indefinite past 
 time. It may therefore be rendered by hath not been 
 manifested. For our hath teen is by no means a definite 
 perfect, like the Hebrew and Greek perfect. See note on 
 ch. ii. 18. Hath not been manifested simply means that 
 such a manifestation has never taken place at any period 
 in the past, not that the manifestation has never been 
 finally completed, which would be "is not yet manifested." 
 In regard to (2) we should naturally be inclined to supply 
 the same nominative to the verb in both clauses. But the 
 context forbids it. There can be little doubt that here we 
 should supply it, and in the next clause He. Therefore we 
 must translate with E. V. it is not yet (or rather it hath not 
 yet been) made manifest. — what we shall be. That is to say, 
 we are at present conscious of a close and intimate re- 
 
 deep things of God. But He makes these known, not to our in- 
 tellects, as we are tempted to suppose, but to our hearts. He brings 
 us into contact with the mysteries of Divine holiness and love. And 
 He disposes our minds to love these things and to desire to conform 
 ourselves to them. But wliile as yet on the threshold of the Chiistian 
 life how shall -sve understand what is involved in likeness to God ? 
 
204 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 lation to God. But to what results that blessed condition 
 shall lead has not yet been made clear to us. As it hath 
 been written, " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
 have entered into the heart of man, the things that God 
 hath prepared for them that love Him " ( i Cor. ii. 9). 
 This does not mean, as some have supposed, to indicate 
 that sonship to God will hereafter become something 
 different in hind to what it is now. But it obviously 
 involves what in the very nature of things is necessary, 
 that it will hereafter be very different in degree. Sinless- 
 ness cannot be predicated of us in our present condition. 
 Yet sinlessness is the goal to which we are advancing. 
 And not only this, but other indescribable glories await 
 us. Who can tell what it will be to " know even as we 
 are known" (i Cor. xiii. 12) — to see no longer "in a 
 mirror, darkly," but "face to face," — to gaze with un- 
 veiled face upon the vision of the Lord (2 Cor. iii. 18) ? 
 — but we know. This phrase is very common in this 
 Epistle. See ch, ii. 3, 5, iii. 14, 16, v. 15, 18, 19, 20. 
 And olSare occurs just as often. See ch. ii. 20, &c. — that 
 wlien hie shall appear. Some have translated here, whe^i 
 it shall appear, so as to supply the same subject as in 
 the former part of the verse. So Tyndale and Cranmer. 
 The Geneva returns to the older rendering of Wiclif, he, 
 and is followed by the Ehemish Version. The translation 
 it does not give a bad sense. " It does not yet appear 
 what we shall be, but we know that if it does appear, it 
 will involve our likeness to Him." But all these versions 
 
 How shall we, at the first glimmer of the dawn, he able to imagine 
 Avhat the prospect will he when the sun is risen in its fulness ? How 
 shall we, who have but just begun the task of self -crucifixion, he able 
 to comprehend the joy he feels who is in heart and spirit one with 
 God ? That subjugation of the will must begin here. Through what 
 processes it may jjass as we "sour through worlds unknown" we 
 
THE FUTURE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 205 
 
 mistranslate edv when. " If He shall appear " is, how- 
 ever, without much doubt the true rendering. It gives 
 a much better sense, whether we regard tlie context or 
 the theology of the passage. For in ch. ii. 28 we have 
 the same words, referring unquestionably to Christ. This 
 gives a strong reason for supposing they must have the 
 same reference here. And the appearing of Christ — His 
 Farousia, is according to all Christian teaching the 
 moment when our perfection will be accomplished. See 
 I Cor. i. 7, XV. 2 3 ; 2 Cor. iv. 14; i Thess. iii. 1 4, v. 
 23; 2 Thess. ii. 8; Tit. ii. 13, 14; Jude 24. The 
 explanation of eav (pavepaoO^ has been given under 
 ch. ii. 28. There seems in it some under-current of 
 conviction that the final manifestation of Christ might 
 occur at any time. " If He should be manifested at 
 any moment " seems the idea present to the mind of 
 the Apostle. He is certain to come. But if He were 
 to come, we know that we should be made — and remain 
 (ea-ofjLeOa) — like Him. Or it may be (see below) that eav 
 (pavepwOi] is the explanation of o'lSajueu. — we shall be like 
 him. It has been asked whether avrco here refers to God 
 or Christ. We may reply, as elsewhere, to God through, 
 or rather in Christ. The next question that is asked is. 
 Do we become like God m order to see Him, or hecatise 
 we see Him ? We unhesitatingly decide in favour of the 
 latter. It is from looking unto Jesus that we are able to 
 approach Him, by gazing on His perfections that we 
 insensibly reflect them. This is indicated by Ps. xvii. 
 
 cannot tell. Suffice it to remember that it is a work, and one of 
 gradual advance to perfection — so gradual, that we must at present 
 be quite unable to conceive what it will be when it is complete. " It 
 is not yet manifested what we shall be." 
 
 II. Yet we know it must issue in likeness to Him. The 
 process, crucifixion of self, the end, likeness to the Crucified. And if 
 
2o6 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. ' 
 
 1 5, which, literally translated is, " In righteousness (i.e. by 
 a holy life in accordance with the Divine teaching — the 
 true way of gazing on God) I shall gaze on Thy presence: 
 
 1 shall be satisfied by waking in Thy likeness." And 
 the thought is worked out more fully in the magnificent 
 passage in 2 Cor. iii. 1 8, where the believer is represented 
 as at once gazing on and reflecting the Image of Christ, 
 and being transformed by the Divine Spirit from one 
 stage of glory to another, until the perfection of Him on 
 Whom He gazes is mirrored back to Him. Tiie same 
 idea is presented to us in Eom. viii. 29, where we are 
 bidden to be " conformed {(rviui.iui.6p(pov? — of the same form 
 with) the Image of the Son of God." See also Eom. xii. 
 
 2 ; Phil. iii. 10. In John xvii. 24, the idea comes before 
 us in another light. The disciples are one day to be with 
 Christ, that they may behold His glory. The thought 
 is more nearly approached still in ver. 22 of the same 
 chapter, where the glory Christ has is said to have been 
 given to His disciples. The idea of likeness to Christ is 
 also brought before us in other passages, as in Phil. iii. 
 2 1 ; Eom. vi. 5 . And the same doctrine is yet more 
 emphatically taught in i Cor. xv. 28, where it would 
 seem that each one of us is to be brought into so great 
 likeness to Christ that we shall each be able to see God 
 for ourselves, and not, as at present, through the medium 
 of the Divine Manhood of Christ. ecrofxeOa, as we have 
 already intimated, means being, not becoming. That 
 is to say, we are now invited to contemplate, not the 
 
 likeness to the Crucified, then likeness to the Father who sent Him. 
 For the crucifixion is, as it were, the refraction, through an impure 
 medium, of the Love of God. The Crucifixion of Jesus is simply 
 Divine love in contact Avith an evil world. It is love burning to 
 extinguish pain, eager to take it on itself, to shift it off the shoulders 
 that are staggering under its burden. It is more than sympathy, it is 
 
THE FUTURE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 20/ 
 
 process, but the result. This explains further why St. 
 John says that we are noiu the reKva Oeov, and that we are 
 some day to be something more. The words reKva Oeou 
 denote " a relative and transitory designation " (Haupt), 
 while St. Paul's viol Oeov denotes a "position of privilege" 
 (Westcott). In this particular phrase it is St. John who 
 is looking at our present position, and in the use of uto? 
 St. Paul is regarding the ultimate result. But St. John 
 does not stop short at this phrase. ^ He would lead us first 
 to look at " the community of nature with the prospect 
 of development" (Westcott). But he goes on to point 
 out to what the development ultimately leads. Prom 
 our rudimentary union with Christ here we grow into a 
 final likeness to Him. — for we shall see him as he is. This 
 gives the reason for the last statement. And thus we 
 have a statement precisely parallel to 2 Cor. iii. 18, only 
 in language simpler, less figurative and striking. It is 
 the Vision of God in Christ that produces the likeness to 
 God (see above). It is by " looking unto Him " Who is 
 at once " the author and perfecter of our faith " that we 
 finally reach the goal (Heb. xii. 2). Cf. Job xix. 26 
 (where " from my flesh," the literal rendering, at least as 
 naturally suggests the point of view from which a thing 
 is seen as the idea of separation). The idea of " seeing 
 God," is a Hebrew as well as a Gentile idea. See Gen. 
 xxxii. 30; Numb. xiv. 14; Job xlii. 5; Ps. xvii. 15; 
 Isa. vi. 5, xxxviii. 11. But the heathen philosophers 
 
 Sacrifice. It is vehement hatred of sin, because it is uiilovino;. But 
 sin can only be destroyed through love, and love is the sacrifice of 
 self. We can only learn love by contemplating the Sacrifice of Christ. 
 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the -wilderness and they who looked 
 towards it were made whole, so must our eyes be fixed on the great 
 Exemplar of perfect love. And thus it conies to pass that when God 
 
2o8 TKE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 considered the vision of God to be an intellectual, wliile 
 the Hebrew Psalmists and prophets regarded it as a 
 spiritual process. Our Lord shows us that it involves moral 
 considerations, when He says (Matt. v. 8) that the pure 
 in heart shall see God. And that this idea was present 
 to St. John's mind when he wrote these words is clear 
 from ver. 3. This, therefore, is the point at which the 
 Apostle is aiming, the progressive purification and co-or- 
 dinate sanctification of the Christian by virtue of His 
 participation in Christ's nature. This is clear from ver. 
 3 and what follows, especially ver. 5. And from what 
 goes before also. There must be a separation between 
 us and the world. The world must not know us, any 
 more than it knew Him. A relation has begun to exist 
 in us which must lead to consequences we are at present 
 unable to imagine. But we know that if God he mani- 
 fested it can only be to those who are like Him, because 
 we shall see Him in His actual Divine Nature. But 
 before we can do this, we must ourselves have in us the 
 power to see that Divine Nature. That is, we must have 
 been purified from all which renders it impossible for us 
 to discern it. Dean Alford thinks that even in the 
 glorified body this will be impossible. " Beyond the 
 keenest search of the created eye there will be glory 
 and perfection baffling it and dazzling it." But the 
 teaching of i Cor. xv. 27, 28, seems to imply the con- 
 trary. Perhaps, however, both views are right. Intel- 
 lectually, it may be we shall never be able to comprehend 
 
 is manifested, Ave shall be like Him. For it is only to those who are 
 like Him in mind and will that He can be manifested. No others 
 could see Him, though He were before their eyes. It is only those 
 who have attained to likeness to — union with — Him, who can "see 
 Him as He is." 
 
THE FUTURE OF THE CHILDEEN OF GOD. 209 
 
 God, even though we have eternity in which to accomplish 
 the task. Spiritually and morally, however, we may be 
 said to " see God as He is " when no alienation of the 
 will prevents us from uniting ourselves to Him, when 
 no taint of self prevents us from being one with Eternal 
 Love. 
 
( 2IO ) 
 
 XV. 
 
 PUEITY BY ABIDING IN CHEIST. 
 
 /^H. iii. 3. — We will, before proceeding, recall the tliread 
 ^ of the argument. The second part of the Epistle, 
 beginning at ch. ii. ver. 28, is intended to enforce the 
 truth that he who abides in God must do righteous- 
 ness. The Apostle has begun by urging his disciples to 
 abide in God, that they may not be ashamed at His 
 appearing. He bids them next (ver. 29) recognise the 
 two facts, that God is righteous, and that every one who 
 acts righteously must have received the initial impulse 
 from God. He next (iii. i) breaks out into an apos- 
 trophe on the love which has granted this new and 
 higher life, and remarks on the opposition which it 
 creates between the believer and the world that knows 
 not God. This higher life (ver. 2) is ours at present, 
 but only in its rudimentary stages. We do not know 
 to what heights of blessedness it will lead us, but we 
 know this much, at least, that it involves likeness to 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. iii. 3. — I. The Christian's hope. 
 
 1. Hope one great feature of the Christian life. St. Paul 
 (in I Cor. xiii.) lays down three great principles of Christian life, Faith, 
 Hope, and Charity, or rather Love. Faith is the source of all Christian 
 life, Hope the animating principle, Love the practical result. That 
 hope is a leading feature of the Christian religion need hardly be 
 
PURITY BY ABIDING IN CHRIST. 211 
 
 God, a likeness which proceeds from the perfect vision 
 of His glory. And the hope which this belief implants 
 in us leads us to seek this likeness now (ver. 3). To 
 refuse (ver. 4) to do this is to reject God. Sin is 
 nothing else but the rejection of God, the more so as 
 His Son (ver. 5) came solely in order to take it away. 
 He took it away (a) by conquering it, and (&) by grant- 
 ing (ver. 6) to those who by faith abide in Him a share 
 in His victory over it. Those who have not yet obtained 
 this victory cannot as yet be truly said to know or see 
 Him. Next (ver. 7) comes a passage intended to drive 
 home the lesson of the preceding. He only who lives 
 righteously has fellowship with Christ. He who indulges 
 himself in sin belongs to God's enemy. 
 
 Ver. 3. — And every man that hath this hope in him. 
 The hope is of course the hope of " seeing God as He is." 
 " The Apostle's aim in inserting here the reference to the 
 future consummation in the other world becomes obvious 
 in the third verse. His eschatology is altogether prac- 
 tical. To this estate of glory we attain only through 
 intermediate stages ; it is not I'eached through any act of 
 Divine despotic power, but a way is definitely marked 
 out. If the goal is likeness to Christ, it is of the utmost 
 importance to have that goal always and steadily and 
 practically in view " (Haupt). It is worth noticing that 
 for " in Him " (i.e. in God, not in ourselves) we ought to 
 have " upon Him " (" set on Him," Eevised Version). All 
 
 demonstrated. It is constantly appealed to by the writers of the Old 
 and New Testaments. It may suffice to cite such passages as Psalm 
 xxxix. 7 ; Jer. xvii. 7 in the one, and Rom. viii. 24, xv. 4, 13 ; Epli. 
 iv. 4 ; I Thess. v. 8 ; Tit. ii. 13 ; i Pet. i. 3 in the other. But this root- 
 principle of Christianity has heen deliberately challenged of late. AVe 
 are told that this hope of eternal life to which Christianity ajipeals is 
 a selfish principle. A well-known writer of fiction (George Eliot) has 
 lately, in a volume of Essays, given vivid expression to this belief. It 
 
2 I 2 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST, JOHX. 
 
 the old English versions countenance the ambiguity here. 
 Here, however, it specially refers to the hope of seeing 
 God hereafter. Whether we regard " Him " as referring 
 to the Father or the Son will depend upon the view we 
 take of the reference in the preceding verses. It is diffi- 
 cult to decide, but there seems no sufficient reason for 
 refusing to carry back the sense to ver. i, where the 
 Father is expressly mentioned. It is true that the inter- 
 pretation we shall give of the latter part of this verse tends 
 the opposite way. But all depends upon whether eKecvo9 
 can be taken in opposition to ai^ro?, or whether they 
 must refer to the same person. See this discussed 
 below. — purifieth himself. Here the old versions give 
 various renderings, testifying to the want of clearness of 
 perception of the precise meaning of Scripture words. 
 Thus, Wiclif has " makith him silf holi ; " Tyndale 
 " pourgeth him silfe ; " the Ehemish " sanctifieth him- 
 self." Our Version is the first to hit on the right word : 
 " purifieth himself." The word is used in the LXX. of 
 ceremonial purification. So also in the New Testament, 
 as John xi. 55 ; Acts xxi. 24, 26, xxiv. 18. But, strictly 
 speaking, it means the absence of moral taint. The use 
 in the LXX. is somewhat alien from the original meaning, 
 which means freedom from anything that defiles, ayvos 
 is that which is pure in itself, KaOapog, rather that which 
 is made so. KadaplTeiv, strictly speaking, would be used 
 of the ])Tocess of purification, ajvlTeiv of the state of purity, 
 
 is a nobler motive, she says, to refrain from injuring another because 
 you feel a repuguance to harm a fellow-creature, than because you seek 
 for a reward, or fear of punishment in another world. Abstractly 
 it may be so. The point is not worth arguing. The English are a 
 practical people, and have no taste for abstract disquisition. The 
 practical fact remains, notwitlistanding, that hope has been the spring 
 of all the noblest deeds which have benefited humanity. The hope 
 of glory, of fame, of respect, of happiness — what would even this life 
 
PUllITY BY ABIDING IN CHRIST. 213 
 
 inherent or produced. This is quite in keeping with this 
 particular passage, where the result, not the process of 
 purification, is clearly meant. And so also the word 
 ayvof does not refer to the process of purification, but 
 indicates one in whom the condition — spotlessness, stain- 
 lessness — is to be found. It is unfortunate that in 
 English we have but one word to express the two ideas 
 (the A. V. has " clean " sometimes for KaOapog). But 
 ayvo^ and its derivatives will be found in such passages 
 as 2 Cor. vii. 11, xi. 2 ; Phil. i. 16, iv. 8; i Tim. iv. 
 12, V. 22; James iii, 17; i Peter iii. 2. In all these 
 cases it conveys the idea of " irreproachable," ayvo^ is 
 connected with dyio?, with the same idea of separation, 
 but without the idea of special consecration, special 
 setting apart from all profane and common things, that 
 is involved in the latter word. We next ask what the 
 Apostle means by the expression "purifieth himself." 
 No man can purify himself. " Apart from Me," says 
 our Lord (John xv. 5), "ye can do nothing." "The 
 blood of Jesus " (ch. i. 7) and it alone " cleanseth us from 
 all sin." Yet there is no contradiction. We must 
 " work out our own salvation," because it is " God that 
 worketh in us." The words refer to the conscious effort 
 which the believer is ever making to bring liimself into 
 conformity with those holy influences which are ever at 
 work in his soul. We may look in vain for many direct 
 assertions of the truth that effort is necessarv in the 
 
 be without them? Would that eminent author tell ns, were she still 
 among us, that no hope of success or fame animated her when she sat 
 down to write her famous works ? Would she — would any one — write 
 unless there were hope that some one would read, admire, it may he, 
 profit? Strike out the hope from a child's life, a young man's or 
 young woman's, and what is there but a stifling, oppressive sense of 
 despair ? Would any one be so cruel as to wish to rob the young of 
 that abounding hope of love, of happiness, perhaps of usefulness, whicli 
 
2 14 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Christian course. But to those who penetrate beneath 
 the surface of Scripture such a truth is seen to underlie 
 many passages, where it eludes the superficial observer. 
 The believer must set himself to use the helps tendered 
 to him. As Ebrard says, he must " set all his powers 
 towards the attainment of this object (sinlessness) ; his 
 constant position must be that of one who is in the act 
 of repelling and putting away his sin." In fine, man 
 has his part to do in the work of salvation as well as 
 God. God's part is to provide all the means whereby 
 man's salvation can be effected ; man's part is to dispose 
 himself to receive them. In this sense only, in the sense 
 of displaying willingness to receive and to use the blessed 
 gift of salvation through Christ, can man be said to 
 " purify himself." Cf. Phil. ii. i 2 ; I Tim. vi. 12; and 
 such passages as 2 Cor. xiii. 1 1 (in the Eevised Version) ; 
 Gal. vi. 8, 9; Eph. iv. 3, vi. 12, 13, &c. ; in which the 
 work of salvation is regarded as man's. See also ch. 
 V. 21. — even as he is pure. " cKeivo? is Christ, accord- 
 ing to the constant use of that word in juxtaposition 
 with avTO^ in the writings of St. John ; cf. ch. ii. 1 6. 
 While the context required us to apply auro? to God, 
 cKcivo? may and must be applied to Christ, as the more 
 remote subject " (Braune). Alford thinks that cKeivo? 
 here applies to the Father, " in whom essentially abides 
 this perfection of purity." But, as Haupt reminds us, ayvo? 
 is never used of God, though dyio? is. ayvo? is only 
 
 spreads out so smiling a landscape before them ? And if hope be the 
 animating principle of action in tliis life, why should it not be so when 
 it is over? Go to the dj'ing man or woman, and say, " My friend, 
 you have had your day, soon you will die, and cease to be ; " and see 
 what a blank of hopelessness falls on the victim of so dreary a creed. 
 But tell them that God is good, that life is eternal, that hope is death- 
 less, and see how the eyes will brighten, the depressed energies rally. 
 
PURITY BY ABIDING IN CHRIST. 215 
 
 used of that which can be conceived of as possibly im- 
 pure, and it therefore may be used of the manhood of 
 Christ, which in itself was after " the likeness of sinful 
 flesh," and capable of temptation. Christ could not sin, 
 but His manhood, conceived of apart from Himself, was 
 liable to sin. And hence the term ayi/o?, used of one 
 who has preserved Himself free from stain in a world of 
 temptation, can be used of Him as man, though it would 
 be inapplicable to Him as God. " For His present glory 
 He reached, according to Scripture, only through His 
 absolute obedience, in virtue of His overcoming all 
 temptations, and most entirely submitting Himself to 
 the obedience of the Father's will" (Haupt). Two 
 further points maybe noticed: (i) that Christ is said 
 to be pure, not to have purified Himself (Plummer), 
 because we have to " cleanse ourselves from all filthiness 
 of the flesh and spirit," the very shadow of which filthi- 
 ness never rested on Him ; (2) that the words " even as 
 He is pure " involve not comparison, but relation. Our 
 purity is not merely like Christ's, it is derived from Christ's, 
 because the renewed life of the Gospel is (ch. ii. 29) the 
 being begotten of God. 
 
 Ver. 4. — Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also 
 the law. Here again the desire of our translators to 
 produce an elegant translation has somewhat obscured 
 the peculiarities of St. John's style. In ver. 3 we have 
 Tra? o, translated " every man that." Here it is trans- 
 
 No creed can permanently influence the human mind, that does not rest 
 on the hope of immortality. 
 
 2. That hope is the hope of the Lord's appearing. Rewards 
 and punishments are the rule of God's dealings with us in this life. 
 They are, therefore, not unlikely to be the rule of His dealings with us 
 in another. Here, again, we have fact against speculation. What 
 God does now, He is likely to do hereafter. When He comes He will 
 
2l6 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 lated " whosoever." In ver. 6 again, we have " v»'hoso- 
 ever," and also in ver. 9. Thus the antithesis between 
 ver. 3 and ver. 4 is obscured. Then again, while in 
 ch. ii. 29 we have " doetli righteousness," we have here 
 " committeth sin." And lastly, Trjv avofi'iav iroiel is trans- 
 lated transgrcssetli also the law, after the Geneva Version, 
 instead of doctli Imolessncss, the literal translation. We 
 should translate, therefore, Every man tliat doetli sin, doeth 
 lawlessness, if we want to preserve the antithesis complete. 
 The question next arises, What is St. John's meaning 
 here ? At first sight the passage in English appears a 
 mere truism. And as such the superficial reader at once 
 sets it down. But in fact it puts before us a most 
 essential truth. ajuLapria is literally a missing of the 
 mark, and might suggest therefore the idea rather of 
 infirmity than guilt. St. John points out that this 
 excuse, if caught at, cannot be admitted. Just as the 
 sin offering for ignorance was regarded as involving guilt 
 (Lev. V. 17-19), so he who does sin does uidaw. That 
 is to say, he more or less deliberately and consciously 
 violates the decree of God. We must continue to bear 
 in mind St. John's purpose, to show the " exceeding sin- 
 fulness of sin," its incompatibility with the Christian's 
 calling, and the need, therefore, of the utmost resolution 
 and watchfulness on his part to root it out. Sin will 
 condemn us at Christ's coming. That coming is of One 
 clothed with all purity, Whom we must be like, if we 
 
 reward those who liave diligently served Him. See Matt. xx. 1-16 ; 
 xxiv., &c. And thus it is that we look for His appearing, who shall 
 reward us according to our works, Tit. ii. 13 ; Rom. ii. 6 ; Rev. xxii. 
 12, &c. "Christ in us" is described by St. Paul as the "hope of 
 glory" (Col. i. 27), because He Avill share with us (John xvii. 22) the 
 glory which the Father hath given to His Son (ver. 24). 
 
 II. The Christian's hope an incentive to piiritij. 
 
 The hope of glory of which the Scriptures speak, is not only a hope 
 
PURITY BY ABIDING IN CHRIST. 21/ 
 
 are to reign with Him in gloiy. Such a hope inspires 
 every one who possesses it to strive after that likeness. 
 He who does not so strive, is not merely missing some- 
 thing which he might have attained, he is deliberately 
 setting himself in opposition to the Coming One, and 
 rendering himself unfit, not only to reign with Him, but 
 even to behold Him, — for sin is the transgression of the 
 law. Better, and sin is lawlessness. There is no " for." 
 The " and " simply carries on the thought. " Lawless- 
 ness " is the only single word which will translate avofx'a. 
 It is, perhaps, somewhat too strong, avo/nia is that 
 condition of mind which sets itself in opposition to law. 
 And what we are told here is that all sin amounts to a 
 deliberate setting our wills against God's, avofxla is not 
 merely a being without law ; it is a setting ourselves 
 against law. But this setting oneself against law is, of 
 course, confined to the single act of sin. It does not 
 apply to the whole condition of the man. It does not re- 
 present him as in a state of entire rebellion against God. 
 But so far as the one act of sin is concerned, it is an act 
 of lawlessness. But St. John evidently contemplates 
 sinfulness as a possible, and even a certain character- 
 istic of those who had given themselves to Christ (ch. 
 i. 8). 
 
 This passage has caused great perplexity to Eoman 
 Catholic commentators (Estius, for instance), who have 
 regarded it as referring in the main to mortal sin, though 
 
 of pardon, based upon a belief in Christ's Sacrifice on tlie Cross— it 
 is a hope based upon our identity of purpose with that S;icrilice, 
 inwrought in us by a living Lord who dwells in us. Therefore we 
 strive to cultivate the mind of Jesus regarding sin, evidenced by His 
 Death on the cross. That is, we strive to hate it, to root it out, to 
 separate ourselves in every Avay from it. By His Spirit that dwells in 
 us, we " purify ourselves," until we reach that purity which He has 
 rendered possible for man. Every lust, every evil appetite, everything 
 
2l8 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 venial sin is no doubt in the same category until it is 
 repented of. The true view is no doubt that of Haupt, 
 who gives a very admirable exposition of this passage. 
 " It is only too common to establish distinctions and 
 gradations among individual sins. As to the countless 
 little failures and defects in common life, no man indeed 
 who is filled with the spirit of Christ will justify these, 
 or even hold them as indifferent; but have we, in rela- 
 tion to them, a pressing consciousness of the actual 
 transgression of law ? Do we look at the manifold dis- 
 cords of our life, and its deviations from the line of the 
 Christian ideal, as positive sins, every one of which 
 immediately and certainly separates us from God, and 
 can be expiated or abolished only by deep repentance, 
 and a distinct act of forgiveness. Most assuredly in 
 multitudes of cases it is not so ; such things are thought 
 of as imperfections, but do not press on the consciousness 
 as avofxla. Now St. John declares here that this current 
 view of the matter as entertained by us is not the trutli." 
 This exposition may seem to be contrary to ch. v. 17. 
 But it is only so in appearance. The idea there is that 
 there are sins, which, whatever their actual guilt, do not 
 so entirely separate him who commits them from God, 
 that prayer for him who commits them must necessarily 
 fail to come within the terms of the advice sfiven in ch. 
 V. 16. See note there. The fact is that every sin has 
 a direct tendency to separate him who commits it from 
 
 that opposes itself to the laws and commandments of God, must be 
 steadily resisted, until Christ be fully formed iu us, and we cease to 
 have even the desire to transgress the Divine will. 
 
 Ver. 4. — What is sin ? 
 
 I. Sin is a missing the mark. It is a failing to arrive at that 
 high purpose which God has prepared for us. It is a falling short of 
 the true glory and dignity of liumanity. It is a Avandering from the 
 orbit iu which we were formed to revolve. And as in the natural 
 
PUEITY BY ABIDING IN CHRIST. 219 
 
 God. But when he who commits it is in that spiritual 
 condition that he is inclined to repent and seek forgive- 
 ness, he is one for whom prayer may be offered with a 
 full security that it will be answered, since he has not 
 resolved to resist the will of God. 
 
 Our last question here will be, Against what law does 
 the sinner offend ? " Not the law of Moses, because St. 
 John furnishes no instance of the word vofji.69, standing 
 absolutely, being applied to the Mosaic law. It is true 
 that in two passages (John vii. 49, xii. 34) it stands 
 absolutely and as the definition of the Old Testament 
 Canon; but it must be observed that this is put into 
 the mouth of the Pharisees only ; and elsewhere there 
 is the invariable addition o j^o'/xo? vixwv, 6 vojulo? Mft)yo-eco9, 
 and the like " (Haupt). What is meant is clearly the 
 Divine Moral Law, laid down from the beginning for 
 man's guidance, discernible by conscience (see Rom. i. 1 9, 
 20), the law by the transgression of which man fell, and 
 involved his descendants in his ruin. 
 
 Yee. 5, — And ye know that he was manifested to take 
 away our sins. We now take another step in the com- 
 prehension of the irreconcilable opposition between sin 
 and God. We have seen that to commit the slightest 
 sin, of any kind, is to involve ourselves in a direct breach 
 of God's law. We now go further ; we find it in open 
 opposition to the purpose for which Jesus Christ came 
 into the world. cKelvo^ here again refers to Jesus Christ, 
 
 Avorld the failure to fulfil the law imposed upon us would lead to the 
 most fearful results (see an eloquent passage in Hooker's first book) so 
 the terrible results of our aberration are visible in the sorrows and 
 sufferings of our kind. 
 
 II. Sin is a deliberate setting ourselves against God. This 
 is clear if we ask tvhat mark it is we miss. The v6fj.os — the law im- 
 posed upon us by God. Now every sin, of whatever kind, partakes of 
 this character. The smallest deviation from the track may in the end 
 
2 20 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 " God manifest in the flesh," But what is the meaning 
 of apt] ? We naturally are referred to the remarkable 
 declaration of the Baptist in John i. 29, — a declaration 
 which seems to have made an ineffaceable impression 
 upon his disciple ; so much so that it has been con- 
 jectured that one of those who heard it was St. John 
 himself. He is, moreover, supposed to have been the 
 disciple to whom, with St. Andrew, that declaration was 
 repeated the next day. From that day forth this 
 announcement became the centre and core of his religious 
 consciousness. Jesus Christ came to take away sin. 
 Not merely to bear sin ; still less to do no more than bear 
 sin's punishment, but to remove it utterly and altogether 
 from the world. So says St. Matthew i. 21, "He shall 
 save His people from their sins." So he repeats, when 
 (viii. 1 7) he applies the prophecy " He took our infirmi- 
 ties and bare our sicknesses " to the removal of them. 
 u'lpoo no doubt means to hear or lift up. But it means 
 to bear or lift up in order to renn ve It is a question 
 whether we should read Tag ajuaprla? ^fXMv here, with 
 the Eec. Text. It is supported by the Codex Sinaiticus, 
 but rejected by the Vatican and Alexandrian MSS. If 
 we omit it, we must read "to take away sins," i.e., all 
 sins, of every kind. It must be confessed that this gives 
 a far better sense. St. John is enlarging upon the in- 
 compatibility of sin with the Christian character. " Sin 
 is defiance of God's commands," he says, and more than 
 
 produce the most serious results. Thus, in Gen. iii., man's first trans- 
 gression is most agreeably to the facts of human life represented as 
 a slight one, (not, however, the eating of an apple, as has been so 
 strangely supposed). It could not have been otherwise. But once 
 committed, it must lead mankind farther and farther from God, and 
 could only be repaired by supernatural means. 
 
 III. Therefore the least sin is mortal in its tendency. 
 "\Vc may not, with mediaeval aud Roman divines, make any distinction 
 
PURITY BY ABIDING IN CHRIST. 22 1 
 
 that, it is just the very thing Jesus Christ came to re- 
 move. He (eVeri/o?) was manifested to take away sins. 
 The Eevisers omit our, and so does Professor Westcott. 
 This was the object of His coming. How, then, can we 
 imagine it possible to be a genuine disciple of His, and 
 rest contented in a state of rebellion against Him ? 
 And we may observe the word " manifested." Professor 
 "Westcott has pointed out that Christ's Incarnation is 
 described in four different ways in Scripture. In regard 
 to the Pather, it is a Mission. In regard to the Son 
 Himself, it is a Coming. In regard to form it is in 
 " Flesh " (or might we not say it is assuming flesh ?). 
 In regard to man, it is a Manifestation. So St. John 
 says in eh. i. 2, and he uses precisely the same phrase 
 in this chapter (ver. 2) in regard (though it may refer 
 to Christ) to the future of our own being. See also 
 vers. 5, 8. Nor is the expression confined to St. John. 
 St. Paul uses it in i Tim. iii. 16. And it is the object 
 of the whole prologue of St, John's Gospel to inculcate 
 this truth. The effect of the coming of Jesus was the 
 making clear and evident, to those who chose to see it, 
 the whole character and purpose of God in relation to 
 man. In a human form, and therefore in a manner 
 intelligible to human capacities, the life and death of 
 Jesus made it plain what was the will of God concerning 
 us. That will is explained in a few words, that sin 
 should be taken away. — And in him is no sin. The 
 
 between venial and mortal sin. ^/^ sin is venial if repented. All sin 
 is mortal if unrepented. And this because all sin is an evident, and 
 since Christ came, preventible departure from the course marked out 
 by God for us to walk in. Thus, then, the proper attitude of the 
 Chrihtian is irreconcilable hatred to all sin, and to attain this condition 
 should be his one object and aim. This will be more clearly seen by 
 the considerations which follow. 
 
 Vers. 5, 6. — Christ's object is to destrou sin. 
 
2 22 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 inner connection of thought here will elude no one who 
 has reflected on the doctrine of salvation througli Christ. 
 He came to take away sin by uniting us in heart and 
 spirit with Himself. In Him was no shadow of sin. 
 The result of the union with Him, which is accomplished 
 by faith, is the driving out, expelling, annihilation of 
 every sinful desire and thought. St. John's language is 
 very emphatic. " Sin in Him has no existence ; " (ovk 
 €(TTi) there is no such thing, it cannot be conceived of in 
 connection with Him. And only such a sinless nature 
 could impart holiness to us. Only a power utterly 
 antagonistic to the poison which is destroying us can 
 drive that poison out. As St. Augustine well says, " Si 
 esset in illi peccatum, auferendum est illi, non ipse 
 auferret." But since there is no sin in Him, and since 
 He imparts Himself to every believing soul, He is 
 capable of taking away the sin of tlie world. 
 
 Vek. 6. — Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not. Here, 
 again, the literal translation is " every one who," as in 
 verses 3 and 4, and the passage is an instance of that 
 cumulative repetition so characteristic of St. John. The 
 connection of this verse with that which precedes is 
 sufificiently obvious, if the drift of the whole passage be 
 borne in mind. St. John's object is one with that of 
 his Master. He desires that sin should be taken away. 
 He sees it to be a terrible fact, not only in the world in 
 general, but " even among them that are regenerate." 
 
 I. Christ came to take away sin. See Isa. liii. 5, 6, ii (where 
 the "vvord translated bear, may also mean take away) ; Matt. i. 21 ; 
 Heb. i. 3, ix. 26 ; Rev. i. 5. And the words "crucified with Christ ' 
 imply the death of sin. See also Rom. vi. 2, 4, 11, &c. Christ's 
 object was not merely to enable the Father to pardon sin, but to 
 destroy it. Not merely its "guilt and power," but it. Sin was the 
 means of all this disorder in God's fair world. That disorder can never 
 cease till sin and sinful appetite for ever cease to be. 
 
PURITY BY ABIDING IN CHRIST. 223 
 
 His object is to teach the Christian that he must not rest 
 content with this state of things. He must neither 
 " continue in sin tliat grace may abound," nor sit down 
 in an attitude of comfortable apathy, declaring that man 
 is compassed with infirmity and that " what cannot be 
 cured must be endured." He desires to stir up the 
 Christians of his day to a holy and perpetual warfare 
 against sin. The defiled and sin-stained cannot endure 
 His presence. All who have hope to behold that Pre- 
 sence betake themselves at once, with their Eedeemer's 
 unfailing aid, to the task of continual and earnest self- 
 purification. With His aid, because He came to take away 
 sin. Sinless Himself, He expels (this sense — see note on 
 ch. i. 9 — is surely contained in the word acpitjiui, generally 
 translated remit or forgive) sin from those in whom He 
 dwells. This sentence has been toned down by various in- 
 terpreters. It means to "persist in sin" (Luther) ; "to allow 
 sin to reign in him" (Hunnius) ; "to be wicked" (Capellus) ; 
 and by Eoman Catholic interpreters generally, "does not 
 commit mortal sin." Alford very ably and energetically 
 repudiates these explanations. According to him sin and 
 the life of God " are incompatible, and in so far as a man 
 is found in the one, he is thereby separated from the 
 other. ... If the child of God falls into sin, it is an 
 act against Nature, deadly to life, hardly endured, and 
 bringing bitter repentance. It is as the taking of a 
 poison, which, if it be not corrected by an antidote, will 
 
 II. How Christ came to desteoy sin. We have seen (see notes) 
 that Christ came to destroy sin by giving Himself, in whom is no sin, 
 to us. When we are fully united to Him by faith, sin is destroyed. 
 The object of our probation here is to effect this union, by giving up 
 ourselves to the promptings of His Spirit ; by surrendering our wills to 
 His purifying power, until the last traces of sinful appetite are 
 destroyed. 
 
 III. SiNLESSNESS the goal OF OUR LIVES. The believer's desiie 
 
2 24 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 sap the very springs of life." Mr. Plammer explains the 
 passage by the internal contradiction of which every one 
 is conscious, and cites Rom. vii. 20, and Gal. ii. 20, as 
 illustrations of it, " If what I would not, that I do ; it 
 is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelletlr in me ; " 
 and " Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." But St. John's 
 point of view is somewhat different from that of St. Paul. 
 Tiie fad of the contradiction is as evident to him as to 
 St. Paul. Put here, as in previous passages (<?.</., ch. 
 ii. 4), he fixes his gaze beyond it. In the passages just 
 cited St. Paul's practical mind is occupied with the 
 struggle. The more meditative St. John passes on to the 
 issue, of the stmggle. It is to the tendencies at work that 
 he invites our attention. The result of the knowledge of 
 Christ is the destruction of sin. To alide in Christ, that 
 is, not merely to be united to Him for the moment, but 
 to remain in that union to the end, must infallibly issue 
 in the overthrow of every sinful appetite. The question, 
 then, for each Christian is, To what goal is your life 
 leading you ? Is sin being combated and rooted out ? 
 Is your mind growing into union with Him who knew 
 no sin, and was manifested to the world that we might 
 cease to know it ? Is the work of sanctification going on 
 in your heart ? Because, if it is, the tendency must be 
 manifest. The whole bent of your life must be towards 
 holiness. If you are to ahicle in Him ; if you are not to 
 be " cast forth as a branch and be burned " (John xv. 6), 
 
 is to "win Christ and be found in Him," possessing a lighteoiisness 
 due to no virtue indwelling in ourselves, no effort of our own, but 
 simply to that union Avith Christ wliich faitli achieves, producing a 
 righteousness which is not our own, but Christ's (Phil. iii. 8, 9) ; which 
 is derived from that one perfect lire which is the onl^' possible source 
 of all human perfection. "In Him," and iu Him alone, "is no sin." 
 In sinlessness alone can happiness be found. But sinlessness is out 
 of man's power, save it proceed from our inward aud vital union with 
 
PUniTY BY ABIDING IN CHRIST. 225 
 
 you must be approaching daily nearer that state which he 
 proceeds to describe. — whosoever sinneth hatli not seen 
 him, neither known him. Our chief discussion here is the 
 force of the perfect tense in the verbs "seen" and " known." 
 It is not disputed that in classical Greek the perfect 
 eyvcoKa may have a present signification. But what is fre- 
 quently forgotten is that the author of this Epistle is a Jew 
 of Palestine ; that his tenses are to be interpreted by the 
 genius of the Hebrew, not of the Greek language ; that 
 the Hebrew perfect has far more decidedly the sense of 
 completed action than the Greek ; and that thus the mean- 
 ing of St. John is, that in the man who is still committing 
 sin {a/uLapTdvcov) the perfect vision and knowledge of God is 
 as yet unattained. On the difference between seem(/ and 
 hnowing it may suffice to observe that the first is objective, 
 the second subjective, and that in the spiritual life the 
 former must always precede the latter. We " know God, 
 or rather are known by God " says St. Paul (Gal. iv. 9). 
 " Then shall I know, even as also I am known " ( i Cor. xiii. 
 1 2). "We see the truth of God as revealed by Him to us in 
 the Person and Work of Jesus Christ ; and then we pro- 
 ceed to realise it in our own consciousness, and display it 
 in our actions. In every case it is the revelation of God 
 to the heart which produces such experimental proof as 
 we call knowledge. The vision of God first to the soul ; 
 then the perception of that vision, and its translation into 
 that consciousness of fact which is the basis of all life 
 
 Christ. Hence toward that union should all our thoughts be directed. 
 That it may be more complete every day, should be our one effort and 
 prayer. Perfect peace can never be ours till it be effected. Not till 
 Ave are "wholly united to Him — till Ave actually abide in Him — can sin 
 cease to be. 
 
 IV. Our present sins an incentive to spiritual progress. 
 They are a proof that the condition of abiding in Christ is not yet 
 reached. Our daily falls are a proof, not that we know nothing of 
 
 P 
 
2 26 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 and action. When this vision of God is perfectly com- 
 prehended, and perfectly inwrought into the texture of 
 our being, then sin is at an end. God has at length 
 appeared to us, and we have "seen Him as He is." As 
 long as sin remains in us, it is a proof that in us this 
 perfect apprehension of Him does not yet exist. And it 
 never will exist for us unless we lead a life of conscious 
 effort, of earnest co-operation with the Spirit of God, 
 directed to the extirpation of everything which tends to 
 hinder its arrival. 
 
 Christ, that not even the most distant vision of His glory has ever 
 dawned xipon us, that we are still in that " outer darkness where is 
 wailing and gnashing of teeth ; " but that we are still very far from 
 that completeness of union with Him which should be our hope and 
 aim. They are to be Avarnings to us ; sources of dissatisfaction and 
 uneasiness, prompting us to more vigorous effort toAvard the way of 
 holiness ; admonitions to seek an increase of faith, to press on to a 
 more vital union with the Saviour. It is clear that so long as we sin 
 we have not fully "seen Christ," nor "known Him." Let us "press 
 toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ 
 Jesus." Let us strive in everything for the exchange of the state in 
 which we "know in part," for that in which we " know even as we are 
 known" (i Cor. xiii. 12). 
 
( ^--~1 ) 
 
 XVI. 
 
 TEUE HOLINESS. 
 
 r^iH. iii. 7. — Little children, let no man deceive you. The 
 ^ Apostle goes on to emphasise his exhortation to live 
 righteously by a warning against those who would teach 
 men to do otherwise. The words are always applicable. 
 There is always a tendency to rest upon some sort of 
 oipus operatum, either " of man " or " on man," as Haupt 
 most strikingly remarks, and so to escape the necessity of 
 believing in that continued conscious co-operation of the 
 human will with the Holy Spirit, that continued struggle 
 after the settled habit of self-mastery, in which, if we 
 are to believe Bishop Butler, the perfection of man 
 will in all probability be found to consist. And so, on 
 the one hand, comes the error of those who would teach 
 man that he can of himself come up to the standard of 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. iii. 7, 8. — The necessity of holiness. 
 
 I. The great mistake. "Little children, let no man deceive 
 you." The fundamental error into which men have fallen from the 
 first, and still fall, is the divorce of religion (so called) from holiness. 
 In early days men first believed the body beyond redemption, and so 
 they held that sensual sin could not defile it any further than it was 
 already defiled, and was powerless to touch the spirit. Then came 
 the period, a long one, when a "right faith," as it was called, though 
 
2 28 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 God's law, and who invariably end by bringing the law 
 down to the level of man's capacities, instead of educating 
 man to the level of the law's requirements ; and, on the 
 other, the error of those who would lead men to depend 
 upon some past fact in their spiritual history, and so to 
 escape the continued effort necessary to bring the gift of 
 God implanted in them to perfection ; or, as Haupt 
 admirably puts it, are so " content with the consciousness 
 that they stand in some special relation to the Lord," 
 that they " come to regard sin as an unavoidable evil 
 which is not so very hurtful as might be thought." It 
 would, therefore, be a mistake to confine the scope of 
 the Apostle's words, as some commentators do, to the 
 heretics of his own day, rather than to apply them to 
 tendencies inherent in the heart of man. Nevertheless, 
 there is, no doubt, an immediate reference in his words. 
 The earliest of the Gnostic heresies, the Syrian, were 
 Antinomian in their tendency (see above, p. 137). They 
 aimed at the separation of flesh and spirit, not at the 
 purification of the former through the latter. And so 
 they taught that if only the soul were exercised in 
 philosophical contemplation, it mattered little what deeds 
 were done in the body. Against so monstrous and 
 polluting an error St. John might well raise an earnest 
 voice. " Little children, let no man deceive you " (or 
 
 what was meant was correct speculative theories, took the place of 
 conformity to the spirit of Jesus Christ. Is the danger past now ? Is 
 there no fear that men in these days will substitute something else for 
 the need of entire sanctilication of man's Avhole nature ? By no means. 
 Men still substitute some notion of their OM'n for the "truth as it is 
 in Jesus." They suppose still, sometimes, that (a) an orthodox faith 
 is the be all and end all of religion. They may differ among them- 
 selves as to what constitutes this orthodox faith. With some it is 
 what are called 'i clear vieAvs of the Atonement." With others it is 
 concerned with correct conceptions of the Trinity, the CathoUc Church, 
 
TRUE HOLINESS. 229 
 
 " lead you astray " as the Ee vised Version translates). 
 " He, and only he, who doeth righteousness maintains 
 his connection with God. Every one who doeth other- 
 wise is God's enemy." — he that doeth righteousness is 
 righteous, even as he is righteous. We have already 
 remarked (on ver. 6) that while St. Paul has in his eye 
 the struggle of mankind with sin, St. John keeps before 
 him the issue of the struggle. Not that he ignores the 
 absolute necessity of a struggle. This is involved in the 
 words " purifieth himself " (so Ebrard, very acutely) in 
 ver. 4. The process of self-purification cannot be effected 
 without a struggle. The present tense here, though of 
 course it is possible to treat tenses in too technical and 
 pedantic a way, may not unnaturally be interpreted of 
 continued, habitual action. " He who is in the habit of 
 acting righteously," and no one else, can be described as 
 " righteous." This passage, like many others, has been 
 the fierce battle-ground of contending schools in reference 
 to the question of justification. It would seem necessary, 
 before attempting to understand it, to sweep away all the 
 technicalities of the schoolmen about grace de congruo 
 and de condigno, about fides inchoata and fides formata, 
 about righteousness imputed and righteousness infused, 
 and recur to the simple language of Scripture, which 
 speaks of faith as bringing us into union with the 
 
 and the doctrine of the Sacraments. With others, again, it consists 
 in accepting without question the dogmas of the Cliurch of Rome. A 
 man who adopts what by each of tliose parties is regarded as sound 
 ortliodox opinions, may fail egregiously in temper and charity ; he 
 may display tlie greatest unlikene.ss in his life to the spirit of Christ, 
 nay, he may even set at nought the most ordinary jirinciiiles of 
 morality (as when, not many years ago, the Pope presented the rose, 
 his token of appreciation of tlie virtues of the " most Catholic " 
 sovereign, to a woman whose whole life was a scandal to her seX). 
 But he has the root of the matter in him ; he may safely (for practi- 
 
230 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 perfect humanity of the Son of God, througli the opera- 
 tion of the eternal Spirit. This union effects, first, 
 purification, and finally, purity ; so that he who has 
 lived in the realisation of it becomes at len^rth riohteous, 
 even as He is righteous ; in other words, consummates 
 and completes his union with Him Who is the source 
 of all righteousness, and destroys in the end all that 
 tendency to stray from, the paths of His commandments 
 with which each man was born into the world. Some 
 discussion has been raised on the point whether " He " 
 here means God or Christ. Perhaps some of those who 
 have discussed this point have forgotten for the moment 
 that Christ is God. The Apostle is contemplating rather 
 the Unity of Essence than the distinction of Person ; 
 Christ is spoken of as SiKaiog in ch. ii. 2. But He is this 
 because He is the Word of the Eternal Eather, partaking 
 in every respect of the life which flows from Him. 
 
 Ver. 8. — He that committeth sin is of the devil, or 
 rather, with the Eevised Version, doeth sin, just as we 
 have " doeth righteousness " in ver. 6, The Authorised 
 Version obscures the antithesis between " doing righte- 
 ousness " and " doing sin." The first thing to be noted 
 here is the assertion of the personal existence of the devil. 
 We may compare it with the words of our Lord Himself 
 in St. John viii. 44, on which words, no doubt, the 
 
 cally it comes to this, however much it may be theoretically asserted 
 to be otherwise) neglect that holiness " Avithout which no man can see 
 the Lord." Or (b) the conceptiim of salvation, not as a work in man, 
 but as what Haupt has called " an 02nis opcratum ON man," may be 
 held to relieve a man from the necessity of that effort, that watchful- 
 ness at every moment, which is necessary to all who would realise the 
 life of Christ in their own. He has been "converted," he lias been 
 " saved," and so of course his life, whatever it is, must be a holy one. 
 If the evidence of facts seems to imply that he is as yet very far from 
 having attained full fellowship with Christ, "so much the worse for 
 
TRUE HOLINESS. 23 I 
 
 present passage is founded. The words eV tov Sia^oXov 
 and o Sid^oXo? ajuapTavei air ctjO^^f, are incompatible 
 with the idea of an impersonal principle. "We have then 
 to inquire in what sense the words " is of the devil " (e'/c 
 denoting the source from which anything proceeds) are 
 used. -And here the great divine, Origen, whose com- 
 prehensive and far-seeing intellect is now beginning to 
 receive a tardy recognition, comes to our assistance by 
 observing that while he who sins is said to he of the 
 devil, he is nowhere said to have been born or begotten 
 of the devil. Therefore the words apply, not to the 
 origin of the man's being, but of his present condition. 
 It is, as Bengel says, a " corruptio," not a " generatio," 
 that he owes to the devil. How that present condi- 
 tion of man is connected with the devil, is shown in 
 what follows. — for the devil sinneth from the beginning. 
 Here our first difficulty is with the words ax' ap-)(ris. 
 They occur, as we have seen, in ch. i. i. There we 
 referred them to the origin of the Word before all time. 
 If we so interpret them there, why not here also ? 
 Because, as Haupt reminds us, we must fix the meaning 
 of the words by the context. See also note on ch. ii. 
 24. Of course it may be contended that these words 
 assert the eternity of the author of evil — that they fix 
 on St. John the responsibility of asserting the Gnostic 
 
 the facts." Either these faults of his are 7iot sins, cannot be sins, 
 since he is saved, redeemed, justified, sanctified once for all by Christ's 
 blood, or if they are sins, they do not do him so much harm after all. 
 They are necessary intirmities -which will be put off when the mortal 
 flesh is put off. Tliey are not the work of the devil, to be struggled 
 with, wrestled with, mastered by the might of prayer. They do not 
 tend to malce him wlio commits them "of the devil." Once again, 
 " Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth sin is of the 
 devil." 
 II. Only he that doetu kighteousness is righteous. This 
 
232 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 dualism. The words may have that meaning. That 
 they must have such a meaning is more than can be 
 proved. They are, in reality, identical with the words 
 in John viii. 44. But then, the devil could hardly be a 
 manslayer before man existed. And, therefore, here we 
 may fairly contend that the interpretation of the language 
 is to be found in the context, and that " the devil 
 sinneth from the beginning " means no more than that the 
 devil is sinning now, and has been sinning ever since he 
 first began to sin (or we may take the words to mean 
 since man began to sin). To sin, we must remember, 
 means here to err from the right path, to swerve from 
 the proper law of one's being. And so the whole 
 passage must necessarily refer to a created being, who 
 has rebelled against the law imposed upon him, as all 
 creatures can do who are capable of moral choice. 
 afxapria cannot be predicated of one who is himself the 
 eternal source of all opposition to what is good. Sin, 
 then, disobedience to the law of God, is the act of a 
 created being who has set himself in opposition to the 
 Will of the Creator. And all sin, we are here told, is 
 the work of that one being. " This is a great mystery," 
 we may say, in the words of St. Paul. Few, indeed, are 
 the glimpses we are permitted to catch of the secrets of 
 the world unseen. But thus much we are told, that all 
 
 would seem the most obvious truism, but for tlie tendency to substi- 
 tute the imputation of righteousness for tlie sanctification of the man. 
 If there be not visibly in us the work of Jesus Christ, uprooting in us 
 all evil desires, and leading us into all holiness, then, whatever our 
 opinion of ourselves, Ave are not justified, we are not sanctified. If 
 we are to become righteous, it can only be by the work of the Divine 
 Spirit within, cleansing us from all corruption, and implanting in us 
 the nature of Him Who is righteousness itself. 
 
 III. He that doeth sin is of the devil. Observe, this is true 
 of all sin, of every kind. We cannot explain away God's Word. We 
 
TRUE HOLINESS. 233 
 
 sin took its rise iu the act of one mighty being who 
 resisted the Will of God. " He who first falls from 
 God," says Haupt, "places himself, in virtue of this 
 apostasy, over against God." It seems to have been the 
 effect of the first deliberate departure of any of God's 
 creatures from the path assigned to it, that it set the 
 whole universe in disorder. As the slightest aberration, 
 in however slight a degree, of a single star in the firma- 
 ment from its appointed orbit, would, were it possible, 
 involve in the end the whole universe in the most 
 disastrous consequences, so the departure of one single 
 being from the moral order cannot fail to bring about 
 results utterly incommensurate with the first transgres- 
 sion, considered by itself. Hence the reasonableness of 
 the narrative in Gen. iii. And the physical universe, 
 when interrogated in regard to this fact, bears witness to 
 the truth of revelation. We see signs of disorder, of 
 suffering, long before man began to be. And so science 
 and revelation alike, in reference to the origin of sin, 
 carry us back to a period in an indefinitely distant past, 
 and, what is most material to our present subject, a 
 period long anterior to the creation of man. Science and 
 revelation alike bear witness to the fact that man's sin 
 is due to an influence outside him. They bear their 
 concurrent testimony to the truth, " he that comnntteth 
 
 cannot make classes of sins, some of which are, and some of which 
 are not, at A'ariance with tlie elements of our spiritual life. The 
 "sin unto death " is sin indulged. The "sin not unto death " is sin 
 resisted. But until the very last vestige of evil habit is eradicated 
 from our soul, we are still " of the devil " so far as we coutiuue to 
 commit sin. 
 
 Ver. 8. — The existence and personality of the devil. 
 
 I. The devil is a creatuke (see Exposition). Most dangerous is 
 the language of Braune, in a note on this passage, who accepts, with- 
 out protest, Strauss' monstrous doctrine that the personality of God is 
 
2 34 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 sin is of the devil." Thus, then, in every action of life» 
 every man is subject to evil influences from without- 
 Solicitations to evil proceed from powers of whose exist- 
 ence he cannot but be aware, even though he may be 
 very slightly acquainted with their nature. Influences 
 toward good, on the other hand, are plentifully poured 
 forth from the source of all good, tending to purify his 
 life. If he yield to the one he becomes one who habi- 
 tually commits sin, and the source of his inspirations is 
 the author of all evil. If he submit himself to the other, 
 he becomes one who is habitually in the practice of 
 righteousness, until at last he reflects the Nature of Him 
 Who is the Author of all good. — For this purpose the Son 
 of Man was manifested, that he might destroy the works of 
 the devil. Ebrard refers, for the use of the word Xveiv 
 here, to John ii. 19, in the sense of destroy (cf. 2 Peter 
 iii. 10-12); V. 18, vii. 23, x. 35, and Eph. ii. 14. 
 The original idea is that of resolving into its constituent 
 elements, and thus the destruction of an organic whole. 
 But it is applied in various ways in the passages above 
 mentioned, to the body (and this strictly), to the Sabbath, 
 to the Law of Moses, to a wall of partition. It is also 
 applied in Acts xxvii. 41 to the destruction of a ship. 
 It may be unreasonable to attempt to fix the meaning of 
 the word too closely. Yet it may perhaps be that some- 
 
 inconceivable witliout the personality of the devil. This, however 
 much it be disavowed, is the old Gnostic dualism revived. Once 
 admit it — once regard the kingdom of evil as a moral necessity, once 
 suppose that the idea of a personal God requires the idea of the per- 
 sonality of an anti-god, and you destroy the whole Christian scheme. 
 For the Cluislian scheme depends upon the fact that God is stronger 
 than the devil, that good is more powerful than evil, that we have 
 only to surrender ourselves to the influence of the life-giving power, to 
 be cleansed from sin. But if the evil power be the necessary correla- 
 tive of the good, then the two powers aie on au equality, and one is 
 
TRUE HOLINESS. 235 
 
 thing is meant where one word is preferred to another. 
 The idea here seems to be to bring to nought hy loosing 
 the chain of connection. Satan's energy is divorced from 
 the material on which it was wont to work, namely, the 
 thoughts and purposes of man. And man, freed from this 
 fatal foreign influence, is restored to the natural working 
 of the law of his being imposed by God. This result is 
 achieved, as we have before seen, by the manifestation of 
 the Son of God, that is to say, by the making known His 
 character and purpose to man, from whom that character 
 and purpose were previously hidden. The destruction of 
 the works of the devil answers to the " taking away 
 of sins " mentioned in ver. 5 ; and cannot therefore be 
 understood, as we there said, of mere forgiveness, but 
 must be interpreted of deliverance from a yoke, of free- 
 dom to follow the impulses of the spirit of holiness. 
 Dean Alford asks if we are to regard sin and sorrow and 
 death as the works of the devil, and rightly replies that 
 though in a way they may be regarded as his work, they 
 are not the sort of works which are here contemplated, 
 but rather the Apostle would have us understand acts of 
 deliberate rebellion acjainst God. The truth is that 
 suffering and death are, strictly speaking, not the works 
 of the devil at all, but only the results of his work. They 
 are God's witness against the transgression of His Law, 
 
 no stronger than the other. Then sin becomes not a fault, but a 
 misfortune, and man can plead the over-mastering power of tempta- 
 tion as an excuse. iS'ay, if evil be a necessary complement of good, 
 then evil men are necessary as a foil to good ones, and it may be 
 impossible for a man to " recover himself out of tlie snare of the devil." 
 Grant the subordination of the devil, and evil has no necessary 
 existence in itself. It is but that transgression of the true law of 
 their being which is inseparable, it is true, from the existence of 
 beings who are endowed with the power of choice ; but which dis- 
 
236 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 just as physical pain is at once a warning against the 
 transgression of natural law, and the punishment for 
 having transgressed it. Before we go on to contemplate 
 the new idea suggested to us in the next verse, it will be 
 well to notice how far the last two verses have advanced 
 the reader beyond the point to which ver. 6 has carried 
 him. St. John's method of advancing step by step, while 
 to the careless reader he seems to be but repeating him- 
 self, is a feature of his Epistle too often overlooked. In 
 ver. 6 we are told that he who is in the habitual 
 commission of sin is an utter stranger to God. But this 
 is not all. He is not merely a stranger to God. He is 
 linked by the closest of ties to the author of all evil. 
 Nay, his being, such as it at present is, may be said to be 
 derived from that mysterious personality whose work it is 
 the sole object of the Son of God's appearance here on 
 earth to thwart and bring to nought. Not only, there- 
 fore, is the man who sins a stranger to God, but he has 
 placed himself in an attitude of the most uncompromising 
 hostility to Him; he is leagued, body and soul, with the 
 source of all opposition to the Divine Will. 
 
 Ver. 9. — Whosoever is born [or begotten, as the Ee vised 
 Version] of God doth not commit sin. Here again the 
 whole difficulty of the passage vanishes if the tense be 
 
 appears when the soul has formed the habit of invariably choosing 
 the good. 
 
 II. Sin existed before man. We have seen (in Exposition, p. 
 233) that pain, suffering, and death were clearly in existence before man 
 steps on the scene. Resistance to God's law, then, was clearlj' in 
 existence before man was created. Accordingly, our inspired historian 
 represents to us man from the very moment of his creation, exposed 
 to that malign influence. And the secret history of every heart is 
 sufficient to show that man's corruption is not sufficient to explain all 
 his aberrations from the path of duty. He is exposed to temptations 
 from loithout. The spiiit-world — that with which the highest part of 
 
TRUE HOLINESS. 237 
 
 borne in mind. The birth, or begetting, spoken of here, 
 is regarded as a completed process. This life, it is to be 
 remembered, is the whole, or at least an important part, 
 of the process itself. The birth from God which forms 
 so prominent a feature of St. John's teaching, is the 
 result of the abiding in God mentioned in ver. 6. When 
 a man has abode in God, when he has steadily resisted 
 every effort of the antagonistic principle to sever him 
 from the Divine life, such a man may be said to have 
 been born of God. Henceforth, for such a man, sin is 
 an impossibility. He " doth not commit it " or rather 
 do it (see above). That is to say (for this is the force of 
 the present here), he is in a condition in which sin is not 
 committed. Nay, further, " he cannot sin," (that is, he can 
 no longer err from the way) " because he has been born of 
 God." We are not, with some commentators, to reijard 
 this passage as the antithesis to " he that comniitteth sin 
 is of the devil," because this is itself the antithesis to the 
 " he that doeth righteousness is righteous " of ver. 7. 
 It is rather the summing up of the whole thought, after 
 the law of synthetic parallelism so familiar to students of 
 Hebrew psalmody. The climax of the whole section is 
 reached in the words, " He cannot sin, because he is born 
 of God." — for his seed remaineth in him. This, we must 
 
 liis nature has to do, is itseK disordered, and solicitations to sin 
 assail him in the spirit as well as in the mind and flesh. 
 
 III. The devil is a person. So {a) Scripture teaches from the be- 
 ginning to the end. It is needless to multiply texts. Next {b) the temp- 
 tations from without are no workings of an abstract principle. They 
 display the subtlety and energy of a perverted spirit. The attitude that 
 spirit has assumed of opposition to God develops a restless activity in 
 bringing others into that attitude of resistance. And we must re- 
 member that while we know much of the world of sense, we know 
 little of the attributes of spirit. The means of communication between 
 spirit and spirit are an enigma to us. All we know is that they are 
 
238 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 not fail to observe, is the Apostle's explanation of the 
 statement he had just made. He "who has been born of 
 God is not in the habit of committing sin because His seed 
 remaineth in him, or rather, with the Revised Version, 
 (which keeps to the same word in rendering fxevei) abideth 
 in him. Wliose seed ? is the first question. The answer 
 can hardly be doubtful. God's seed. God's seed abideth 
 in the man who has thus attained to victory over evil. 
 But what is this seed ? It is strange that commentators 
 like Dean Alford should be so under the influence of 
 preconceived notions as not merely to overlook, but 
 deliberately to reject the interpretation which alone falls 
 in with the spirit of the passage. To interpret the 
 passage of the spoken word, as in the well-known parable 
 of the sower, is to evacuate it of all its force. The 
 word a-Trepfia must of course be taken in connection with 
 the word 'yeyevvrjixevo^. It refers to a process of Divine 
 generation, analogous in some way to the processes of 
 generation of all things here below. In this last a spark 
 of Divine life is mysteriously communicated to, and con- 
 nected with matter, and thus is formed a living, sentient 
 being. We have, as Professor Westcott reminds us, a-irepixa, 
 not TO (TTripfxa. Our attention is not directed to the 
 particular case, but to the general rule, and perhaps we 
 
 not limited by the necessities of our corporeal life. We are not with- 
 out some instances of the fact of spirit communicating with spirit, 
 between persons locally separated by distances which would make all 
 ordinary communications impossible. How then shall we wonder that 
 pure spirits, entirely unconnected with matter, should possess capacities 
 which transcend our utmost powers to conceive ? 
 
 Ver. 9. — The new birth. 
 
 I. Its stages, (a) It has a beginning. Whosoever is "born of 
 water and the spirit " has started upon the new life. He possesses 
 now the joozwr to resist sin, and "mortify (or kill) the deeds of the 
 body." The "water" of purification refers to the radical taint of an 
 
TRUE HOLINESS. 239 
 
 may also be reminded of the variety of God's gifts. " All 
 flesh is not the same flesh" (i Cor, xv. 39). There are 
 many different forms of life. All life is the product of 
 the word of God. And of this abundance He gives a 
 special gift to man. From Him a new and higher life-prin- 
 ciple is imparted to us, capable of rising to higher things 
 than the natural man, however true it be that he him- 
 self derives his being from God, could ever have attained. 
 Latin theology from the beginning has displayed a ten- 
 dency to interpolate a tertium quid between man and God, 
 to interpose something, be it grace, faith, the word spoken 
 in the heart, or anything whatever that man's intellect 
 may have devised, in the place of the actual creation of 
 man anew through the Spirit of the New Man, Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. This tendency has been too strong for 
 most commentators. And so they forbid us to see here 
 the Divine regeneration of the soul, following precisely 
 the law of generation of things here below ; the gift of a 
 seed of life, which by its nature attracts to itself all 
 things calculated to nourish and to develop that life, and 
 the resulting advance of the man who possesses such a life 
 to the destined goal, his true perfection. " Whosoever has 
 been born of God commits sin no longer, because a germ of 
 Divine life, God-implanted, abides in him." " It unfolds 
 
 evil bent or direction of the mind. There is something that needs 
 washing away, (b) It has a course. The life thus given is nourished. 
 There is a power to seize on, and to assimilate the elements necessary 
 to sustain life that subsist around. The "means of grace," the cir- 
 cumstances of our lives, the example and warning we derive from 
 observation of our fellows, all these may be so used as to strengthen 
 our spiritual vitality, to carry on the growth and increase of the 
 power which is given us. (c) It has a completion. But that comple- 
 tion has never yet been attained within the course of this present life. 
 Sufficient for us while here if we are pressing steadily onward toward 
 the goal. For that goal is nothing short of the standard set up before 
 
240 THE FIKST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 a continuous energy " (Haupt). It " has its perfect work." 
 And it "abides in him." It has not been lost by care- 
 lessness or wilful resistance. It has been preserved by 
 a living faith. And it is no power external to the man. 
 It works by no "law of commandments contained in 
 ordinances." It works, not from without, but from within, 
 producing by its Divine energy that separation from all 
 error and corruption, that conformity to all that is holy 
 and God-like, which results in the final triumph over 
 every evil appetite, in the dedication of the whole man, 
 body, soul, and spirit, to the service of God. — and he 
 cannot sin, because he is born of God. The doctrine of this 
 passage is clear. The perfect yevvtja-ig takes place when 
 the seed of life is fully developed. But there is a period 
 of preparation, in which the seed is developing. The 
 perfect birth is only effected when the seed first implanted 
 abides. TJicn the condition of sin is no longer possible. 
 This is the climax, as we have said, to which the whole 
 passage leads up. The next verse points the moral before 
 introducing a new subject, namely, the fact that the 
 absence of sin necessarily involves the presence of love, 
 or, in other words, that " love is the fulfilling of the law." 
 We are there told that " by their fruits we shall know " 
 the children of God from the children of the devil ; that 
 
 us in the first discourse tliat Jesus ever uttered, " Be ye perfect, as 
 your Father in heaven is perfect." 
 
 II. Its method. It consists in the implanting of a Divine seed of 
 life within the soul. This seed is to be brought to maturity by the 
 processes above mentioned. But if they be neglected, the seed will 
 die. Only he in -whom the seed abideth can be said to liave been born 
 of God. And no seed can abide unless all evil influences be steadily 
 resisted. While it remains a germ it is capable of being destroyed by 
 such influences. But let it once take vigorous root, and it will by 
 degrees overcome those noxious growths, while as to itself it "in- 
 cieaseth with the increase of God." 
 
TRUE HOLINESS. 24 [ 
 
 there are certain obvious signs by which we may discern 
 God's servants from His enemies. But the point to 
 which the Apostle has been leading us in this section is 
 the final and assured victory which he who is born of 
 God obtains over evil. And he points the moral on the 
 side of resistance to sin rather than on that of the 
 attainment of holiness. And this because they are in a 
 world of evil, because they are encompassed with evil on 
 every side, and because, therefore, it is more practical to 
 set before them the way in which they are to free 
 themselves from that all-pervading power, than to amuse 
 them with dreams of ideal purity and righteousness which, 
 as yet, they are unable to understand. 
 
 III. Its result. Entire freedom from sin. "He cannot sin, 
 because he lias been born of God." If we will but undergo tlie 
 trouble of the process, the end is assured. The process is steady 
 resistance to all that is evil, steady cultivation of every habit and 
 desire that is felt to be good. He who yn\l give himself to this task, 
 trusting to the power of the Spirit within, will find, to his own sur- 
 prise very often, that temptations once powerful have lost their 
 charm, that evil, once seductive, has ceased to attract ; that the life 
 of self-mortification and self-control to which Christ has invited us is 
 ever more and more alluring, until it is seen that the voice is by no 
 means a delusive one that bids us hope for perfect union with God. 
 
( 242 ) 
 
 XVIL 
 
 LOVE THE SIGN OF THE BELIEVER. 
 
 /^H. iii. lo. — In this the children of God are manifest and 
 ^ the children of the devil. The Apostle here, as we 
 have before remarked, takes a new departure, though, as 
 usual, the new thought is intimately connected with the 
 old. As before (chaps, i. 5, ii. 10, 11) he had directed 
 the attention of those whom he addressed to the essential 
 antagonism between light and darkness, so he now points 
 to this antagonism, manifested visibly in the consequent 
 antagonism between the children of the light and the 
 children of the darkness, between the children of God 
 and the children of the devil, as displayed in their con- 
 duct (see below). 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. iii. 10. — The Church and the world. 
 
 I. Religious tendencies considered in their results. St. 
 John, as we have said before, has the issues of tlie struggle between 
 light and darkness continually before him, while St. Paul has fre- 
 quently the struggle itself. Each point of \dew has its advantages. 
 The latter displays that sympathy with mankind as it is, which is a 
 necessary element in dealing with souls. But the former has this 
 advantage, that it brings out clearly the object at which Christ's 
 (jospel aims. That object is nothing less than the endeavour to dis- 
 entangle each soul from the tyranny of evil habits, and to translate it 
 
LOVE THE SIGN OF THE BELIEVER. 243 
 
 The words " in this " do not simply refer to what goe^ 
 before, as Braune asserts, nor to what goes after, as Ebrard 
 will have it. They refer both to what precedes and what 
 follows. The children of God and the children of the 
 devil are manifest by their lives. He who hath been 
 born of God doth not commit sin ; whereas he who is of 
 the devil is necessarily unrighteous. So Dean Alford 
 interprets, " ev tovtm at the same time looks backward 
 and forward ; backward, for the children of God have 
 been already designated by the absence of sin (ver. 9) ; 
 forward, for the children of the devil are designated below 
 by the presence of sin in the second half of the verse." 
 Not that any one is in this life completely the child either 
 of God or of the devil. For " there is no moment in the 
 Christian's life when he is purely e/c rov Oeou ; as, also, by 
 parity, no moment when he is e/c tov ^la^oXov " (Haupt). 
 Yet so far as we possess the will to become what at 
 present we are not, so far as we are renewing day by 
 day our covenant with God, with the attitude of self- 
 surrender which it involves, we are at least, for the sake 
 of, and by virtue of our union with, the Great Head of 
 the Church, Whose life throbs in our members, regarded 
 as what at present we are not, but as what we are not 
 
 into the condition of likeness to Christ in His sinlessness, into tlie 
 "gloi'ious liberty of the children of God." It is a vast assistance to 
 us to have this goal constantly in view. It clears our minds wlien 
 perplexed by practical difficulties to ask ourselves. Will this or that 
 course of conduct lead most certainly to the great result ? St. John 
 does not leave us in ignorance what that result is. It is repeated over 
 and over again, in various forms, in the present chapter. Purification, 
 freedom from sin, a condition of absolute sinlessness ; these are the 
 steps by which he has led us to the climax, a life of unchanging love. 
 St. John does not tell us that this blessed condition of existence is 
 ever reached in this life. But it clears our spiritual vision very 
 effectually if we recognise it as the goal to which our efforts are tend- 
 
244 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 only hoping, but daily tending to become. This is what 
 is meant by "justification " in the Pauline sense. In 
 this sense only can St. John say, in consonance with the 
 facts, " We have passed from death unto life " (ver, 1 4). 
 " She hath done what she could," as Haupt says, is a 
 maxim which applies to our condition, and the will to do 
 more is accepted, " in the beloved " in the place, as yet, 
 of the deed. But there is no encouragement here to 
 stand still. Unless the will is resolved to press forward, 
 and to do at some future time what is not at present in 
 our power, there is nothing for God to 'accept. We are 
 not " the children of God," but " the children of the 
 devil." The necessary mark of the true believer is the 
 " pressing on toward the goal unto the prize of the high 
 calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil, iii, 14). The 
 question has been asked. How can we be said to be the 
 children of the devil here in the same sense that we are 
 said to be the children of God, or, if this be not the 
 case, what distinction can we make between the two ex- 
 pressions ? The explanation is the same here as in ver. 8. 
 €K Tou Sia^oXov there does not mean that the devil is 
 in any strict sense our creator, but that our present 
 mode of life is due to his influence. We quoted Origen's 
 
 ing. In the purpose, at least, the children of God and the children 
 of the devil are manifest enough, -whatever they may he in the 
 process. 
 
 II. Religious tendencies considered in reference to their 
 AIM. But this distinction is not confined to the result. It exists, if 
 not quite so definitely, yet quite definitely enough, in this present 
 world, to divide men into two great classes. Even in this life the 
 children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. If Ave 
 stand in the street and two men pass by us at the same time, we can 
 tell the direction in wliich a man is going by the way in which his 
 face is turned and his steps directed. Just so can we distinguisli 
 between the children of God and the children of the devil by the main 
 
LOVE THE SIGN OF THE BELIEVER. 245 
 
 remark on ver. 8, that though we are said to he of the 
 devil, we are never said to be " born " or " begotten " of 
 him. Both the great Father of the Church and we our- 
 selves were guilty of an apparent inadvertence, for the 
 phrase here certainly, at first sight, appears to involve 
 the idea of birth or begetting. Yet, in fact, no such 
 meaning is really involved. The expression " children 
 of " (or " sons of," the Hebrew beiug the same) is a very 
 common Hebraism, involving likeness to, being under the 
 influence of any habit or quality. Thus we read of " sons 
 of Belial" (Deut. xiii. 13); sons "of perdition" (John 
 xvii. 12); of "a curse" (2 Peter ii. 14); of " wrath " 
 (Eph. ii. 3), and the like. Consequently, in reality, the 
 term reKva tov Sia^oXov involves a less close relation 
 between the unbeliever and the devil than the ck tov 
 Sia^oXov of ver. 8. And if we proceed to ask with 
 Haupt, what right we have to attach a sense of closer 
 relationship in the case of the TeKva tov Oeov, the reply 
 is that we should not be entitled to do so from this 
 passage alone. Taken by itself, it does but mean that we 
 conform ourselves to God's precepts. It is from other 
 passages that we learn the close and intimate relationship 
 of the believer to his Lord, which invests the term " chil- 
 
 object of their lives. It it not difficult to discern, among many errors 
 and weaknesses, the motive power hy which a man's actions are as 
 a rule directed. If ' ' his face be as though he would go up to Jeru- 
 salem," the Samaritans can see it plainly enough to arouse their 
 animosity. In other words, " in this the children of God are manifest 
 and the children of the devil." And as life goes on, the difference 
 becomes daily more manifest. As the cares and sorrows, the tempta- 
 tions and pleasures of life, reach their vanishing point with him who 
 is going to leave it, the child of God fixes his gaze ever more intently 
 upon what is to come, and has an ever-lessening regard for those 
 things which once had power to tempt him to forget God. But the 
 child of the evU one has nothing but regret for a past which is slipping 
 
246 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 dreu of God " with a deeper meaning than any language 
 of a similar kind applied to any other being. The lan- 
 guage here, in ver. 8, and in John viii. 44, applied to 
 the relations between the sinner and the devil, means (see 
 note on ver. 8) that the present condition of the sinner 
 is due to his having submitted to the influence of the 
 first of God's creatures who strayed from His ways, and 
 became thus the tempter of all others. It has been asked, 
 to whom are the children of God and the children of the 
 devil manifested ? Those who answer " to God " have 
 missed the sense of the passage. St. John, after having 
 dwelt on the character of the new life in itself, wishes 
 now to point out the visible evidences of this life in the 
 conduct of believers. See next note. — whosoever doeth 
 not righteousness is not of G-od, neither he that loveth not 
 his brother. Of. Eom. xiii. 8, 10, and Gal. v. 14, and 
 remark on the absolute identity of the teaching of the 
 two Apostles in spite of the difference of their minds. 
 The thought here is the same as that of ver. 7, only 
 turned in the opposite direction. There it has reference 
 to the source of the life, here to its stream. Here we are 
 invited to see the Divine life manifesting itself by its 
 effects. We learn to distinguish in those around us the 
 
 away from him for ever, and, strange as it seems, clings the more 
 tenaciously to the vanities' he has always loved, in proportion as tlie 
 time comes daily nearer when he must part with them for ever. 
 
 III. The distinction between the child of God and the 
 CHILD OF THE DEVIL. Briefly, it is this : the child of the devil seeks 
 his own advantage ; the child of God leaves his own advantage en- 
 tirely out of sight. Yet by forgetting it, lie secures it. The only way 
 for any man to be happy is to take care that all men are happy. And 
 thus, by caring for the happiness of others, we secure our own. The 
 devil himself fell from his high dignity by thinking of his own rights 
 and privileges ; of what was due to him, rather than what was due 
 fnm him. And so do his children fall. So "whosoever doeth not 
 
LOVE THE SIGN OF THE BELIEVER. 247 
 
 children of God and the children of the devil. " I will 
 give you a test," he says, in effect, " whereby you can tell 
 whether this life of which I have spoken be in you or 
 in others or not. And it is a very simple one. Do you 
 love your brother, or do you not ? " The truth is that 
 the last clause of this verse explains the last but one. 
 What is meant by he that doeth righteousness ? It is 
 he that loveth his brother. The two things are identical. 
 " Love is the fulfilling of the law." Whatever is loving, 
 that and nothing else is right. If you are in doubt what 
 doing righteousness in any given case really means, do 
 what is best and kindest and most for your brother's 
 welfare, and you have solved the problem. The kul 
 which connects the two clauses has occasioned difficulty 
 to some interpreters. But it is a simple Hebraism. It 
 brings in no new idea. It does but repeat the former 
 thought in a new way. And thus, by the most natural and 
 least arbitrary connection of thought, does the Apostle 
 bring in the dominant idea of the present section (vers. 
 10—18), love as a practical principle distinguishing the 
 Christian from other men. The last question suggested 
 by this verse is, what is meant by the word " brother " ? 
 Many commentators have been led astray here. The 
 
 righteousness {i.e. that which is just and fair to others) is not of God, 
 neither lie that loveth not his brother." 
 
 Vers. 12, 13. — The antagonism between the children of God and the 
 children of the devil. 
 
 I. Their aims are irreconcilable. The one seeks his own 
 benefit at the expense of otlier people, the other seeks other people's 
 at the expense of his own. Such a vast practical divergence must 
 necessarily bring men into conflict : and it does so in a thousand ways. 
 (a) There are those who devote themselves to religious objects, to 
 collecting money for the spread of Christianity at home and abroad. 
 On the other hand, there are those to whom such appeals are irksome, 
 odious, insupportable, {b) There are efforts for educating, helping, 
 
248 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 aSeXipo? has been held to refer to the members of the 
 Christian community, because the relation of the believer 
 to the unbeliever is not one of love, but hate. But is 
 this quite so clear ? The world hates the children of 
 God, it is true. But were the children of God to hate 
 the world in return ? On the contrary, is not the precept 
 given, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, 
 do good to them that hate you " (Luke vi. 27) ? Ebrard 
 has grasped the meaning of the passage in his reference 
 to Luke X. 29-36. "The requirement to love our 
 brother," he nobly says, " is pre-supposed to be of universal 
 application." The principle here is that of the universal 
 brotherhood of man. If the question be asked, Who is 
 my brother ? the reply is. Every one. And the decisive 
 test whether a man is doing righteousness or not is the 
 presence or absence in him of love to all mankind. Those 
 who are as yet untouched by the life of Christ are actuated 
 by hate, and it is a special feature of their case that they 
 hate most those who are striving after a worthier ideal 
 than their own (ver. 13). But the possession of the 
 Divine life is evidenced in one way, and in that alone. 
 The man who has it is full of love to all who have been 
 created in the Divine imajre. See note on ch, ii. 10. 
 
 raising the ignorant and degraded. And tliere are those whose 
 selfishness revolts at the work, who would fain keep those down who 
 are down already, that they may retain their power, their superiority 
 over them. How many are loud in their indignation that the "lower 
 classes" should enjoy luxuries, comforts, leisure, of which they would 
 be extremely enraged if it were proposed to deprive themselves, 
 (c) Tliere are schemes on the part of the charitable and Christian to 
 prevent the "haves" from using their power to oppress and injure the 
 " have nets." We deny the right of the possessor of property to wring 
 the last farthing out of an ignorant and degraded tenant by housing 
 him in a way in which it is impossible for him to do other than be- 
 come more ignorant and degraded still ; of the ship-owner to send liis 
 
LOVE THE SIGN OF THE BELIEVER. 249 
 
 Ver. 1 1. — For this is the message that ye heard from 
 the beginning, that we should love one another. For 
 
 message the older versions have tidings. Most commen- 
 tators would make the demonstrative pronoun a predicate, 
 and the sentence would then run " for the message . . . 
 is this, that we," &c., which makes the passage a little 
 more emphatic. " From the beginning," here obviously 
 means, as in ch. ii. 24, from the beginning of the Gospel. 
 This doctrine was practically preached in the Sermon on 
 the Mount. It was distinctly formulated in the last dis- 
 course of Jesus before His crucifixion (John xiii. 34, 35, xv. 
 1 2, 1 3). Of ch. ii. 7. The reason why we have ayyeXia 
 here and evroXr] there, is because there the Apostle has been 
 speaking of keeping God's commandments (ii. 3-5), while 
 here he is speaking of the purport of the commission he 
 himself has received, and which it is his duty to execute. 
 The " for " with which the passage commences, gives the 
 reason for the assertion in the last verse. What the 
 Apostle there says on the duty of Christian love, is what 
 Christians have been from the very first instructed to 
 make known. We cannot, with Braune, regard tVa here 
 as " denoting the purpose and work to he done, and not 
 only the substance or contents of the ayyeXla." The 
 
 brother men to sea in unseaworthy ships, while he liimself by insuring 
 heavily is secure from all loss ; of the capitalist to make use of his 
 capital so as to secure a monopoly of business for himself ; of the 
 impure to use his money so as to secure a constant supply of what he 
 wants for the gratification of his desires, at whatever cost in the de- 
 gradation and sufiering of others. But to endeavour to prevent such 
 crimes rouses the indignation of the selfish and wicked. And such 
 indignation is often displayed in no measured terms, and would, did 
 not Christian society step in to prevent it, proceed to actual violence. 
 (d) We contend that a due recognition of God, of His day, of public 
 worship, of the brotherhood of Christians, of the dutj- of private 
 prayer and of a diligent study of God's ^yord, are the necessary 
 
250 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 instances in the New Testament are far too numerous 
 where we must admit that the original definite sense of 
 purpose has dwindled into the less definite meaning of 
 result. Christians did not hear the message in order 
 that they might love one another. Still less can we say 
 that the message assumed this form in order that Chris- 
 tians should love one another. The command to love one 
 another was the message itself. It is not denied that'tVa 
 has constantly this sense of purpose. But there are 
 quite sufficient exceptions to make it unnecessary to strain 
 the sentence to bring it in. And this we should do, if 
 we rendered '' and the message which ye heard from the 
 beginning, is this, in order that ye should love one 
 another." But the "iva may certainly serve subtly to 
 indicate a purpose and aim, if not directly to assert it. 
 That is to say, the message is intended to produce a pur- 
 pose in our lives. Lastly, what is meant by " we " and 
 " one another " here ? Many have striven to confine it 
 to the Christian society here, and, no doubt, the first and 
 most obvious realisation of the precept was within the 
 bounds of the Christian Church. But that Church was 
 intended to embrace the whole world. It was prophesied 
 that " the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, 
 
 means of keeping alive the spirit of religion in onr midst. Yet there 
 are those who deny and despise these "means of grace," who will not 
 attend the house of God, who treat Sunday like any other day, who 
 think they can read and pray at home, and so on, and who mock at 
 those who tliink otherwise. There are ])lenty of ways still in which 
 the man of the world and the man of God come into collision. 
 
 II. As IS SHOWN IN THE CASE OF Cain AND Abel. (i) The ten- 
 dency of religion is to make men prosperous even in this life, as is 
 shown in the cases of Cain and Abel ; of irreligion to make them 
 wretched, and hence to make the latter jealous of the former. Yet 
 tills tendency is checked in two ways in a highly organised society. 
 (a) A man may either he shortsightedly or longsightedly selfish. He 
 may either squander his means directly he has them, or he may care- 
 
LOVE THE SIGN OF THE BELIEVER. 25 I 
 
 as the waters cover the sea " (Isa. xi. 9). It was God's 
 will that " all men should be saved and come to the 
 knowledge of the truth" (i Tim. ii. 4). Therefore, it 
 was proclaimed from the beginning of the Gospel that all 
 men should love one another. 
 
 Vek. 1 2. — Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and 
 slew his brother. Eevised Version, Not as Cain was of 
 the evil one and sleiv his hrother. There is no that in the 
 original, as the italics of the Authorised Version indicate, 
 nor need it be supplied. " Uvil one " is better than 
 " wicked one," But we cannot leave the sentence with- 
 out something to supply the hiatus. Neither, as Winer 
 warns ns, can we, with a host of commentators, supply 
 oj/mev or TroiMiuev, for that would require jun] and not ou. 
 The most natural course would be to supply ea-fxev, and 
 the relative pronoun after Cain. " We are not as Cain, 
 who was of the evil one." The first murder has always 
 imprinted itself very strongly upon the human imagina- 
 tion. And St. John, doubtless, uses it here as the best 
 illustration of the tendencies of evil, even as his Master, 
 in the Sermon on the Mount, taught that the actual 
 breach of the sixth commandment took place when we 
 began to be angry without a cause (Matt. v. 22). The 
 
 fully arrange his actions so as to enjoy prosperity and power in years to 
 come. These two classes are equally alien to the mind of God. Never- 
 theless they are often more opposed to one another than to the chil- 
 dren of the kingdom. The spendthrift hates the calculating man of 
 prudence ; the prudent man despises the worthless spendthrift. The 
 man of God sees little dili'erence between them, save that since there is 
 another world, the man of calculating pi'udence may some day be the 
 worse off of the two. (6) The more misery there is in the world by 
 sin, the moi'e the Chiistian is drawn to cast away all his comforts in 
 order to relieve it. In a primitive condition of society, if there were 
 misery, it was not organised misery, so to speak, and it was directly 
 traceable to a man's own misconduct. In civilised society the sins of 
 the fathers are more heavily visited on the children than in a less 
 
252 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Commentators have, naturally enough, referred to the 
 Eabbinic fable that Cain was not Adam's child, as Abel 
 was, but the child of the evil one. But the fable is 
 most likely later than the Apostle's time, and may even 
 have been derived from his teaching here, diverted into 
 a Eabbinic channel, and put forth in a Eabbinic form. 
 But St. John, like Christian writers in general, is speak- 
 ing of spiritual influence, not of natural generation. The 
 word crcpdrro) has attracted attention ; first, because it 
 only occurs elsewhere in Scripture in the Book of the 
 Eevelation (v. 6, &c.), a fact denoting common author- 
 ship ; and next, because in the Eevelation it is used of 
 the slaying of a victim. The word certainly denotes a 
 more deliberate act of violence or cruelty than our word 
 slat/, and is more nearly equivalent to the kindred and 
 stronger word slaughter. — And wherefore slew he him? 
 The question gives liveliness and point to the argument. 
 " I ask you to observe this as an illustration of my 
 principle, that there is a manifest difference between the 
 children of God and the children of the devil; existing, 
 first in the motive, and then displayed in act. There is 
 an essential difference, as I have said, between the two 
 classes of men, and you can see for yourselves what it is." 
 
 highly developed life. The degradation of the children is deeper and 
 more difficult to remedy. And consequently the sacrifices entailed 
 on those who, like their Master, would sympathise with and suffer for 
 others, are greater and more continuous than they could have been at 
 the dawn of human existence. Thus prosperity is now as likely, or 
 even more likely, to be the lot of the wicked than of the righteous. 
 
 (2) Yet the princiijle that the man who loves evil hates and would de- 
 stroy, if he could, the man who does good still holds. For, (a) there 
 is the conflict of wills referred to under the former head ; (b) there 
 is the jar and fret of 'an utter absence of sympathy, and (c) there 
 is the voice of conscience perpetualh'^ condemning the selfish man. 
 
 (3) This tendency must not be supposed not to exist because in modern 
 society it is under restraint. The man who once, like Cain, would 
 
LOVE THE SIGN OF THE BELIEVER. 253 
 
 — Because Ms own thoughts were evil, and his brother's 
 righteous. The essential antagonism between good and 
 evil, the Apostle would point out, is the cause of Cain's 
 deed. Abel's holy and blameless life was a rebuke to 
 Cain. A selfish, unloving life is hatred in disguise. 
 And the disguise is sometimes stripped off, and love of 
 self stands revealed as hate of our brother. Those who 
 cannot; or will not, become the tools of our purposes, 
 must be put out of the way. And as righteousness 
 includes justice, and justice a sense of duty, we can 
 easily see how the evil man learns to hate the good man, 
 and is a murderer in will, if not in act. Dean Alford 
 speaks here of a difficulty raised by those who see no 
 reference made in the narrative in Genesis to this " ethical 
 difference." Like many other difficulties which have 
 been raised, it does not amount to much. For surely 
 the only ground of the acceptance or non-acceptance of 
 the offering must have been the ethical condition of those 
 who made it. Nor have those who have read the 
 narrative in Genesis pondered sufficiently the way in 
 which the regard God paid to the one, and not to the 
 other, was manifested. Our mind is so penetrated with 
 the idea of the miraculous in those times, that we in- 
 
 have slaughtered his brother, now tries to undermine his influence, to 
 thwart his action, to combat his opinions. He cannot kUl him, but 
 he does his best in various ways to render him powerless. 
 
 III. Therefore it is no wonder if the world hates us. 
 
 I. What is meant hy hate ? Rich and cultivated society in our 
 time avoids violent passions. They disturb its repose. The polite 
 man of the world does not hate, he scorns. He does not kill, he 
 avoids, or if he cannot avoid, he is cynical, contemptuous, amused, 
 stolidly indifferent. He does not openly oppose, he simply refuses to 
 move. Passive resistance is often more difficult to overcome than 
 active opposition. A man wlio questions your accuracy, ridicules your 
 enthusiasm, points out coolly your exaggerations, insinuates suspicion 
 as to the purity of your motives, may be a more formidable enemy 
 
2 54 THE FIRST EPTSTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 sensibly suppose that the pleasure and displeasure of God 
 related to a single offering, and was displayed by some 
 visible miracle. Like Lord Byron, we picture to our- 
 selves a whirlwind blowing down the one altar, and 
 scattering the fruits, while the smoke of the other ascends 
 gently and peacefully to heaven. But is it not far more 
 likely that Abel's life, spent in prayer and self-control, 
 and prudence and foresight, was growing daily more 
 prosperous ; while Cain, indulging his lusts, squandering 
 the good things that God had given him, felt the con- 
 tinual pressure of hunger and poverty ? He was as 
 scrupulous as Abel, no doubt, in offering to God the 
 tribute of external worship. And he could not under- 
 stand why God dealt so hardly with him, so gently with 
 his brother. Dark and malignant passions boiled 
 tumultuously in his breast, and, at last, in a frenzy of 
 passion and jealousy, he slew the brother whom he had 
 learned to hate. And so were the Apostle's words 
 exemplified, " because his works were evil, and his 
 brother's righteous." 
 
 Vek. 13. — Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate 
 you. It would seem as if the sub-section ended here. 
 St. John would say, " This antagonism between the chil- 
 
 than the most passionate antagonist. Therefore hate, in these days, 
 has become dislike, or cool, critical analj^sis. But it would become 
 hate again, if the tone of society changed. And there are circles 
 Avhere hate flourishes, where the man who takes Christ for his Lord is 
 as actively hated as ever. 
 
 2. What do ive mean by the ivorlcl ? Tlie " world " here and the 
 "children of the devil" are convertible terms. Therefore the world 
 means those wlio are bent on pleasing self and no others. But there 
 are those who imagine that to have incurred the dislike of other 
 people is a sure sign that they are disciples of Jesus. But this does 
 not follow. They may have excited opposition by intemperance of 
 language, by excess of self-will, by one-sided and unreasonable views, 
 by trying to coerce others instead of to persuade them. The hatred 
 
LOVE THE SIGN OF THE BELIEVER. 255 
 
 dren of God and the children of the devil is an universal 
 one. As it was in the days of Abel, so it is now. You 
 must not be surprised if you find in the world — that 
 which was once God's order, but has so sadly ceased to 
 be such — the same evil passions as of old. And as the 
 absence of love is the characteristic of the unrefrenerate 
 
 O 
 
 man, so he will display that characteristic even in his 
 dealings with those who have nothing but love in return 
 for his hate." How true this was, the history of Chris- 
 tianity shows only too plainly. And it is shown still, 
 whenever duty compels us to denounce the crimes of 
 wicked and selfish men. It is perhaps because our 
 Christianity is often of a feeble and nerveless type, 
 because we tamely acquiesce in wrong-doing, which long 
 prescription seems to excuse, that we feel so little of it. 
 But let any man boldly raise his voice to condemn 
 iniquity in any rank of life, and he will soon learn what 
 hate is. We may observe, moreover, that the Apostle 
 does not, as the Authorised Version would lead us to 
 suppose, regard this hatred of the world as a hypothetical 
 possibility. He regards it as a fact. " Marvel not, if 
 the world hates (Revised Version, Jiateth) you." If you 
 find it to be a fact, do not be surprised. It is but the 
 
 of the world of •\vhicli St. John speaks must be incui'red by our adlier- 
 ence to duty, not by our departure from it. Therefore before we con- 
 gratulate ourselves upon being disliked let us first make sure whij we 
 are disliked. 
 
 3. Does the world hate the good man ? This question is immensely 
 complicated by the fact that there is no sharp line of demarcation 
 between the Church and the world in these times. Society is strongly 
 permeated by Christian principles. Even heatliens are not AvhoUy 
 corrupt. And thus tlie good man, notwithstanding all his imperfec- 
 tions, will, in the course of time, win the respect of all right-thinking 
 and of many wrong-thinking men. Still, the rule holds good. Bad 
 men do not like good men. They do not like to be shamed by the 
 contrast between such men and themselves. This dislike sharpens 
 
256 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 result of a truth too manifest to escape notice. There is 
 an essential incompatibility between a righteous and an 
 unrighteous man. They must come into collision if they 
 attempt to act together. But while the righteous man 
 tries to reconcile as much as possible his love for his 
 unrighteous brother with his love to other people, the 
 unrighteous man feels no love at all. And indifference 
 which quiesces in contempt, so long as men's paths in 
 life lie separate, becomes hate, when they are brought 
 together, and the righteous man refuses to have either 
 part or lot in deeds of evil. 
 
 into something more when the two come into collision on any matter. 
 A man is sure to bring more or less odium upon himself if he stead- 
 fastly adheres to what he thinks right, whatever other men may say. 
 Especially is this the case in public matters when a man, from con- 
 scientious motives, separates himself from those with whom he was 
 wont to act. However much Christianity may have deadened the 
 animosity between man and man, every true Cliristian has passed 
 tlirough periods of life when he was forced to draw comfort from the 
 words, "INIarvel not if the world hate you." 
 
( 257 ) 
 
 XVIII. 
 PASSING FEOM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 
 
 /^H. iii. 14. — We know that we have passed from death 
 ^ unto life, because we love the brethren. The thought 
 of this section, which is also the leading thought of the 
 whole Epistle, namely, brotherly love, is advanced another 
 stage in this verse. We have been taught (i. 6) the 
 necessity of walking in the light and not in the dark- 
 ness ; (ii. 4) the necessity of keeping God's command- 
 ments ; (ii. I o) that the abiding in the light implies the 
 love of one's brother; (ii. 15) that we must not love the 
 world; (ii. 29) that everyone who doeth righteousness 
 has been born of God ; (iii. i o) that whosoever doeth 
 not righteousness, and loveth not his brother, is not of 
 God. Now we are called upon to regard the love of the 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ver. 14. — The test of true conversion. 
 
 I. The contrast between the Church and the world. The 
 foundation of the first is love, of the second, hate. And this because 
 the guiding principle of the latter is self, of the former crucifixion of 
 self. , To seek one's own well-being at the cost of the well-being 
 of another is the very essence of hate, and must at length manifest 
 itself as hate if it be consistently carried out. It is a mistake to 
 confine the definition of hate to that violence of passion which is aroused 
 in seltish men when any one crosses their path. Hate is the op- 
 posite, or absence, of love, and that man is at least as full of hate 
 who calmly and without passion sacrifices his neighbour to his own 
 
 R 
 
258 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 brethren, if it exist in any heart, as a sign that he who 
 so loves has passed from a condition of death to a condi- 
 tion of life. In the last two verses the contrast and eveu 
 the antipathy between the child of God and the child 
 of the devil is exemplified ia Cain. And then, as his 
 manner is, the Apostle alternates between the two 
 thoughts, marking the contrast between the two kinds 
 of life ever more and more fully. The new life is here 
 presented to us more distinctly than it has yet been 
 presented, as a state of deliverance from a condition in 
 which the rest of the world still lies (see this thought 
 yet more emphasised in ver. 19). Nor should we fail to 
 notice that the figure is changed. We have had light 
 and darkness set before us as the emblems of these two 
 conditions. Now they are represented to us under the 
 emblems of life and death. The contrast is drawn 
 between life, which involves love, and death, which is 
 the necessary result of the absence of love. This con- 
 trast is marked by the rjjxel^, which is emphatic. " We 
 know that we have passed from death to life, because we 
 love the brethren ; " but he that loveth not, whether he 
 know it or not, is still in the condition from which we 
 have been freed. The having passed from a condition of 
 
 interest, as the man of most uncontrolled temper. But the Christian 
 has the ideal of his Master's life before him. And in that life no 
 thought of separating His own happiness from that of others was 
 allowed to enter. Thus the Christian Church and the world were two 
 societies acting upon principles utterly antagonistic. The maxim of 
 the heathen world was "Love thyself." The Christian Church, on 
 the contrary, said, " Deny thyself ; " "have no self." "Devote thy 
 whole life to the welfare of thy fellow-men." In the present day the 
 lines of demarcation are far less distinctly drawn than they were. 
 Many partially act on one principle and partially on the other. Still, 
 society is divided into two great classes, those who make their own 
 interest the sole measure of their d uty, and those who, to a greater or 
 less degree, acknowledge their obligation to consider others. 
 
PASSING FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 259 
 
 death unto one of life, which is by Jesus Christ Himself 
 (John V. 24), attributed to faith in Him, is here regarded 
 as evidenced by love. In other words, " faith worketh 
 by love " (Gal. v. 6). And those who are on the look- 
 out for similarities between the teaching of St. Paul and 
 St. John will find them in such passages as i Cor. vi, 1 1 ; 
 Eom. viii. 2, 6 (see Eevised Version), 10; Col. iii. 3, 
 &c. Observe next, " we have passed." Not a single act, 
 which entirely negatives all idea of continued effort ou 
 our part, but a practical result of conduct. We know that 
 this change has taken place in us, because now, instead 
 of opposing ourselves to the life of love, we have sub- 
 mitted to it. By steadily resisting all the assaults of the 
 deadly principle we have remained in the position in 
 which we now find ourselves, that of manifesting in 
 our lives the Divine life, which is a life of love. Again, 
 the preposition here is e/c, not airo. It is change of 
 state, not of place. But how can this change be predi- 
 cated of us in our present imperfect condition ? We 
 see that it is unhesitatingly predicated by St. John of 
 those of whom he is speaking. And yet it is equally 
 clear that he regards their future as very far from finally 
 decided. See ii. i, 15, 24, 26, 28, iii. 7, 18, and many 
 
 II. The test of true keligion is love to others. We can 
 only know the heavenly life from its fruits. It comes from above, 
 from God, with whom no hate is known, save of hate itself. And if 
 this be its source, its character, it must give evidence of its presence 
 by conduct in keeping with it. In other words, it must be a life of 
 love. And until love is the watchword of our lives, until we are 
 untiring in our labour's for our brethren, Ave cannot say "we have 
 passed from death unto life." We may be passing from one to the 
 other. We may be slaying the evil desires that have so much power 
 over us. But as long as one single unkind or unloving thought is 
 harboured against a single being who bears the Image of God, our 
 transition from the one state to the other cannot be said to be 
 achieved. 
 
2 60 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 other passages involving the same conclusion. The 
 answer is, as before, that the Apostle regards the direc- 
 tion in which ive are moving. There is no one, it is to 
 be hoped, entirely devoid of love, entirely ruled by the 
 passion of self-interest in this life. Neither is there any 
 one who is as much penetrated with love as he ought 
 to be. Nevertheless, if we desire to grow in love, and 
 are so growing, we may venture to claim this promise 
 for ourselves. If our conscience tells us that this is not 
 the case, then we cannot appropriate it. See vers. 20, 
 21. " The brethren " is regarded by many commentators 
 as referring to the Christian Church. And there is no 
 doubt that it does primarily refer to Christians, as in 
 Acts xi. 29, xii. 17, XV. i, i Cor. viii. 12, &c. But 
 inasmuch as love to all mankind is the principle of the 
 Gospel, we may believe that there is a secondary and 
 subordinate reference to the whole human race. — He that 
 loveth not his brother abideth in death. The words " his 
 brother " are without authority here. It is the absence 
 of love from the heart that killeth, or rather that retains 
 the man in his previous state of spiritual death. " Death " 
 here is of course not to be construed quite literally. It 
 means " dead in trespasses and sins." For according to 
 
 III. A LIFE OF HATE IS AN ABIDING IN DEATH. For it is death to 
 be Avithout God, and he who hates, or, wliich is the same thing, he 
 wlio does not love, is without God. AVe never, in this life, see any 
 monster so utterly lost to all humanity as to be utterly without love. 
 Bat we see men tending to be such. And in another world the ten- 
 dency may develop into this essentially devilish condition. For it is 
 the characteristic of the devil to be without love. And it maybe that 
 eternal death is no other than a condition from which all love is 
 banished. As long as a spark of love remains in the spirit this eternal 
 death is not reached. On the other hand, it is onlj' by the active 
 exercise of love that we can escape that condition. The Avorld of St. 
 John's day, which "lay in wickedness," was only too near this terrible 
 condition. Only the Spirit of God and of love, which then began to 
 
I 
 
 PASSING FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 26 1 
 
 this passage, the whole world, with the exception of those 
 who have been rescued in Jesus Christ, and translated 
 into the life of love, abideth in death. But this cannot 
 mean absolute cessation of existence. A lower life even 
 nnregenerate man has. But to the higher life of the Spirit 
 and of love, he is an utter stranger. As " faith without 
 works is dead," so an unloving heart is dead also. 
 
 Ver. 15. — Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. 
 The authority for this statement is Matt. v. 21—26, 
 where the real breach of the sixth commandment is 
 shown to consist in a spirit of animosity and hate. 
 " Man looks," we are told, " on the outward appearance, 
 but God on the heart" (i Sam. xvi. 7). It may not 
 seem so to us, but the truth is that every one who 
 wishes ill, nay, we may even go so far as to say does 
 not wish well, to his neighbour, has really a mind to 
 destroy him. Outward circumstances may hinder that 
 mind from being carried into effect. And they may, 
 moreover, blind us to the real state of our heart. But 
 the truth remains, that every man whom we do not love 
 we should kill were all the outward restraints of society 
 removed. " This is a hard saying ; who can hear it ? " 
 Nevertheless, it is written "for our admonition, in the 
 
 T)rood on the face of the dark wateis, could deliver it from stiffening 
 in the true death of the soul. 
 
 Ver. 15. — 27te principle of self in its results. 
 
 I. The unloving man is keally a murderer. As we have seen, 
 it is St. John's custom to view the life of the soul in the light of the 
 end towards which it is travelling. Here, like his Master, he points 
 out that all ahsence of love is nothing less than murder. The man 
 who loves himself better than others will not shrink from destroying 
 them Avhen they cross his? path. For nothing but a spirit of love 
 and mercy and pity would restrain him. See HomUetic notes on 
 ver. 12. 
 
 II. Even the unenlightened conscience can discern the 
 GUILT OF murder. " Yc kiioiv that no murderer hath eternal life 
 
262 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 "Word of God. — and ye know that no murderer hath eternal 
 life abiding in him." "Once more," as in ver. 14, says 
 Mr. Plummer, " the Apostle appeals to the Christian 
 consciousness." This time, however, it is not a matter 
 of experience, gained by investigation and trouble. It 
 is obvious upon the face of it. The human conscience 
 condemns this crime. It did so instinctively at the 
 moment of the first murder. It was the voice of con- 
 science that cried " What hast thou done ? The voice of 
 thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground" 
 (Gen. iv. 10). No doctrine is here laid down as to the 
 possibility of the future forgiveness of a murderer, for it 
 would of course equally involve the impossibility of im- 
 provement or forgiveness for any one who had ever 
 indulged hate, or even who had at any time failed to 
 love. This is obvious from a glance at the whole verse. 
 All therefore that is meant is that it is obvious that no 
 murderer is in possession of so inestimable a blessing as 
 eternal life at a time when he is capable of such a deed. 
 " The whole phrase," says Professor Westcott, " is unique. 
 Elsewhere 'the word' (ii. 14, John v. 38, comp. xv. 7), 
 the ' unction ' (ii. 27), the ' seed of God ' (iii. 9), the ' love 
 of God' (iii. 17), the 'truth' (2 John 2), are said to 
 
 abiding in him." When principles are pushed to their results, -vve can 
 see what their tendency is. Behold then the results of failing to 
 love ! They are plain enough. In the abstract, humanity condemns 
 them, though in the particular case numberless excuses enable us to 
 blind our eyes. But if the absence of love be really nothing short of 
 nnirder, we need no farther exhortation to show us its guilt. 
 
 Ver. 16. — The only possible alternative to the nnirderous spirit. 
 
 I. There is no middle course between the Spirit of Christ 
 AND the spirit OF MURDER. For "herein" and in nothing else, 
 have we received a pattern of love, in the Life and Death of Jesus 
 Christ. This is the only alternative to hate. St. John here again 
 fixes our glance on results. The spirit of hate leads directly to our 
 taking another's life for the attainment of our own objects. The 
 
PASSING FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 263 
 
 * abide ' in the believer and also God (ver, 24, iv. 12, 13, 
 I5f.) and Christ (John vi. 56, xv. 5). Even to the last 
 man has not ' life ' in himself. This is the Divine 
 prerogative alone." And yet, if God and Christ abide in 
 us, then eternal life, which is God's prerogative, must 
 dwell in us also. For the form of the phrase " no mur- 
 derer hath," see note on ii. 21. 
 
 Ver. 16. — Hereby perceive we the love of God. 
 Rather, herein have we knoicn love. The words " of God " 
 are wrongly supplied in our version, which here " col- 
 lects the errors of other versions," as Mr. Plummer says. 
 Wiclif and the Ehemish translate literally, eyi^wKajuev, 
 we have known. They translate ayairrj by charity, 
 and, following the Vulgate here, add the words " of 
 God " which are not in the original. Tyndale has sub- 
 stituted the present for the perfect, " perceive we love," 
 and Cranmer has followed him. The Geneva trans- 
 lates more correctly " hereby " (where Wiclif and the 
 Rhemish have " in this," or " in this thing ") " perceive 
 we love." But " perceive " is not the right rendering. 
 yivuxTKot) refers rather to the knowledge gained by experi- 
 ence than by intuition. This last is expressed by oiSa. 
 Thus the true translation gives us a far deeper and 
 
 spirit of love leads as directly to the suiTendering our o's\ti life for 
 others' sake. And these two are the only possible issues for humaa 
 life. We must in our daily conduct, as in the principles on which it 
 is based, be tending to one result or the other. If Ave desire to love, 
 we know no other pattern of love than Jesus Christ. If we Avill not 
 acknowledge His life as our guide, we must "abide in death." 
 
 II. Christ our Example. If our belief in the Satisfaction of 
 Christ be a saving faith, it must produce in us likeness to Him. For 
 the Cross was only a satisfaction to God's Justice in that it was a 
 manifestation of love. The fall of man consisted in the knowledge of 
 evil instead of good. But all evil, being contrary to the Will of God, 
 must consist in absence of love — in caring for oneself instead of for 
 others. Hence it was that murder was so speedy a result of the fall, 
 
264 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 more striking sentiment than the A. V. In the act 
 of Jesus in laying down His life the world first had the 
 opportunity of recognising what love is. Up to that 
 time, so far had they strayed from tlie path of true righteous- 
 ness, that they could form no conception of it. Neither 
 can we now, save as evidenced by the sacrifice of Jesus 
 on the cross for our redemption. — because he laid down his 
 life for us. "We have before discussed the meaning of 
 eKeivo?. Here, though neither God nor Jesus Christ is 
 mentioned, there can be no doubt wdio is meant. The 
 reference can only be to the Man Christ Jesus. The 
 words "of God," it will be remembered, are not in the 
 original, but are introduced in the A. V. Therefore also 
 they cannot be adduced, as they might incautiously be 
 adduced, as a proof of the Divinity of Christ, on had 
 better be translated " that." The word eOrjKe has been 
 noticed as remarkable. It is only found in this sense, 
 "with ^v)(7], in St. John's Gospel and Epistles, and we are 
 so familiar through our translation with the expression 
 to "lay down a life," that we do not always stop to 
 consider its meaning. Haupt interprets it here as staJcinrj 
 one's life. But it is better to interpret it in the sense of 
 laying aside, cf. Jolin x. 17, 18. — and we ought to lay 
 
 being the natural result of want of love. If, then, the work of the fall 
 were to be undone ; if God's Justice were to be satisfied by a perfect 
 obedience, that obedience must be the manifestation of Love in its 
 fullest and amplest measure. There must be the most complete 
 reversal of the princij^le that self-interest is the natural guide of con- 
 duct. And therefore the willingness to lay down even life itself was 
 necessary to that obedience. And inasmuch as Christ came to take 
 away sin, the likeness of this His Love must be reproduced in all 
 whom He has saved. No one can have received tiie Atonement 
 unless he is washed, purihed, permeated by the Blood of the one 
 Sacritice, so that he, too, is ready to give up all to secure blessings 
 for others beside himself. When the Spirit of Christ controls every 
 deed, word, and thought, then are we in truth saved by His Blood. 
 
PASSING FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 265 
 
 down our lives for the brethren. This passage alone 
 would be sufficient to prove that our Lord's death is 
 not to be regarded simply as substituted for the 
 death of all other men. On the contrary, it is the 
 expression of a principle the Saviour introduced into 
 human life, the type to which all of us should be ready 
 to conform. Not that the death of any other, from what 
 motive soever undergone, can be to the world what His 
 was. But from this one Death, considered as the repre- 
 sentative Death of mankind, our whole human life should 
 take its colour. Submission to God's law, love to all our 
 brethren, the desire to remove evil from the race by 
 cheerfully bearing its consequences ourselves ; in these, 
 when they are inwrought into the texture of our being, 
 we find the proof that the atonement has taken place in 
 us. We have " put off the old man, which is corrupt 
 after the deceitful lusts, and have put on the new man, 
 which after God is created in righteousness and true 
 holiness." And the term " lay down," applied to us, 
 would imply a " taking again ; " the gift of a restored and 
 revivified ^^x^h inspired and exalted by the Spirit which 
 comes from God. Here, again, as in ver. 14, it seems a 
 mistake to confine the term " the brethren " to Christians 
 
 ])Ut then we shall be as He is. He laid down His life for us, and we 
 are equally ready to lay ours down when our brother's need requires it. 
 
 Vers. 17, iS. — The 2^ractical realisation of love. 
 
 I. There is a tendency among men to admire great prin- 
 ciples, AND TO NEGLECT TO CARRY THEM OUT. This abstract 
 admiration for Christianity, which is content to joraise its spirit, and 
 to forget to act on that which it praises, is conimou in every age. 
 People hear a good sermon, and speak well of it, and tlieir lives, 
 though condemned by it, remain unaltered. People speak of the high 
 morality of the Bible, and refuse to carry it out. They speak enthu- 
 siastically of the " beautiful Litany " of the Church of England, which 
 prays so touchingly for those in need or distress, but tlicy will do 
 nothing to relieve the needs for which it prays. And so it is possible 
 
266 THE FIRST EPISTLE OP ST. JOHN. 
 
 alone. If He, our example, laid down His life for the 
 whole world (for His enemies, Eom. v, lo), we ought to 
 circumscribe our willingness to lay life aside within no 
 narrower limits. And His Apostles and missionaries in 
 every age have been willing to give themselves up, even 
 ibr those to whom they have been compelled to say " the 
 more I love you, the less I be loved." 
 
 Yer. 1 7. — But whoso hath this world's goods, or, " and 
 he who happens to have worldly goods," which seems to 
 give the force of av best, ^log (see ch. ii. 16) signi- 
 fies that which sustains life, and hence property, goods 
 of any kind. The translation is Tyndall's. The Eevised 
 has " goods," Wiclif " catel," and the Ehemish " substance." 
 Professor Westcott has an admirable note here. " St. 
 John turns from considering the greatness of our obliga- 
 tion to notice the ordinary character of failure. By the 
 transition he suggests that there is a dan<T;er in induhjjing 
 ourselves in lofty views which lie out of the way of 
 common experience. We may, therefore, try ourselves 
 by a more homely test." Ebrard has remarks of a 
 similar kind. And they are much needed wherever 
 sentimental meditations about dying with Christ, and 
 the beauty of self-sacrifice and self-surrender, are apt to 
 
 to be lost in ecstatic admiration of tlie Love which was consnmmated, 
 as far as hnman perceptions go, upon the Cross, and to express the 
 warmest approval of the principle that we should "go and do like- 
 wise," and yet to forget that this principle, if true, must not be 
 confined to one heroic act, to the performance of which we never may 
 be called, but must govern all the details of our daily life. 
 
 II. Our religion, if true, must be real. A religion of mere 
 external profession is Avorth nothing. It is a religion of "word and 
 tongue," not of " work and truth." Here observe that truth is coupled 
 with loork. The former pre-supposes the latter. A religion which 
 does no work for God and man is a false religion, however unexcep- 
 tionable its sentiments may be. No mere abstract admiration for the 
 Christian Creed, for the beauty of holiness, for the Life of Christ, for 
 
PASSING FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 267 
 
 take the place of the fact. Some of us are in the third 
 heaven with saints and angels on Sundays — somewhat 
 below the level of ordinary kind-hearted folk during the 
 week. — and seeth his brother have need. Eevised Version, 
 and leJwldeth his brother in need. The word OecDoio) is a 
 favourite one with St. John. It always seems to imply 
 a kind of sight in which the intellect is concerned. 
 Perhaps perceive is the best English equivalent. But 
 our word see is quite adequate to the occasion. It is 
 used of intellectual as well as physical perception. There- 
 fore we may venture to think "belioldeth" a change 
 somewhat for the worse. For ■)(^p€iav e'x'^iv in the sense 
 of being in need see also ii. 27. — and shutteth up his 
 bowels of compassion from him. The words " of compas- 
 sion" are not in the original, and are only added to 
 explain it. The older versions substitute " compassion " 
 for the more literal translation. The Ehemish has 
 " bowels " simply. The expression is a Hebraism, and 
 occurs only here in St. John's writings, though it is not 
 uncommon in the New Testament. Instances of " bowels " 
 in the sense of the seat of the affections occur constantly 
 in the Old Testament. See, for example, Genesis xliiiw 
 30. The nearest equivalent in modern English would 
 
 the principle of self-sacrifice, wUl avail in God's siglit. No mere 
 enunciation of moral sentiments, no, not even the belief in the efficacy 
 of Christ's Sacrifice to save souls, will be of any avail unless there be 
 in us the spirit of that Sacrifice, a spirit which can only be present 
 when there is real, hearty work for God's cause, which is man's 
 cause also. 
 
 III. And it must display itself in small things as in 
 GREAT, It is the characteristic of love that it wearies itself to find 
 out opportunities of showing itself. It is ready to die for a brother. 
 But inasmuch as to live this fleshly life is often "more expedient" 
 (or rather "profitable") for that brother, it "dies daily" for him. 
 That is, it daily gives up something for his sake. Whatever he "has 
 need " of, that it is willing, if it can, to give. And this is the only 
 
268 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 be " steeleth his heart against him." It seems as if a 
 certain effort were implied here ; as if the Christian, 
 when refusing to help a brother in need, not only did 
 violence to the principles of Christianity, but even to 
 the promptings of his own nature. This much seems 
 implied by " shutting up his compassion from " his 
 brother. — how dwelleth the love of God in him? Better 
 "abideth," to keep to the word we have used all along. 
 " Dwelleth," moreover, weakens the meaning which the 
 preceding words convey, that the Christian must exercise 
 a certain force upon himself to act against his better 
 feelings, must, in fact, " grieve the Spirit of God." " How 
 doth the love of God abide in him ? " (Ee vised Version), 
 gives the idea of a love which once possessed him, but is 
 now in danger of ceasing to do so. " The love of God " 
 means God's love, shed forth into our hearts, and mani- 
 fested thence by our actions. 
 
 Ver. 1 8. — My little children, let us not love in word, 
 neither in tongue, hut in deed and in truth. This form 
 of address is always used when the Apostle wishes to 
 address his flock with peculiar solemnity, and espe- 
 cially when he desires to warn them against some 
 error. See chaps, ii. i, iii. 7, v. 21. With these 
 
 true manifestation of love. He or she who dreams of deeds of heroic 
 self-sacrifice, and is daily neglecting opportunities of self-sacrifice 
 which are not heroic, will fail when the opportunity offers at last, or 
 be among those who "give their bodies to be burned, yet have not 
 love." The little kindnesses of ordinary life which require a constant 
 readiness to give up our own Avill and pleasure to serve others, these 
 are the threads Avhich when woven together make up the life of Christ 
 in the soul. It is not all who can devote themselves to some great 
 work of charity. But all can minister, in one way or another, to the 
 needs of those around them. Those needs are of various kinds, 
 physical, mental, spiritual. Only they who are striving to the best 
 of their power to minister to such needs, can be said to have the love 
 of Christ abiding in them. 
 
PASSING FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE. 269 
 
 words he closes this sub-section, opening the next, as 
 his manner is, with the idea with which he has closed 
 the former. That idea here is truth. We should read 
 " the tongue " here for " tongue." And epyw is usually 
 translated " work." But the sense is plain enough, that 
 our Christian membership is to be no barren lip-service, 
 but to be the devotion of the heart, shown forth in the 
 life. What is the doom of those who make professions 
 they do not attempt to carry out in practice, is seen in 
 the miracle of the barren ficj-tree. 
 
( 270 ) 
 
 XIX. 
 
 CHRISTIAN ASSUEANCE. 
 
 CH, iiL 1 9. — And hereby we know that we are of the truth. 
 The " and " is doubtful here, the ancient MSS. and 
 versions being about equally divided. " We know," 
 according to the best supported reading, should be "we 
 shall know." " Hereby," as in vers. 10, 16, should be 
 " herein," or " in this." So that the whole passage should 
 run thus, " [And] in this we shall know that we are of 
 the truth." " In this " refers here clearly to what goes 
 before. If we love in deed and in truth, we shall know 
 that we are of the truth. For " of the truth," see note 
 on ver. 8. It means deriving the whole tone and 
 character and substance of our lives from the truth. — 
 and shall assure our hearts before him. For the various 
 interpretations of this most perplexing passage see below. 
 The rendering of the Authorised Version and the Revised 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Vee. 19. — The doctrine of Christian assurance. 
 
 I. The desire for assurance. The most natural question, and 
 tlie most necessary question, for every Christian soul, is, Am I in a 
 state of acceptance with Christ? Yet, vital as it is, it is to be feared 
 that there are not many who ask it. A vast number are content to go 
 on from day to day, liearing the Word, and partly acting upon, and 
 partly rejecting, the doctrine of Christ ; Iialtiiig between two opinions ; 
 content to be "lukewarm, and neither cold or hot" (Rev. iii. 16). 
 
CHRISTIAN ASSURAKCE. 271 
 
 Version here seems preferable to any other. The mean- 
 ing assigned to Treia-ofiev, " satisfy," " set at rest," seems 
 supported by Matt, xxviii, 1 4. Somewhat of the same idea 
 appears in Acts xii. 20. And if it be objected that TrelOo) 
 followed by an accusative and on, elsewhere means to 
 " persuade a person that " something is the case, we must 
 remember (i) that the word does not occur elsewhere in 
 St. John's writings, and (2) that he evidently thought in 
 Hebrew, though he wrote in Greek. Hence a correct 
 idiomatic use of the word irelOoo can hardly be safely 
 assumed as a matter of course in his writings. Whether 
 we should read "heart" or "hearts" here is uncertain. 
 Both are well supported, but the former is most in keep- 
 ing with the context. " Before Him " means in this 
 life, not, as some have supposed, at the great day of 
 judgment. 
 
 Ver. 20. — For if our heart condemn us, God is greater 
 than our heart and knoweth all things. The Authorised 
 Version cuts the Gordian knot here by omitting to trans- 
 late the second on in this passage, the cause of all our 
 perplexity. The Eec. text does not reject it, though it is 
 absent from some MSS. Bishop Wordsworth's inter- 
 pretation, which has been strangely overlooked by recent 
 commentators, seems to be by far the best that has been 
 propounded of this difficult passage. He renders, "be- 
 
 Some excuse may be made for tliem by reason of the fact that there 
 are so many different explanations given by various teachers, and 
 most of them propounded with the utmost confidence as the true and 
 necessary doctrine of Clirist. But variety of teaching, though it may 
 excuse, cannot justify indifTerence. Tlie matter is one of life and 
 death, and cannot be safely neglected. If men had one spark of 
 reality in them, they would search the Scriptures, to see whether the 
 things they are told be so or not. If they neglect to do so, the blame 
 is theirs. 
 
 II. Vakious theories of assurance. With some it is (a) assur- 
 
272 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 cause, if our heart condemn us, [it is] because God is 
 greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." In 
 other words, conscience is the voice of God. If it accuse 
 us, we know that we are not " of the truth." Only when 
 our heart acquits us have we the Trapprjo-'ia which is 
 the Christian's privilege. In what follows we have 
 proceeded on the principle that all interpretations, 
 liowever grammatically permissible or even necessary, 
 which imply that God overrules the verdict of the 
 individual conscience, must be set aside, as conflict- 
 ing with the whole tenor of the Apostle's teaching. 
 This appears to be a moral necessity to which all 
 grammatical niceties must bow. Throughout the whole 
 Epistle St. John has appealed to the verdict of con- 
 science on our conduct as settling the question whether 
 we are of God or not. " If we say that we have fellow- 
 ship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not 
 the truth." " In this we know that we know Him, if 
 we keep His commandments. He that saith I know 
 Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and 
 truth is not in him ; but whoso keepeth His Word, in 
 him verily hath the love of God been perfected. In this 
 we know that we are in Him." Cf. also chaps, ii. 9- 1 1 ; 
 iii. 7, 8, 10, 14 and 17. It seems impossible, in 
 the face of these reiterated declarations, to suppose for a 
 
 ance of final salvation. An inward voice assures the man that his 
 final deliverance is secure, that his sins are Avashed away by the blood 
 of Christ, that Christ's Rirjhteousness is his by faith, that the hand- 
 writing which was against him is blotted out, and that all he has to 
 do henceforth is to walk in this blessed assurance, and he shall finally 
 be partaker of "the inheritance of the saints in light." But without 
 denying that this blessed sense of pardon and peace with God is a 
 necessary element of the redeemed life, we may doubt whether some- 
 thing more is not wanting. Nowhere in Scripture is it detinitely laid 
 down that a sense of present and future forgiveness is all a man need 
 
CHRISTIAN" ASSURANCE. 2/3 
 
 moment tliat the Apostle here could contradict himself 
 and say that if our heart accused us of breaches of the 
 law of love, we might rest satisfied that God, who knew 
 us better than we knew ourselves, would set aside the 
 verdict of our conscience, and assure us that in spite of 
 those breaches of the law, we were nevertheless in fellow- 
 ship with Him. Especially does it seem impossible when 
 St. John has just told us that it is by loving, " not in 
 word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth" (ver. i8) 
 that we are to " know that we are of the truth," and to 
 feel confidence that we are in the right way (ver. 19). 
 It is not that there is not a truth in the view we reject, 
 taken by itself. The will, it has been contended in these 
 pages, is accepted, for the present at least, in the place 
 of the deed, the daily effort after better things as the 
 earnest of future victory. But this view is designedly 
 kept out of sight by the Apostle, save in chaps, i. 7 to 
 ii. 2. He continually keeps the end, perfection in love, in 
 view, and strives with all his might to discourage the 
 slightest falling short of it. Not only to hate one's 
 brother (ver. 15) but even to deny him our compassion 
 in the minor ills of life, is to fail of having the love of 
 God in us (ver. 17). Love in word and in tongue is 
 worse than useless (ver. 18). Only by love in deed 
 and in truth can we know that we are of the truth, and 
 
 possess in order to secure the eternal inheritance. Nor do we find 
 that it is laid down as impossible that a man should ever fall from a 
 condition of acceptance into one of reprobation. And, therefore, we 
 have others teaching (6) that assurance means assurance of iiresent 
 salvation. It is possible to fall from grace given. But the comfort- 
 able assurance of acceptance Avith God at the present moment is 
 sufficient proof that Ave possess it. "We only need to guard the pre- 
 cious deposit, to live in a continual sense of Divine favour and for- 
 giveness, to accept the blessed truth that Ave are justilieil b_y the merits 
 and blood of the lledeemer, to cling to Him as our only Saviour, to 
 
 S 
 
2 74 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 can assure (or persuade) ourselves that we are in Him. 
 If our heart accuse us of not loving in deed and in truth, 
 we may be sure that God knows it better than we our- 
 selves ; nay, we know it because He knew it first. If we 
 desire to have boldness in the day of judgment, let us be 
 careful to have " a conscience void of offence against God 
 and man" (of. also Eom. ii. 15, 16). Again, it is a ques- 
 tion whether the Apostle would speak of our heart as 
 " condemning " (or " accusing," since the word used refers 
 to the verdict of conscience) us, if its witness were to the 
 effect that, in spite of numerous falls through weakness, 
 the main purpose and effort of our lives was to serve 
 God. It is at least hardly conceivable, if such a limited 
 form of accusation were meant, that some words should 
 not have been added to show the restricted sense in which 
 this self-accusation was spoken of. " If our heart accuse 
 us of occasional falls, yet in consideration of the steadfast 
 purpose of our whole lives, we may believe that God will 
 overlook our transgressions." The weighty authority 
 against this interpretation, including most of the best later 
 commentators, as Haupt, Dr. Westcott, and Mr. Plummer 
 is frankly acknowledged. I would, however, ask the 
 student to ponder the words of Dean Alford, " the eav 
 KarayiuoocrKri and the eav juitj KarayivcocrKr] are plainly and 
 necessarily opposed, both in hypothesis and in result." 
 
 depend upon Him for grace liere and glory hereafter, and we shall 
 remain to the end His faithful servants, and shall enter into the joy 
 of our Lord. This, too, is true as far as it goes. The only question is 
 ■whether Holy Writ anywhere gives us ground for believing that our 
 sense of acceptance with God depends on any opinion we may entei"- 
 tain regarding our own condition, and not rather on certain obvious 
 facts which of themselves bear testimony to the truth that we are in 
 very truth reconciled to God. 
 
 III. The true test of assurance. («.) Meaning of assurance in 
 Scripture. This Avord, on which so much has been built, only occurs 
 
CHRISTIAN ASSURANCE. 275 
 
 Once more, the Apostle tells us that we have boldness 
 (irappriaia) toward God when our heart does not accuse 
 us. Is it not a fair inference from his words that we 
 cannot possess that Trapprjcria, which (chaps, ii. 28, iv. 
 17, V. 14) is one of the characteristics of the Christian 
 life (of. also Eph. iii. i 2 and i Tim. iii. 13), when our 
 heart does accuse us ? Moreover, Mr. Plummer notices 
 the " progress by means of opposites " so peculiar to 
 this Epistle, as in chaps, i. 9, 10, ii 10, 11, iii. 7, 8, 
 iv. 2, 3. But if we make both these " opposites " refer to 
 Treicrofxev, and to denote different grounds for satisfaction 
 with our own condition, we have in fact no " opposites " 
 at all, but only different phases of the same condi- 
 tion. But the Apostle's manner compels us to regard 
 these two sentences, like all the others, as in direct 
 opposition. The heart that condemns is contrasted with 
 the heart that does not condemn. A brief summary of 
 the various interpretations of the passage is here appended. 
 They depend upon two considerations; (i.) the proper 
 rendering of Treiaroiuev, which may be construed with 
 either of the two oVi's that follow, or be taken absolutely, 
 as in the Authorised Version and Ee vised Version ; (2.) 
 the rendering of on in each case, which may either be a 
 conjunction or a relative pronoun, and may also either 
 be translated " because " or " that." We have thus the 
 
 seven times in all, in the English Bible. Add to this tlie fact that 
 the verb assure only occurs. in the present passage, and the particle 
 assured, three times, and we have at least ground for the assertion 
 that the "doctrine of assurance" has been given a prominence in 
 some modern theology to which, whether it be entitled to it or not, it 
 does not receive in Holy Writ. Add again (i) that here it is irddoi 
 (persuade) which is translated "assure," and that the word "assur- 
 ance" is usually the translation of the Greek TrXrjpofpopia, implying a 
 full persuasion of some truth, and (2) that assurance is described hy 
 Isaiali as "the effect of righteousness." It is, moreover, used in con- 
 
2/6 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 following alternative renderings: (i.) We persuade our 
 heart (or hearts) that if our hearts condemn us, we persuade 
 them, I say, that God is greater than our heart. (2.) We 
 persuade ourselves in whatever {on being taken as a pro- 
 noun) our heart condemn us, that, &c. (The objection to 
 this is that this is a somewhat strained rendering of on 
 and gives two accusatives to 'jrelaroixev.) (3,) We persuade 
 our heart . . . because if our heart condeinn us, because, I 
 say, God is greater, &c. (4.) We 'persuade our hearts in 
 whatever our heart condemn us, because, &c. ( 5 .) In what- 
 ever our heart condemn us, we persuade our heart that God 
 is greater, &c. (These two renderings also put a forced 
 construction on on^ (6.) We quiet our heart, because, if 
 our heart condemn us, because, I say, God is greater, &c. 
 (7.) We quiet our heart, whereinsoever our heart accuse us 
 (would ^ KapSla not have been repeated were this the true 
 rendering ?), because God is greater, &c. This is the render- 
 ing of Dr. Westcott and the Eevised Version. An 8th 
 rendering is still possible. We quiet our heart, on what- 
 ever point our heart may accuse us, by the thought that, &c. 
 The 9th rendering has been given above ; " We shall assure 
 our hearts before Him. Because if our heart condemn us 
 it is because God is greater than our heart and knoweth all 
 things." It is when our heart does not condemn us that 
 we can have boldness in the sight of God. The words, 
 
 nQcHon ■wii\\ understanding {Q,6\. ii. 2), hope (Heb. vi. 11), and faith 
 (x. 22). And in i Thess. i. 5 the Gospel is said to have come "in 
 much assurance." In none of these cases is the word used of the 
 assurance of the final salvation of the individual, but simply of the 
 firm conviction and persuasion of the certainty of the things revealed. 
 (6.) What is -meant by acceptance? The being "in Christ." AVe 
 are accepted not "on account of," but "in," the "beloved One." 
 We are asked to "examine ourselves" and "prove (or rather test) 
 ourselves," whether we are "in the faith." And this is further 
 explained by the words, "Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you, 
 
CHRISTIAN ASSURANCE. 277 
 
 " God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things " 
 seem to corroborate slightly the view taken above. For 
 KaTayivcoa-Kco must be taken in the sense of knowing 
 something against oneself. The proposition that God 
 knows all things may not unnaturally be taken to imply 
 that whatever we know God knows also. Had St. John 
 intended to oppose God's knowledge to ours, he must surely 
 have used some word signifying acquittal, much as he 
 says in ch, ii. i , "If any man sin, we have a Paraclete 
 with the Father, Jesus Christ the Eighteous One, and 
 He is the propitiation for our sins." 
 
 Ver. 2 1 . — Beloved. The earnestness of this com- 
 mencement would seem still further to indicate the 
 opposition between this verse and the last. It is intro- 
 duced like the words " little children," to mark an appeal 
 of special solemnity. " Beloved, let not this be the case 
 with us. Let us seek to avoid the curse of an accusing 
 conscience. Thus, and thus only, can we secure boldness 
 before God." — if our heart condemn us not, then have 
 we confidence toward God. For Trapprja-la, see ch. ii. 28. 
 The idea here is not, however, as in chaps, ii. 28 and 
 iv. 17, of boldness in the day of judgment, but as in 
 ch. V. 14, Eom. V. I, and elsewhere, of present con- 
 fidence. We may believe that a man's heart may tell 
 him that as regards his aims and principles, his object is 
 
 except ye be ddSKifxoi {i.e., men who have not stood the test) ! " But 
 they who are in Christ must display some proof of His presence 
 within. He cannot be in any heart in which no signs of His presence 
 appear. Consequently the only true token of assurance is holiness. 
 The sense of pardon, of forgiveness, of peace is necessary to start with. 
 We can make no progress in God's favour until we know that we are 
 reconciled to Him. But that sense of His favour is a delusive one, 
 unless we display the fact of reconciliation in a reconciled life. There 
 is indeed " no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." But 
 we must finish the text. They that are in Christ Jesus "walk not 
 
278 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 to do the "will of God. But his failures cannot but make 
 him uneasy, as showing that at present, at least, he can- 
 not feel so full a confidence as he could wish. So far as 
 his heart does condemn him, so far his heart must fail 
 him. And thus the passage becomes a fresh incentive to 
 loving, "not in word and in tongue, but in deed and in 
 truth." " Towards God," implies the attitude of the 
 believer, looking towards God, and walking towards Him, 
 while the attitude of the unbeliever is spoken of as turn- 
 ing away from God. Before leaving this verse, we ought 
 to remark on St. John's use of KapSla. It is used as 
 equivalent to St. Paul's a-uyeiSrjan^, a word which does not 
 occur in St. John, save in the doubtful passage in ch. 
 viii. of his Gospel. St. John uses it in the sense in which 
 the Hebrew, word for heart is used, not, as in ordinary 
 English, as indicating the seat of the affections, but of 
 the moral discernment. And this sense has passed over 
 into English theological terminology. 
 
 Ver. 22. — And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him. 
 Literally, froin Him. Observe the presents, as indicating 
 the continuity of the condition spoken of. It is the 
 normal condition of the believer to receive what he asks, 
 unless he asks amiss, Matt. vii. 7, 8 ; John xiv, 13, xvi. 
 23, 24. This is only one instance among many of the 
 way in which St. John's mind is saturated with his 
 
 after the flesh, but after the Spirit, because the law of the Spirit of 
 life hath made them free from the law of sin and of death " (Rom. 
 viii. I, 2). And thus we can lay down no theory that the sense of 
 reconciliation, pardon, and peace ivill produce the likeness of the Son 
 of God. We want the evidence of the fact that it has produced it. 
 Otherwise it was no true sense of pardon and reconciliation, no true 
 jieace. "In this Ave shall know (see Exposition) that we are of the 
 truth. ... If our heart condemn us not, we have confidence towards 
 God." " In this we know that He abideth in us, from our possession 
 of (e/c) the Spirit that He hath given us." 
 
CHRISTIAN ASSURANCE. 279 
 
 Master's teaching. Haupt connects this verse with the 
 former by saying that the idea of boldness in speech is 
 contained in the word Trapprjcria, and that tlie having our 
 prayers answered is at once a cause and a consequence of 
 this irapptjaria. See also ch. v. 14, 15 . — because we keep 
 his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in 
 his sight. This verse may either indicate the ground 
 on which our petitions are granted, i.e., our doing what 
 God commands may assure us that we shall receive 
 what we ask, or it may explain to us the means whereby 
 we receive it. In point of fact both these views are in- 
 cluded. Not that our obeying God's commands gives us 
 any merit in His sight, so that we might demand as a 
 right that He should grant our requests, but that the 
 condition of obedience is an essential pre-requisite for our 
 reception of God's blessings. A disobedient spirit dams 
 up, turns back, the flood of Divine favour ever flowing 
 towards us. We raise up by disobedience a barrier 
 which shuts out every Divine blessing. Obedience, on 
 the contrary, the setting our hearts to follow the im- 
 pulses of the Holy Spirit, also opens our heart to all the 
 blessings He has to give. And, besides, he who sets 
 himself to do what God pleases will also ask what He 
 wills. And if he asks what God wills, he may be sure 
 his petitions will be granted. The Eoman Catholic 
 
 Vers. 20, 21. — The witness of conscience. 
 
 I. That witness may be trusted. To that -witness St. Paul 
 never failed to appeal. He evidently regarded its verdict as decisive. 
 See Rom. ix. i ; 2 Cor. i. 12, iv. 2 ; i Tim. i, 5, 19, iii. 9 ; 2 Tim. i. 3 ; 
 cf. Heb. X. 2, 22. Even wlien it is mistaken, its verdict is to be 
 accepted, as long as that vei'dict is given. See Rom. xiv. 23 ; i Cor 
 viii. 12, X. 28, 29. 
 
 II. Conscience is the voice of God's Holy Spirit. So -we 
 learn from Rom. ix. i. It may sometimes be ill-formed and over- 
 scrupulous, by reason of our iniirmity. But that is no fault in the 
 
2 8o THE FIKST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 expositors here characteristically make a distinction be- 
 tween precepts and evangelical counsels. There is this 
 much soundness in their interpretation, that to do what 
 is pleasing in God's sight involves a higher standard of 
 spiritual excellence than to obey a precept directly 
 delivered. Where the mistake in this kind of dis- 
 tinction lies is in supposing that we are not all equally 
 bound to strive after the higher grace, to seek to find out 
 what God loves, as well as to do simply what He com- 
 mands. See also next note. 
 
 Vek. 2 3 . — And this is his commandment, that we should 
 believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. The expres- 
 sion here is remarkable. In fact, it occurs nowhere else. 
 Instead of TrtcrTeveiv et? to ovojua we have 'TricrTeveiu tw 
 omfiari. The one expression conveys the idea of 
 approach towards, rest upon, the name of Christ. The 
 other suggests a notion equally familiar to the Christian, 
 that is, trusting to Christ, looking to Him as the source of 
 every good. Here we have the Jirst mention of faith 
 in this Epistle. From henceforth the idea is frequently 
 introduced. It is frequently supposed that St. John is 
 the Apostle of love and Sfc. Paul of faith. The very con- 
 verse of this might as readily be asserted. From John 
 i. 1 2, and iii. i 5 onward, we can see that faith in Jesus 
 Christ is as much the foundation of the Christian life 
 
 voice itself, but only of the medium, our own corruption, through 
 which it reaches us. But whatever it is, if faithfully followed, it leads 
 to the perfect light. If resisted, such resistance issues in darkness. 
 See Eph. iv. 21, i Thess. v. 19. 
 
 III. Whether it accuse or acquit, we must hear it. Cf. 
 Rom. ii. 15. Here we are told (a) that if our heart condemn us, there 
 is One above who cannot fail to see what we see ourselves, because 
 He has shown it to us. If we feel that we have come short of the law 
 of love, we know that we have come short, just so far, of Him whose 
 law it is, and by whose abiding we have learned it. Only when our 
 
CHRISTIAN ASSURANCE. 251 
 
 ■with St. John as it is with St. Paul, while love (unfor- 
 tunately translated charity very often in St. Paul's 
 Epistles) is absent from no single one of his writings, and 
 is the subject of a panegyric in i Cor. xiii. which throws 
 into the shade even St. John's emphatic declarations of 
 the necessity of love. Faith in Christ's name, of course, 
 is faith in Himself, " in his self-manifestation " (Haupt) 
 " as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world." And 
 we learn here that the one indispensable condition of 
 doing God's will is to believe His Son. Men are now 
 laying down other principles to ensure excellence. They 
 declare that they can be as moral, as self-sacrificing, as 
 thoroughly admirable in every relation of life, without 
 Christ as with Him. But there is always something 
 lacking in lives like these. Admirable as they are in 
 many ways (and their excellence, little as the truth is 
 recognised, is due to faith, such as that faith is) they are 
 on a lower level than the lives of Christian men. Saint- 
 liuess, holiness, are words that cannot be used of such 
 lives. The sense of a divine consecration is absent. 
 Here, as elsewhere, it is true that " the first man is of 
 the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from 
 heaven." But before we can rise to the true level of 
 human excellence, we must bring ourselves to the foot 
 of the Cross, and there, in adoring love, look up for in- 
 
 lieart acquits us of any breaches of that laAv, can we have confidence 
 towards God. When, as is most frequently the case, our heart tells 
 us that we have tried to keep that laAV, but in many instances we 
 have failed, we must realise the truth that in Christ is all forgiveness, 
 all love, all strength, "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." And 
 we must set ourselves once again to fulfil that law more thoroughly. 
 And then we have forgiveness, and once more we venture to feel 
 " confidence towards God." 
 Ver. 22. — " Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him." 
 The special idea here is the strength to fulfil the law which He has 
 
252 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 spiration to the absolute surrender of His whole being to 
 God's will, which made the death of Christ the propitia- 
 tion for the sins of the whole world. There is a question 
 whether we should read iria-Tevcofjiev or iricrrevarwfjLev here. 
 Both are well supported, but the former is more likely to 
 have been a correction than the latter a mistake. A 
 copyist, seeing ayaTrw/xev in the latter part of the verse, 
 might have supposed that the former verb ought to cor- 
 respond to it. Yet Tria-revcojULev, it must be confessed, 
 yields the best sense. Faith, like love, ought to be an 
 abiding principle of the spiritual life (i Cor. xiii. 13). 
 But if we read the aorist here, we are led rather to the 
 initial resolution of the soul, which gave its direction to 
 the whole future life. Ebrard well remarks here, " St. 
 John sums up the multitude of the eproXal in the unity 
 of the one evroXi]. Of the legalist character stamped 
 upon the Eomish theology and Church he knows nothing. 
 Even the ' believing in Christ ' and ' loving one another,* 
 are not to him two commandments but only one ; because 
 M^here there is genuine and living faith, there must be 
 love, as certainly as with the sun there must be light." 
 We will lastly ask how this believing Christ can be said 
 to be His commandment ? The answer will be found in 
 John iii. 16, vi. 29, 35, 38, xi. 25, 26. — and love one 
 another, as lie gave us commandment. Eather, according as. 
 
 set before us. It is, however, true that the general includes the 
 special. 
 
 I. Whatever we ask according to God's Will, will be given 
 us. See Matt. vii. 7, xxi. 22 ; Luke xviii. i ; John xiv. 13, 14, xv. 
 7, 16, xvi. 23, 34. 
 
 IL This promise is confined to His true disciples. It 
 is addressed to those who "believe in Him," John xiv. 12; to His 
 " friends," xv. 15. And this is implied in the Sermon on the Mount, 
 w hich is addressed to those who were ready to become His disciples. 
 
 HI. Who are His true disciples? Those whose heart "con- 
 
CHEISTIAN ASSURANCE. 28 
 
 J 
 
 Faith, says St. Paul, worketh (or is put in action — evepyel) 
 by love. The two commandments are inseparable. For 
 belief in Christ is no mere abstract opinion concerning 
 His Godhead. Neither is it any persuasion that our 
 future salvation is secured. Nor is it even an intellectual 
 and moral acceptance of the perfect satisfaction made to 
 the Father for our sins upon the Cross. It is faith in 
 Him. It is reliance on Him as the source of all goodness 
 and holiness. It is confidence that He will free us from 
 all the power of sin, and re-create us in the image of 
 Himself. It is the putting ourselves en rajy'port with His 
 Nature and the influences ever proceeding from Him. 
 Thus a life of love is the necessary result of belief in 
 Him Who is love and Who is necessarily in conflict with 
 every unloving deed, word or thought. The Apostle 
 postpones the further consideration of faith to ch. v. 
 He has before this led us to Christ, the object of faith. 
 What he here presses upon us is tlie public confession 
 (6jut.o\oyia) of Christ. And (see next verse) he lays 
 stress on the inward and spiritual origin of this ofxoXoyla. 
 It is not until this correspondence between the inner 
 motive and its outward expression is sufficiently insisted 
 upon, that he recurs to faith as the link of connection 
 between the individual and the spiritual forces that en- 
 compass him. It is here that St. John first definitely 
 
 demns them not " (see last verse). Those who " do what He commands 
 them " (John xv. 14, 15, cf. Matt. xii. 50). Those who " walk not after 
 the flesh but after tlie Spirit. " Those over whom sin has not dominion 
 (Rom. vi. 14). Those who keep His commandment, and do those things 
 that are pleasing in His sight. This finally and irrevocably. Initially 
 and increasingly those who, " forgetting the things that are beliind, 
 and reaching forth unto the things that are before, press toward the 
 mark for the prize of the high calling that is in Christ Jesus " (Phil, 
 iii. 13, 14). 
 
2 84 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 explains what he means bv the " new commandment " in 
 ch. ii. 8. "We might there have inferred his meaning 
 from the context. Here it is clearly stated. See notes 
 on ch. ii. 7, 8. 
 
 A'ee. 24. — And lie that keepeth his commandments 
 dwelleth in him and he in him. I'or " dwelleth " we should 
 once more render " abideth." See note on ch. ii. 3. St. 
 John here would impress on us the true indication of 
 our being in Christ. The keeping God's command- 
 ments is not the ea use, it is the result and external manifes- 
 tation of the fact of Christ's indwelling. (It may be 
 remarked in passing that the word uuUceUing has come 
 to be used from the Authorised Version in this and other 
 passages ; but, though not unscriptural — see Eom. viii. 9, 
 II; I Cor. iiL 1 6 — it does not, at first sight, express the 
 exact idea of fxevei, which signifies abiding, remaining^ 
 rather than dwelling, and involves the idea, not merely 
 of inhabitation, but of the closest and most permanent 
 imion. But it is true, nevertheless, that the word in- 
 dwelling has come in many minds to have the meaning 
 which has just been indicated.) If the question be asked 
 whether the Father or the Son be here meant by airroV, 
 we may refer the inquirer to ch. v. 20, and more 
 especially to ch. ii. 23, 24. — and hereby we know that he 
 abideth in us, by the Spirit that he hath given us. Literally, 
 
 Ver. 24. — Another test of acceptance. The possession of the gift of 
 the Spirit. 
 
 Tliis and the preceiling verse carry on the same line of thought as 
 in ii. 3, 10, iii. 14, 19. Tn^ homiletic notes to be found on those 
 pages will suggest a similar line of treatment here. But one or two 
 adilitional points suggest themselves. 
 
 I. The JSriKiT this given is the SriRrr of Chkist. So He is 
 called in Kom. %nii. 9 ; Gal. iv. 6; Phil. i. 19 ; i Pet. L 11. Not as 
 receiving His being originally from Christ. The Father is the source 
 ui ail life, created or Divine. But as partaking of the being of Christ 
 
CHRISTIAN ASSURANCE. 285 
 
 in this, not hereby. See ch. ii. 3, 5, iii. 10, 16, 19, It 
 may not be amiss to notice that there are here four sic^ms 
 of the presence of the new life in the heart : (i) obedience, 
 (2) the doing of righteousness, (3) the loving in deed and 
 not in word only, (4) the possession of the Spirit. The 
 fifth ev TovTO) (in ch. iii. 16) relates not to the signs 
 of the presence of the new life in us, but to the life of 
 Christ as the manifestation of love, e/c too YlvevfxaTo^ 
 implies that the Spirit is the source of the knowledge. JJr. 
 Westcott remarks that neither in St. John's Epistles nor 
 in the Apocalypse does St. John apply the epithet " holy " 
 to the Spirit, i John v. 7 is, of course, not genuine. 
 See notes there. The expression, though it is to be found, 
 is by no means common in St. John's Gospel. This may 
 be regarded as a slight indication of the common author- 
 ship of the three books. eSoiKev should not be translated 
 " hath given,'' but " gave " us. The Apostle refers to the 
 moment when each one of us entered into fellowship with 
 God, and into covenant with His Son, i.e., in all ordinary 
 cases, our baptism (see John iii. 5). St. John here, as 
 his manner is (see notes on chaps, ii. 28, 29, iii. 10, 
 19), prepares for a new section of the Epistle. In con- 
 nection with our Lord's declaration in John xiv. 15, the 
 new idea which he here introduces is the gift of the 
 Spirit, which is expanded in the next chapter. Thus we 
 
 (John xxi. 14), as given or sent }>y Clirist Mohn xv. 26, xx. 22 ; Acts 
 iL 33). See also .John iii. 34. We cannot say here with certainty 
 whether the Spirit be called the Spirit of God or of Christ. But as we 
 have before stated the doctrine of the inseparable unity between the 
 Father and the Son, there can be little doubt that the Spirit is here 
 regarded as the Spirit of both. How could it be otherwise ? The Son 
 is the revelation of the Father. The Divine Spirit must, therefore, be 
 the Spirit both of the Father and of the Son. 
 
 II. His work is to bring about in us the likeness to God. 
 See Rom. viiL 1-30, where the work of the .Spirit is shown to lead up 
 
286 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 have the whole scheme of salvation before us ; the Father 
 loving us, and sending His Son to be a propitiation for 
 our sins ; the Son making satisfaction for sin, fulfilling all 
 righteousness, pleading our cause, and coming to abide in 
 our hearts ; the Spirit sent forth from Him to be the 
 power and influence which transforms us from the like- 
 ness of sin into the likeness of the Saviour ; faith as the 
 disposition of our hearts which brings us within the 
 sphere of the Saviour's influence; obedience the test of 
 fellowship with Him ; love the result of His close and 
 enduring union with us. This is the good tidings Christ 
 came from heaven to proclaim. This is the Gospel 
 which is, or should be, preached in His name to all the 
 world. 
 
 to our being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. iii. 18; 
 Eph. iv. 21-24 (with -which compare Titus iii. 5, 6, as well as John iii. 
 5 ; also John vi. 63). He not only gives life, but is life. Rom. viii. 
 2, 10 (of. John. xi. 25, xiv. 6) ; i Cor. ii. 11, 12 ; Eph. ii. 22 ; 2 Thess. 
 ii. 13. And the practical test whereby Ave know that Jesus Christ 
 abideth in us is the presence of His Spirit in the heart. A tree is 
 known by its fruits. So is the Clii-istian in whose heart Christ abides, 
 by the fruits of the Spirit (Cal. v. 22, 23). 
 
( 28; ) 
 
 \ 
 
 XX. 
 
 SPIEITUAL INFLUENCE. 
 
 /^H. iv. I. — As we have seen (iii. 24), St. John, as 
 ^^ usual, at the end of one section of his Epistle, 
 brings in the leading thought of the next. The domi- 
 nant idea of the present section (vers, i — 14) is spiritual 
 influence, either Divine or antichristian. As before we 
 have had the antagonism between light and darkness, 
 the duty of obedience, the antagonism between the world 
 and the Church, the need of righteousness, the fact that 
 all righteousness is summed up in love, so here we are 
 told of the enabling poiver by which alone we can do 
 what God's revelation in Christ requires — the Spirit of 
 God. The deep inner agreement between St. Paul and 
 St. John has not unfrequently been pointed out in these 
 pages. Another remarkable instance occurs here. As 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ver. I. — The duty of testing the spirits. 
 
 I. The faith of the Christian rests upon inward convic- 
 tion, NOT ON ANY LIVING OUTWARD AUTHORITY. 
 
 1. Scripture proof of this, (a.) We are commanded by more than 
 one Apostle to test the doctrines delivered to us. See i Thess. v. 21. 
 Also I Cor. ii. 10, 14, 15, and x. 15. (6.) The foundation of our faith 
 is declared to be such. John vi. 45, xiv. 26, xvi. 13 ; Eph. ii. 18, 
 iv. 21 ; I. Thess. iv. 9 ; Heb. viii. 10, 11 j i John ii. 27. Also Hum. 
 xiv. 6 ; Col. ii. 2 ; i Thess. i. 5. 
 
 2. The occasions on which the Apostles spoke with author itij of their 
 
2 88 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 St. Paul places in the forefront of his most elaborately 
 doctrinal Epistle the fact that the Gospel is the " power 
 of God unto salvation" (Eom. i. i6), so St. John here 
 leads us to the source of that inner strength (see especi- 
 ally ver. 4) whereby we are enabled to do that which 
 God seeks from us. 
 
 Ver. I. — Beloved, believe not every spirit. We may 
 observe here the tenderness of the true Christian mind. 
 When the Apostles of Christ desire specially to enforce 
 upon those committed to their charge any particular truth, 
 their language assumes a peculiar gentleness ; aSeXcpo!, 
 ayaTrrjTol, and the like, are the expressions that fall 
 naturally from their lips. We have grown used to them. 
 But they must have had a strange charm for those to 
 whom they were altogether new. See chaps, ii. 7, iii. 2, 
 2 1 , and ver. 1 1 . The word here gives point to the 
 affectionate urgency with which St. John would warn 
 the brotherhood not to trust implicitly to every utterance 
 which may seem to be of spiritual origin, but to remem- 
 ber that there are spiritual utterances which come from 
 God, and spiritual utterances which come from God's 
 adversary, and that it is the duty of all to test such 
 utterances, so as to know whence they are. It will be 
 observed that we have spoken here of spiritual utterances. 
 It is in that sense that the word irveufxa in this passage, 
 
 otvn had to do with minor matters. The Gospel they had to deliver 
 was intrusted to them from above. See i Cor. ix. 16 ; Gal. i. 8, 9. 
 Over that they had no power. It was God's message. Tliey could 
 neither add to it nor subtract from it. See also Epli. iii. 2, 3 ; Col. 
 i. 25; I Tim. i. 11. But St. Paul does speak of his authority in the 
 application of the principles of the Gospel, as in i Cor. v. 3, vii. 12, 
 25, 40, xiv. 37, and 2 Cor. x. 8, &c. 
 
 3. The external authority of the faith is that it ivas " once for all 
 delivered to the saints " (Jude 3). There is but one faith. And it is 
 what " we have heard frorii the beginning " (ch. ii. 24). It is the same 
 for all time. Its value for us depends on the fact that Clirist taught 
 
SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE. 289 
 
 whether in the sinGjular or plural, is to be understood. 
 We know, from i Cor. xiv., that spiritual manifestations 
 were common in the Apostolic Church, and that the 
 prophets were supposed to speak under spiritual influence 
 (observe in this connection the collocation of prophecy 
 and spiritual agency or influence in i Cor. xii. 10, xiv. 
 32, 37; and i Pet. i. 10-12). What the Apostle here 
 means then is (and the expression ylrevSoirpochtjrai con- 
 firms this view) that every person speaking under spiri- 
 tual influence is not, therefore, to be believed. There are 
 false revelations as well as true ones (and the number of 
 these magical pretenders in the early ages of Christianity 
 from Simon Magus downwards was very great), and he 
 would have men understand that there exist certain 
 objective tests whereby the true and false revelations 
 may be distinguished. What those tests were, the 
 Apostle tells us in ver. 2, — but try the spirits, whether 
 they are of God. The Eevised Version here goes back to 
 the rendering of all the chief early English translators 
 from Wiclif downwards, and translates prove. But the 
 Authorised Version has hit upon quite as good a word. 
 The modern English test is perhaps nearest to the ori- 
 ginal. It is remarkable that even the Jesuit commentator 
 Estius is compelled to admit that this duty of testing the 
 truth of doctrine is not to be confined to those who are 
 
 it. But it is for the conscience of man to respond to what is thus 
 received. 
 
 II. Yet outward authokity has its oavn function in the 
 Church of God. What that function is may be deduced from the 
 preceding head. It deals, not with tlie truths of Christianity itself, 
 hut with rules and ordinances, wliich touch, not tlie essence of the 
 Churclfs life, but its details. Thus, when any authority claims to 
 dehne doctrines, we are bound to test its decisions by tlie Scriptures. 
 In Gal. i. 8, 9 (above cited), we learn that no new revelation can be 
 made. The orijzinal revelation may be explained where necessar\% as at 
 the Council of Nica;a. But it cannot be added to. And while, on the 
 
 T 
 
290 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 comniissioned to teach, but that it extends to the whole 
 body of the faithful. With this passage we may compare 
 St. Paul's teaching in i Cor. xii. 10 (above cited), and 
 also how in his very first Epistle he urges upon believers 
 just newly fledged the duty (i) of paying attention to 
 spiritual utterances, (2) of holding them in due reve- 
 rence, and (3) of testing them (i Tiiess. v. 19-21). Mr. 
 Plummer has remarked on the large number of different 
 English words by which SoKi/jLu^eiv is translated in tlie 
 Authorised Version, a variety which tends to obscure 
 the homogeneous character of New Testament teaching. 
 — because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 
 With this we may compare chapter xi. of the recently dis- 
 covered " Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles," where several 
 tests are given whereby the false prophet may be distin- 
 guished from the true one. Among them are a mercenary 
 spirit and inconsistency of life. The word translated 
 " gone out " has caused some little difficulty. It is not 
 €\}]\v6a<Tiv but e^eXtjXvOacriv — " gone out froin" From 
 what ? Not " from us," as in ch. ii. 1 9, but from Anti- 
 christ, who is mentioned in ver. 3. As we shall see 
 presently, St. John traces all the " spirits " that are in 
 
 one hand, the conscience of the individual, when opposed to the general 
 conviction, is likely to be wrong, it cannot be assumed of necessity 
 that it is so. Too many instances exist iu the liistory of the Church 
 of Athumislus contra inundum, — of some man of extraordinary 
 spiritual insight discerning tlie importance of some truth which other 
 men liave been incapable of recognising, to allow us to admit as a 
 safe principle that we must all, in every case, bow to the voice either 
 of authority or of the majority. To be in a minority should teach us 
 caution. But it does not bind us to absolute submission. We must 
 " try the spirits," and though we must approach every question in a 
 spirit of humility (this, too, is a "spirit" in reference to which we 
 must "try" ourselves), yet we are bound to believe nothing which 
 does not approve itself to our conscience as true. 
 
 III. The true limits of outward authority. We find this 
 fxuestion fully discussed in Hooker's " Ecclesiastical Polity," and espe- 
 
SPIEITUAL INFLUENCE. 29 I 
 
 the world to two sources, the "spirit of truth and the 
 spirit of error " (ver. 6), i.e., God and the evil one. The 
 words " into the world " imply the variety of their action. 
 This was true of the Apostolic age, when the spirit of 
 error assumed various forms. And it is true still. Error 
 is hydra-headed. It takes shapes the most various and 
 diverse. But the truth is one, because He in whom it 
 inheres is One. 
 
 Ver. 2. — Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Lite- 
 rally in this. The words are very characteristic of this 
 Epistle, from ch. ii. 3 onward. In the English and 
 Greek alike the form of the sentence is ambiguous. It 
 is impossible to say positively whether " know ye " is 
 indicative or imperative. The first gives the best sense, 
 and agrees with the Apostle's itsus loquendi elsewhere (see 
 chaps, ii. 5, iii. 10, &c.) Nor does the fact that the 
 person is changed here to the second give any just ground 
 why we should contend for the imperative sense here. 
 The next words fall in better with the indicative than tlie 
 imperative rendering, though they are compatible with 
 either. — Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is 
 come in the flesh is of God. It is to be observed that 
 
 cially its general principles laid down in Book I. Every society must 
 have its rules. And tliese rules are binding upon its members. So 
 are the rules laid down by authority in the Church, unless they are 
 clearly contrary to the first principles of Christianity. Even here we 
 must "trj'^ the spirits." Our conscience must be satisfied that there 
 is nothing wrong in principle in these rules. But we must not, as is 
 often done, mistake our self-will for our conscience. And if the in- 
 consistency of rules with first principles be not clearly shown, we must 
 not set ourselves against them. 
 
 IV. By what test are we to try the spirits ? One test only 
 is given here — the confession of Jesus Christ come in flesh ; in other 
 Mords, the doctrine, or rather truth, or fact, of the Incarnation. But 
 as this is not the whole Gospel, we are bound to extend it to the whole 
 Gospel, i.e., the message delivered with one mouth by the Apostles of 
 Christ, enshrined in the creeds and contained in the sacred Scriptures. 
 
292 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 the Christian life has two sides, the inward and the 
 outward. Of the first faith is the essential characteristic, 
 of the latter confession. The first determines the relation 
 of man to God, the latter his relation to his fellow-men. 
 And the Christian life of necessity passes from the 
 inward to the outward, from the vital union of the soul 
 with God to external brotherhood with those who are 
 similarly united to Him. Thus o/noXoyia — public con- 
 fession of discipleship of Christ — is the necessary conse- 
 quence of a genuine faith. Therefore St. John in this 
 Epistle lays stress on it (see ch. ii. 23, and ver. 15 
 of this chapter). St. Paul does not often mention it, 
 though we have it in Eom. x. 9, 10. It occurs several 
 times in the Epistle to the Hebrews. But it depends on 
 the emphatic words of our Lord in Matt. x. 3 2 (cf. Luke 
 xii. 8), which are reflected in this Epistle. The con- 
 fession lies at the root of the Christian sacraments, and is 
 involved in the very idea of a visible Church. Next 
 we have to consider how the words 'Irjcrovv ^picrrov ev 
 a-apKi eXjjXvOoTa are to be taken. They may be taken in 
 three ways : (i) confesseth "that Jesus is* Christ come in 
 flesh," or (2) " that Jesus Christ," the man known to men 
 
 V. There are many errors abroad. St. John wains the Chris- 
 tians of his clay against error. The warning is equally necessary now. 
 It needs not to specify instances. But it may be remarked that thej'^ 
 fall under four heads : (i) traditional corruptions of the faith, whether 
 in a Roman or a Protestant direction ; (2) new revelations, such as 
 Swedenborgianism, Irvingism, or Mornionism ; (3) neglect or exaggera- 
 tion of portions of revealed truth, such as has often led to the forma- 
 tion of sects ; and (4) denial of all revelation, as in the various forms 
 of infidelity. 
 
 Vers. 2, 3.— TA*; spirit of Antichrist. 
 
 We have ah-eady referred to one aspect of this subject in our notes 
 on chapter ii. There the special point singled out for notice was that 
 Antichrist means tlie rejection of Christ. We proceed to notice other 
 characteristics of Antichrist brought before us in this passage. We 
 notice : — 
 
SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE. 293 
 
 by name as Jesus, and acknowledged by them as Christ, 
 " has actually come in flesh " (so Authorised Version and 
 Eevised Version), or (3) confesseth "Jesus Christ come 
 in flesh," connecting the whole phrase with the confession. 
 Professor Westcott is, on the whole, in favour of (3). 
 But it is possible, considering that the whole point of 
 every one of the Gnostic sects consisted in the denial of 
 the possibility of God's uniting Himself to a material 
 body, and that one sect after another insisted upon making 
 a distinction between the Aeon Christ and the man Jesus, 
 that St. John here desires (i) to point out that Jesus and 
 Christ are one inseparable Person, and (2) that this 
 Person has actually appeared in fleshly shape. Cf. St. 
 Paul's phrase in Col. ii. 9, where he definitely asserts 
 that the whole Pleroma, i.e., the whole circle of Divine 
 powers and attributes, were manifested in Jesus Christ in 
 bodily form. If this view be correct, the second of the 
 two interpretations, which, as we have seen, has the 
 sanction of our Eevisers, is to be preferred. As Ebrard 
 remarks, the interpretation " come unto (or into) flesh," 
 which some have suggested, is inadmissible, were it only 
 on the ground that St. John thought in Hebrew, and 
 
 I. The relation between Antichrist and the Man of Sin. 
 Antichrist, we are told (i) rejects Christ, (2) denies the Father and 
 the Son, (3) denies that Jesus Christ has come iu flesh. Tlie man of 
 sin (i) assumes to himself Divine honours {2 Thess. ii. 4), (2) denies 
 the claim of any other being than himself to be Divine, (3) sets him- 
 self against the law of God (6 auo/jLos). Whether these two descriptions 
 can be reconciled in every respect is not perfectly certain. But there 
 appears no absolutely conclusive reason why they should not apply to 
 the same person. For to assume Divine honours is to deny Christ, 
 and to deny Him is to deny the Father who sent Him ; and denial of 
 Him involves rejection of His law. 
 
 II. The signs of the antichristian tendency. If, as seems 
 at least highly probable, Antichrist and the man of sin are to be re- 
 garded as one and the same person, we have the almost Divine 
 honours paid to the Pope as one sign of the antichristian tendency. 
 
294 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 that in Hebrew the prepositions signifying in and unto 
 are not interchangeable. This, then, was the test of all 
 spiritual revelations. They must accept as a starting- 
 point the fact of the Incarnation ; the fact that Jesus 
 Christ was one Person, and that this Person had mani- 
 i'ested the Godhead to the world in our mortal flesh. To 
 deny this, is to deny the fundamental verity of the 
 Gospel. There could be no redemption for humanity 
 until God had sanctified and perfected our mortal flesli 
 by taking it into union with Himself. Nor are we able 
 even to conceive of Him aright, save through His image, 
 namely, perfect man. We may compare St. Paul's lan- 
 guage in I Cor. xii. 3. But it is much less definite. 
 We should not fail to observe the perfect. Christ has 
 come. This is an "abiding fact" (Westcott). He not 
 merely came once to the world and left it again, but He 
 abides in it still, by His Spirit. And by flesh is meant 
 simply the material of which our bodies are composed. 
 The Gnostics denied that the Deity could be united to 
 matter, which they believed to be essentially alien to the 
 Divinity. And so they denied the perfect manhood of the 
 Son of God. The Apostle asserts, on the contrary, that 
 
 " Every pope," says the late Bishop of Lincoln, "on his election is 
 carried into the principal chnrch at Rome, his cathedral, St. Peter's. 
 He is there lifted up by the cardinals, and is placed on the high altar. 
 When there placed, and sitting in the church of God, on the altar of 
 (iod, he is adoredhy them kneelinrj before him, and kissing his feet." 
 This act, the Bishop further says, is expressly called " the adoration." 
 He has lately (1S70) been credited Avith personal infallibility, so that, 
 at least when he speaks as the mouthpiece of the Church, his utter- 
 ances demand the assent of the faithful, whether they be utterly con- 
 trary to the whole historical development of Christianity or not.^ This, 
 
 1 Roman controversialists will declare that it is impossible that the Pope could 
 decree anything contrary to the historical development of Christianity. But this is 
 little to the purpose, because it is a pure assumption. And some of tlie Infallibilists 
 were rejoiced at the Vatican decrees, because they enabled them to set all historical 
 iu-iuiry aside. 
 
SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE. 295 
 
 He condescended to be " bora of the flesh," that we through 
 Him might be " born of the Spirit" (John iii. 5, 6). 
 
 Ver. 3. — And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus 
 Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. First of all, we 
 may remark that the true reading here is confesseth not 
 Jesus is not of God. The rest has evidently been added, as 
 is so often the case in the later MSS., to make this passage 
 agree with the last. This had, in the present case, already 
 been done when the Codex Sinaiticus was written. But, 
 as Mr. Plummer remarks, St. John's antitheses are seldom 
 verbally complete. See chaps, i. 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, ii. 10, 
 &c. Some very ancient Fathers read here o Xvei for o 
 fj.f] ofioXoyei. It is easy to see whence this reading 
 originated. The teaching of St, John in ver. 2, as opposed 
 to the Gnostic sects, is that Jesus Christ " is not two, but 
 one Christ." Some early Father, Irenseus, most probably, 
 in contending with the Gnostics, has paraphrased the 
 passage, and substituted o Xvei for o /nr] o/xoXoyei. We 
 find the words in Irenteus' treatise against the Gnostic 
 heretics. And it seems almost certain that, catching the 
 drift of the Apostle's thought, he has substituted the one 
 phrase for the other, and that hence the reading has been 
 
 too, almost amounts to a Divine prerof^ative. So also we find in 
 Gratian's Decretum (a collection of canons for the Roman Church) the 
 following : — " Satis evidenter ostenditur a sa?culari potestate nee ligari 
 prorsus nee solvi posse Pontiticem, queiii constat a pio Principe Con- 
 stantino Deuni appellatum, nee posse Deum ab hominibus judicari 
 nianifestum est" (Dist. 96, 97). But this, after all, is but the exhibi- 
 tion of a tendency. Christ is not, as yet, denied. Nor is his Incarna- 
 tion denied. The full revelation of Antichrist will be one in which the 
 autocratic tendency and the creature worship of the Roman Church will 
 be supplemented by the rejection of Christ. For other signs, therefore, 
 of that readiness to be revealed whicli we read of in 2 Tliess. ii. 7, we 
 must look to the opposite quarter. Not Agnosticism, for Antichrist 
 claims for himself Divine honours. But rather, perhaps, in tlie direc- 
 tion of Positivism. Extremes meet, and a development of Romanism 
 which ends in rejecting Christ, might coalesce with a creed which 
 
296 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 introduced by some copyist into the text. But it is clear 
 that it is a gloss, not the real text of the Epistle. Not 
 to confess Christ as come in flesh is to dissolve Him, to 
 divide Him into two. And in this way it comes to pass 
 that Tertullian and Origen (in the Latin translation, 
 however, be it observed, of his works), following Irenseus, 
 have so paraphrased the words. But, with the single 
 exception of the Vulgate (which Wiclif follows in his 
 tva,nslixtion fordoith), not only no Grreek MS., but no version, 
 and no Greek Father, has this reading, with the single 
 exception of Socrates, the ecclesiastical historian, who 
 charges Nestorius with being wilfully ignorant that it" 
 was the reading of the older copies, and affirms that the text 
 had been tampered with for doctrinal purposes. Though 
 the words " come in flesh " are not found in the text, they 
 must of course be mentally supplied. To deny His in- 
 dissoluble union in one Person with the Godliead is to 
 deny Jesus Himself. If He were not God manifest in 
 the flesh He was a crucified man and nothing more. He 
 was no longer the Jesus whom the Apostles preached and 
 on whom the disciples believed. Professor Westcott com- 
 
 desired some embodiment of tlie ideal of liumauity, tlie only thing, 
 we are told by some writers of our own age, which is really Divine.^ 
 
 The restraints of civil society are no doubt the forces which hinder 
 the development of such a power. But it is abundantly clear that it 
 can still be said of the spirit of Antichrist, " even noAV already is it in 
 the world." 
 
 Ver. 4. — The ground of the Christian'' s confidence.. 
 
 We have already spoken of the nature of Christian assurance. It 
 needs not, therefore, that we go over that ground again. What is here 
 
 1 This is the teaching of the advocates of Positivism, a creed of whicli Mr. 
 Frederick Harrison is the prophet, and Mr. Swinburue tlie poet. In "Songs^ before 
 Sunrise," by the latter, we read, 
 
 " But God, ir a God there be, is the substance of men that is man." 
 
 And again, 
 
 "Glory to man in the highest, for man is the master of things." 
 
 But if we pursue our researches into Mr. Swinburne's poems, we shall find far 
 better ground for the assertion thut lie is, very often, their slave. And we shall 
 perchance be convinced that there is such a thing as "shame to man in the lowest " 
 depths of moral degradation. 
 
SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE. 297 
 
 pares this passage with ch. iii. 10, and remarks that 
 " the confession of the Incarnation embodied in the life 
 must produce the effort after righteousness which finds 
 its absolute spiritual support in the belief in the Incar- 
 nation." Nor is this all. Without the belief in the In- 
 carnation, it would be impossible to " do righteousness." 
 For the power to " do righteousness " comes to sinful man 
 only through the fact that it has been done ; that man has 
 fulfilled the will of God. And until each man makes 
 this truth his own by faith, until by faith he unites him- 
 self to Him by whom it has been done, the task remains 
 for him an impossibility. — and this is that spirit of anti- 
 christ, whereof ye have heard that it should come. Most 
 of the commentators supply " spirit of " here. But Dr. 
 Westcott and Bishop Wordsworth, more correctly, would 
 have the rendering more general, " this is the temper," 
 or " tendency," or " character " of Antichrist. " The many 
 spirits, the many forces, which reveal his action " (West- 
 cott). That " it " and not " lie," as the earlier translators 
 render, is correct, appears from the neuter o. — and even 
 now ahready is it in the world. Better as Revised Version : 
 
 meant by confidence is the confidence of final victory. This springs, 
 Ave are told, from faith (i) in God, and (2) in the fact that such a faith 
 unites us to Him. It is derived from tlie belief that we are " of " and 
 "in" God. 
 
 I. The Christian may have courage, because he is of God. 
 
 We proceed to inquire what is meant by being "of God," and what, 
 therefore, is the nature of the confidence the Christian feels. There 
 are false, as well as true conceptions of Avhat is meant by a passage 
 such as tliis, and therefore false, as well as true, grounds of con- 
 fidence. 
 
 I. Our confidence is not grounded in the past, hut in the present. 
 There are those who suppose that they are to look back for their 
 source of confidence. They look (a) to a past act, not to a present 
 Lord ; to a reconciliation worked out for them on the Cross, not to a 
 translation of themselves, by Divine power, into the whole spirit and 
 mind of that great act of Atonement, not to the interweaving, through 
 
298 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 And now it is in the world already. The anticliristian 
 temper must be in the world, to pave the way for the 
 advent of Antichrist himself. 
 
 Ver. 4. — Ye are of God, little cMldren. For reKvla 
 see ch. ii. i. v/meig is of course emphatic. It opposes 
 the faithful (i) to those who do not confess Jesus, (2) to 
 the world and its ruler. See also note on ch. iii. 10. 
 — And have overcome them, i.e., the false prophets, 
 as displaying " spirits," which are " not of God." The 
 Vulgate reads " eum," i.e., Antichrist ; and Wiclif there- 
 fore translates here by " him." The idea of conflict and 
 victory, so marked in the Apocalypse, appears occasionally 
 in this Epistle, though it is not brought forward with 
 any degree of prominence until we come to the next 
 chapter. It is, however, involved in the idea of the 
 antagonism between light and darkness, between the 
 children of God and the world, between Christ and the 
 devil, of which we read so much here, and the idea comes 
 from the declaration of Jesus Christ in John xvi. 3 3 : 
 " Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Some 
 liave compared the perfect here with its use in ch. 
 ii. I 3. But here it simply means that the disciples have 
 
 the Spirit of Christ, of that Crucifixion into the whole texture of their 
 lives. And (b) they look to a past ratlier than to a present realisation 
 of God's for<,aYeness and saving power, to a conviction of it once for 
 all, rather than to an abiding conviction of the presence of the latter 
 with them in eveiy moment of temptation, of the former after every 
 fall truly repented of. 
 
 2. It is justified by present conduct. We can do no more here than 
 point to ver. 8. We cannot take to ourselves the promises of this 
 verse, and ignore the explanation of those promises given immediately 
 afterwards. We are only entitled to say "we are of God," if our 
 heart tells us that we are living in love. Imperfectly as yet, no 
 doubt, but still yearning after, striving after, pressing forward to- 
 wards, more love, and ever reproaching ourselves and craving forgive- 
 ness for our past failures, as well as taking care that no unloving 
 si)irit is allowed to remain withiu us. 
 
SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE. 299 
 
 withstood the seductions of the false prophets. — Ijecause 
 greater is lie that is in you than he that is in the world. 
 The fundamental fact of God's indwelling through Christ 
 in all who believe in Him is the source of inner strength 
 whereby all conflict is maintained and victory won. See 
 Luke xi. 21, 22. "He that is in the world" can mean 
 nothing but the devil, who is called the prince (John xii. 
 31, xiv. 30) and the god (2 Cor. iv. 4) of this world. 
 Cf. also I Cor. ii. 12 ; Eph. ii. 2, vi. 12 ; Eev. ix. 3, 11. 
 'J'he reason why we have not " in them," as corresponding 
 to " in you," is explained by the next sentence. 
 
 Ver. 5. — They are of the world. Cf. ii. 16; iii. 8, 12, 
 19, and notes there. "Of the world" means from the 
 world, both here, and in the next part of the verse. See 
 also John xv. 19. The whole character and tone of 
 thought of these false prophets and their followers 
 derives its impress from that world which, though it was 
 originally God's order, has rebelled against and over- 
 thrown that order, so that the only true description of 
 it is to be found in the words " the whole world lieth 
 in wickedness" (ch. v. 19); or rather, perhaps, "is 
 exposed to the influence of the evil one." — therefore 
 
 3. It is in God, not in ourselves. That is to say, it rests entirely on 
 the fact that God is able to save us in every temptation, if Ave only (i) 
 trust Him implicitly, (2) offer ourselves to Him nnreservedlj^ If we 
 ever fail to overcome temptation, it is not because He cannot save us, 
 but because we will not be saved. We can only tru.st ourselves to be 
 *' of God " Avhen we know that our whole Avill and purpose is to obey 
 His revealed Avill, to offer ourselves a continual sacrilice to Him. 
 
 II. The Christian has, in one sense, already overcome his 
 
 ENEMIES. 
 
 The Apostle here lias evidently a double meaning, relating (i) to the 
 past (2) to the future. The first is indicated by the perfect tense, tlie 
 second by the reference to the saving power of God. The first may be 
 discussed here. In what sense can a Christian be said to "have over- 
 come" his enemies? In thi.s, that sin has no longer power over him, 
 except by his voluntary consent tliereto (Rom. vi. 14). Before his 
 
300 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 
 Eather from the world, i.e., " from out of the worldly 
 nature " (Ebrard). For the threefold repetition of the 
 word world, cf. John iii. 3 i . But the idea there is of 
 the capacity of seeing only what is visible. The idea 
 here is of men under the influence of a power in opposition 
 to God. 
 
 Ver. 6. — "We are of God. Cf. John xvii. 1 4. This is 
 generally supposed to refer to teachers only. But it is 
 a question whether, both here and in ver. 14, there is 
 not at least a secondary reference to all Christians. 
 Certainly they are all " of God," if there be anything 
 genuine in their Christianity. And as every Christian 
 is bound to " give a reason for the hope that is in him " 
 (i Peter iii. 15), many to whom the Gospel has not been 
 formally preached by Christ's ministers, may have been 
 able to " hear " the truth. So Calvin : " all who individu- 
 ally called by position and opportunity to bear witness 
 their faith." The Apostle then first (ver. 4) addresses 
 his flock. He next includes them in the same category 
 with himself. See this question further discussed under 
 
 union with Christ he was under the power of sin. He had no certainty 
 that he could resist it. But from the very moment that he consciously 
 accepts his position as the servant of Christ, from the moment that he 
 realises the power of God in Christ to save him from his sins and 
 reconcile him to his Father, he has overcome the spirits of evil, at 
 least so far as this, that he knows that he is no longer the helpless 
 slave of his own passions, but that he may be their master if and when 
 he wills to be so. 
 
 III. His trust for the future is not in himself but in the 
 POWER OF God. 
 
 There are various grounds of trust (i) in our conversion in times 
 gone by, (2) in our progress and perseverance up to the present time, 
 (3) in vague hopes of some possible interference of God on our behalf 
 in the future. The only real ground of hope or confidence lies in our 
 present realisation of God (i) as stronger than evil, and (2) as willing 
 to save us from it. Relying on this we may go calmly on from day 
 
SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE. 3OI 
 
 ver. 14. — He that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not 
 of God heareth not us. Cf. John viii. 47. The present 
 yivuxTKcoi^ implies a present condition of knowledge, but 
 it neither implies that it is perfect, nor that this know- 
 ledge is incapable of being increased. The predestinarian 
 question which Calvin and Diisterdieck force upon our 
 text has really nothing to do with it. " The distinction 
 between ' being of God ' and ' not being of God ' is a 
 distinction, not of cause, but of result" (Ebrard). "How 
 these two classes are what they are, it is not the purpose 
 of this passage to set forth, nor need we here inquire " 
 (Alford). But what is the question in this passage, 
 and what it does not seem to have occurred to any com- 
 mentator on this passage to inquire into, is this : what 
 is meant by " knowing God " and being " not of God " ? 
 St. John in the next sentence shows that the " hearing," 
 i.e., accepting, Christian teaching and " hearing it not," 
 are the tests whereby we may discern the " spirit of truth 
 and the spirit of error." But he does not tell us in what 
 the " knowing God " and the " not being of God " con- 
 sist. It may be believed that the distinction consists in 
 
 to day, meeting temptations as they arise, fearing no harm that may 
 happen to us in tlie future, offering our hearts to God every moment 
 for His inspiration and guidance, firmly convinced that "greater is 
 He that is in us than he tliat is in the Avorld." 
 
 Vers. 5, 6. — The distinction betiveen the spirit of truth and the spirit 
 of error. 
 
 I. The distinction between truth and error is a practical 
 
 DISTINCTION. 
 
 There are those who would make it an intellectual distinction. To 
 them it consists, not in the spirit that prompts men's actions, but in 
 the opinions by which they guide their lives. It is not denied but that 
 intellectual error will invariably lead to evil, and that it is our duty 
 to form sound opinions. But it is also our dut}' to understand how 
 sound opinions are to be formed. We may learn tliis from John vii. 
 17, viii. 31. The true way to form right opinions is to set ourselves 
 to obey God's will, and thus we shall be gradually and steadily led 
 
302 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 acting up to the light we have, or refusing to do so. He 
 who submits to God's guidance, so far as it is vouchsafed 
 him, may be said, in a sense, to "know God," and such 
 an one will readily welcome any teaching which helps him 
 to know more. He who is " not of God " is he who resists 
 what his own heart teaches him to be the true will of God. 
 And such a man will not listen to the truth when it is 
 ]iroclaimed to him. St. John uses olkovco in the sense 
 (jf listen, i.e., to hear and heed. — Hereby know we the 
 spirit of truth and the spirit of error. See Isaiah viii. 20, 
 and last note. The words here translated " hereby " are 
 literally " from this," i.e., from the acceptance or rejection 
 of God's truth just mentioned. For " spirit of truth " cf. 
 John xiv. 17, XV. 26, xvi. 13. Dr. Westcott refers to 
 I Cor. ii., especially vers. 12, 14. The "spirit of truth" 
 may mean either " the spirit which is true," or " the 
 spirit which proceeds from the truth." Or both. For 
 tlie Holy Spirit being truly God, truth is an essential 
 characteristic of Him. And inasmuch as He proceedeth 
 from the Father, who is Truth, and from the Son, who 
 has proclaimed that He is the Truth (John xiv. 6), He 
 
 to the lii^lit. If we set ourselves to form sound opinions by argument 
 and not by obedience, we shall not attain them. We shall dispute in 
 a spirit of self-assertion and self-will. When we have got hold of a 
 truth we shall misapply and misinterpret it. We may observe that 
 St. John does not speak of correct doctrines or sound opinions, but of 
 a spirit of truth and a spirit of error, breathed into us by God or God's 
 enemy. 
 
 II. It is the difference between living for God and living 
 FOR the world. All practical principles of life may ultimately be 
 reduced to two, and thus ascribed to their authors, the .spirit of trutli 
 and the spirit of error. Tliere are two, and only two, opposing 
 doctrines in existence. The one is the spirit which impels us, in 
 various ways, to make the best of the present life because we knoAv 
 so little about what there is in another. Some it impels to a grosser 
 kind of indulgence, others to a more refined and far-seeking kind of 
 sellishness. But in all it teaches them to bound their horizon by the 
 
SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE. 303 
 
 may be said also to proceed from the Truth. A third 
 interpretation, not inconsistent with the other two, may 
 be given, namely, that He imparts truth to those who 
 receive Him. The same may be said of the spirit of error. 
 It may be called the spirit of error for three reasons — 
 because it proceeds from error, because it produces error, 
 and because it is error. The expression, says Professor 
 Westcott, is unusual ; but the idea which prompts the 
 expression is not so. Cf. ch. i. 8, ii. 26. Also 2 Thess. 
 ii, 9-1 1, and i Tim. iv. i. 
 
 grave, and to take care, in some way or other, to secure for themselves 
 as ample a share of the blessings and comforts of life as they 
 conveniently can. The other is the spirit which leads us to seek 
 nothing for ourselves, but to offer our whole being to God from 
 Whom it came ; to do His will, whatever may befall us : to regard 
 no sorrows, privation, inconveniences, as matters to be complained of, 
 if they come in the imth of duty. 
 
 III. It distinguishes between the disciples of Christ and 
 THE disciples OF THE EVIL ONE. Many tests have been devised for 
 the discovery of the true Christian. One only is the true one. Is he 
 guided by the Spirit of Christ, or is he not? (i) Does he seek to con- 
 form his opinions to those of men about him? Does he seek to avoid 
 inconvenience or danger, or is he zealous for the truth, and for it 
 alone ? (2) Does he seek to lead an easy life, to cultivate the good 
 opinion of his fellows, to obtain from them what present advantages 
 he can ? Or does he set before him steadily what is right as his aim 
 and object? Does he endeavour to attain a standard which is not of 
 this world but of the other? There are many who call tliemselves 
 disciples of Christ. But to be truly His we must renounce the world. 
 
( 304 ) 
 
 XXI. 
 
 LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 
 
 riH. iv. 7. — We here commence a fresh section of the 
 ^ Epistle. Once more the Apostle takes up the duty 
 of love, but from a different and far deeper point of view. 
 The duty of love is enforced in ch. ii. 5-1 1, as a sign 
 of our belonging to the kingdom of light, and not that 
 of darkness. In ch. iii. 10-18, it is referred to as the 
 necessary proof of our sonship to God. In ch. iii. 23 
 it is spoken of as a commandment of God, the keeping 
 of which stamps us as abiding in Christ. But here tlie 
 duty of love is based upon the essential nature of God, 
 and upon the inward fellowship which every believer 
 has with Him by partaking of His Spirit. — Beloved. 
 Here, as in ver. i, we have this form of address as 
 marking a point to which the Apostle desires to draw 
 special attention. — let us love one another. " In this in- 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Vers. 7, 8. — The real nature of the spirit of truth. 
 
 I. The spirit of truth cannot co-exist with love of self. 
 The question may arise, and ivill arise, — You speak of living for God, 
 but what is living for God ? It is possible even to renounce the world 
 and be no nearer God (i Cor. xiii. 3). It is possible to have a fierce 
 ascetic hatred of this world's goods. It is possible to seek tlie king- 
 dom of heaven in a spirit of refined selfishness. It is possible to hate 
 and despise those grovelling creatures who seek only for earthly joys. 
 
LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 305 
 
 junction it is obvious that only the love of Christians to 
 each other is first of all meant ; yet we see at once, by 
 the general reason given in the great truth that God is 
 love (ver. 8), and sent His Son etV tov Koa/j-ov (ver. 9), 
 that the universal love of all mankind is no more to be 
 excluded here than it was excluded in ch. iii. 13, seq." 
 (Ebrard). See note on the last-cited passage. — for love 
 is of God. St. John first tells us that love comes from 
 God. And then, as he so often does, he leads us in- 
 sensibly to a higher form of the truth, namely, that 
 " God is love." And since God is love, and since He 
 abides in us by His Spirit (ch. iii. 24), a perpetual 
 stream of love flows from Him to us, and through us, if 
 we will receive it, to the rest of mankind, " especially 
 them that are of the household of faith."^ — and every one 
 that loveth is born of God. The Eevised Version prefers 
 " begotten " to " born." Observe the perfect tense. He 
 who loveth must already have received that birth or 
 begetting which is the eflect of Christ's coming. Mr. 
 Piummer remarks here, " If a Socrates or a Marcus 
 Aurelius loves his fellow-men, it is by the grace of God 
 that he does so." The passage seems to assert more 
 than this. " Every one that loveth," we are told, has not 
 merely received grace from God, but has been " begotten 
 of Him." That is to say, the new birth or begetting 
 
 It is possible even to serve God in a spirit of Pharisaic pride, of luirli 
 conceit of ourselves and contempt of others. Is this, can it be, the 
 spirit of truth ? We reply, No ; for 
 
 II. The spirit of truth is the Spirit of God, and He is Love. 
 The contempt of this world is useless for its own sake. The hate of 
 our fellow-creatures is no part of true religion. There can be no true 
 obedience to God where there is an over-estimation of ourselves or con- 
 tempt of others. So Christ has told us in many a discourse and many 
 a parable. But here we see not only that it is, but xohy it is. Re- 
 ligion consists in uniting ourselves to God, and God is Love. If, then, 
 
 U 
 
^06 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 O 
 
 ■which Christ came to bring into the world, was received 
 before He came, and even by those who rejected Him. 
 The paradox, like many other paradoxes, involves no 
 contradiction. He who believes in the duty of a human 
 being to love his fellows, believes in God far more truly 
 than if he could repeat all the formulae of the schools. 
 Whosoever has learned to love, has received the first 
 seeds of the life of God. Nay, though perchance he 
 knows it not, he believes on the Son of God, .who 
 is love, and came to manifest and to impart love. The 
 full revelation of God's perfections could only be known 
 through God manifest in the flesh. The first stirrings 
 of the" Divine life, however, are found in him who has 
 apprehended, however dimly, the truth that God is love, 
 and who has striven to display, in his own life, the 
 likeness to what he has believed of God. If it be asked 
 how such a statement can be reconciled with a passage 
 like John iii. 5, which seems to assert the necessity of a 
 public confession by Christian Baptism; or Acts iv. 12, 
 which asserts the impossibility of salvation without 
 Christ, we may find some light thrown upon the difficulty 
 by ver. 6. The first stirrings of the new and higher 
 life of man (i) have been felt wherever love is present; 
 (2) they are the work of the Son of God. And he in 
 whom they are felt will of necessity be drawn to Christ 
 whenever He is truly presented to him. If they are 
 
 Ave are united to God, we must show the results of that union by dis- 
 playing our likeness to Him. It is not contempt of the world that is 
 to be sought, but the desire to seek the welfare of others before our 
 own. This is God's object ; it must, thei-efore, be ours. 
 
 {a.) This is tchy we are to hate sin. For all sin is a violation of the 
 law of love. All sin derives its origin from the desire to benefit our- 
 selves at the expense of others. And thus sin can only be put away 
 by the renunciation of all desire for our own gratification at others' 
 expense. Thus, not only immediate gratification, but all gratilica- 
 
LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 307 
 
 apparently not so drawn, this may be because, as in the 
 case of a man like Marcus Aurelius, they have never 
 had the doctrines of Christianity fairly presented to 
 them, or, as in the case of many earnest and loving 
 sceptics now, because their assent has been demanded to 
 the formulae of the schools, and not to the simple state- 
 ments of Holy Writ. Whensoever the truth, " as it is 
 in Jesus," the truth embodied in His Life and Person, 
 presents itself to their souls, stripped of all the trap- 
 pings with which man's intellect has encumbered it, they 
 cannot choose but " hear " it, because they have been 
 " begotten of God." But whether this explanation be 
 accepted or not, the declaration stands plainly revealed 
 in the Scriptures. " Everij one that loveth has been 
 begotten of God." And this must, in some way or other, 
 be reconcilable with the doctrines of the need of faith in 
 Christ, of the new birth, and of the efficacy and neces- 
 sity of the Sacraments. — and knoweth G-od. The tense 
 must be noted here. It is neither the aorist (as in the 
 next verse) nor the perfect (which our English present 
 sometimes approaches in signification). As in the last 
 verse, it signifies a present condition of knowledge which 
 is capable of increase, or, it may be, diminution. 
 
 Vek. 8. — He that loveth not knoweth not God. Here 
 we may either take the aorist (see ch. iii. i) strictly, 
 in which case it will mean " did not know God " when 
 
 tion in whicli others have no share must be distasteful to us. And 
 this, in a sinful world, will constantly involve the renunciation of 
 things at which others greedily snatch, and even of blessings fairly 
 our own, which, but for others' needs, we might legitimately have 
 enjoyed. 
 
 (b.) This is the lesson of the Cross. The Cross presents to us (i) God's 
 love, (2) man's perfection, (i.) It illustrates the love of a Fatlier who 
 desires to keep nothing back, but wills "freely" to " give us all tilings " 
 (Rom. viii. 32). (2.) It illustrates the Spirit of truth, the Divine Spirit 
 
o 
 
 08 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 he professed to do so, i.e., when he entered the Christian 
 Church ; or better, less strictly, since the aorist in New 
 Testament Greek frequently answers to the Hebrew 
 imperfect, and is altogether indefinite in point of time, 
 in which case it will mean (Alford, Braune, Plummer) 
 " hath never known Him ; " i.e., there can be no know- 
 ledge of God without love. This agrees best with what 
 follows. — for God is love. " ayaTrrj, not rj aya.7rr] ; love is 
 the very essence, not merely an attribute of God" 
 (Alford). Had he said, " of the very essence," it would 
 liave been more strictly in accordance with the Apostle's 
 language ; see below. This root truth of the Gospel, as 
 important an article of faith as any in the Christian 
 creed, would, if firmly grasped, solve not only most of 
 the difficulties of life, but most of the difficulties 
 which beset Christian theology. No doctrine, it may 
 be safely affirmed, which is contrary to this fundamental 
 principle, can possibly be true. Many parts of the 
 Christian creed may seem opposed to this proposition. 
 Yet in reality they are not so. Whatever appears 
 to conflict with it must be so explained as not 
 to put this essential doctrine out of sight. It is 
 to be lamented that this doctrine, standing as it 
 does in the forefront of the Gospel, attested not only 
 by its double repetition here, but by the language of 
 the Saviour Himself, especially in St. John's Gospel, 
 
 in its contact with the facts of human life. And that Spirit of trutli, 
 or love (for they are one and the same), -when it dominates our spirits, 
 inculcates the surrender of every blessing at God's call, or our brother's 
 need ; the devotion of all our powers to His service, the readiness to 
 surrender even life itself, if that brother's need seem to require it. 
 
 Ver. 9. — The manifestation of the love of God. 
 
 I. This love was manifested by the mission of the Son. 
 
 I. The \corld was a fallen world. From Adam's transgression for- 
 ward, its tendency was ever downward, God's revelations of Himself, 
 
LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 309 
 
 has been allowed, until lately, to fall so much into 
 the background. Had those who were charged with 
 drawing up the famous Nicene formula, added to the 
 words "God from God, Light from Light," the words 
 "Love from Love," from how many evils would the 
 Church of later times, in all probability, have been 
 saved ! Our only danger, now that men have come 
 to understand it at last, is that, in their reaction from 
 a creed which had come to include a great deal of 
 fierceness, severity, and hate, they should be tempted 
 to forget that love, in order to be love, must be reconcil- 
 able with righteousness, justice, and truth, and at eternal 
 enmity with all evil. It is surprising how this great 
 truth has been evaded because of the utter incapacity 
 of man's unloving heart to understand it. Expounders 
 of the Scriptures, in past times, have evacuated it of 
 its force by saying that God is " benignissimus ; " that 
 He is " the most benevolent of all beings," and the like. 
 They have failed to see that love is an essential attribute 
 of His nature. So again, in other quarters, we have 
 God evaporated into a metaphysical abstraction. He 
 is "the Infinite," i.e., man's conception of infinity. He 
 is " the Absolute," that is, in the strict acceptation of 
 the term, that which is incapable of relation, or, as 
 it has been necessarily watered down to accommodate 
 itself, partially at least, to Christian theology, that 
 
 in the Law and in heathen philosophy, His sore judgments, from the 
 Flood onward, tended to arrest the declension, but only for a time. See 
 Gen. vi. 5, xiii. 13. The great civilisations of the world ever ended 
 in demoralisation. See Isa. xix., xxiii., xlvii., &c. ; Jer. 1., &c. 
 New powers were raised up from races as yet uncorrupted. But in 
 their success were the seeds of ruin. Of all the nations of the world, 
 at Christ's coming, the Jews — the only race to whom God had revealed 
 Himself by the Law and by the Prophets — were the only people who 
 had not steadUy gone from bad to worse. 
 
3 I O THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 "uhich "has no oieccssary relation" to other beings. But, 
 as Haupt accurately points out here, " Love is primarily 
 under all circumstances a reciprocal idea, or idea of 
 relation." Professor Westcott here, in a striking note, 
 points out how we owe to St. John the three funda- 
 mental ideas of the Godhead, the foundation of all 
 Christian philosophy. God is Spirit (John iv. 24), 
 God is Light (ch. i. 5), and God is Love. See also 
 note on p. 33. And all these, though we find them 
 adumbrated in the Old Testament (as in Gen. i. i, 2 ; 
 Psalm iv. 6, xxvii. i, xxxvi. 9, &c. ; Exodus xxxiv. 6; 
 Psalm Ixxxvi. 5, 15 ; Joel ii. 13, &c.) yet appear there 
 rather as attributes of God in relation to man, than 
 as parts of His very essence. Yet light is very strongly 
 insisted on as somewhat more than a mere attribute 
 of God, as we may see from the passages above quoted. 
 Two of these truths, that God was Spirit, and that He 
 was Light, were in some sense discovered before Christ 
 came. Afterwards they were not the peculiar property 
 of the Church, but were common to Christianity and 
 the Gnostic sects. But the last we owe to Christianity 
 alone. And the discovery has proved so far above 
 man's capacity that in eighteen centuries and a half he 
 has scarcely grasped it. It may, perhaps, be a question 
 whether, from the peculiar collocation of the word in 
 St. John's Gospel, we are to regard the M'ord " Spirit " 
 
 2. There was need of a Saviour. He had been predicted from the 
 heginning, "in sundry Avays and divers manners." His method ■was 
 predicted (Jer. xxxi.) A new covenant was to be made, not in the 
 letter, but in the heart. The Gentiles were to partake of it (N.B., 
 Gentiles is frequently, in O. T., equivalent to peoples of the toorld. 
 The antithesis to Jews cannot always be pressed), see Isa. xi. 9, xlix., 
 Ix.-lxii. ; Jer. i. 5, &c. And their need was evident. If the nation 
 that possessed Moses and the Prophets had become grievously corrupt, 
 how much more the rest of the world ? Nor was there any remedy. 
 
LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 3 I I 
 
 in John iv. 24, as bearing the sense of that which is 
 independent of matter, or whether we are to take it as 
 meaning that which breathes or is breathed. If so, it 
 falls in with the Hebrew conception of God as Life — the 
 Living God, as He is frequently called — He who has life 
 in Himself, and is the source of life in others — He who 
 breathed into the nostrils of the noblest of the visible 
 creation the breath of life, so that " man became a living 
 soul" (Gen, ii. 7). With the idea of God as Light is 
 combined that quality of Truth which is claimed by 
 Jesus Christ for Himself (John xiv. 6). For light is 
 that which reveals what is, and truth is that which 
 corresponds to what is. And thus it may be that we 
 have, in this threefold revelation of God, an indication of 
 the special work of each Person in the Blessed Trinity. 
 The essence of the Godhead is, of course, participated 
 in by each Person in the Go(.lhead. But may we not 
 reverently see in the words " God is Spirit," the assertion 
 of God as He is in Himself, the source and fount 
 whence all things, even the other Persons of the God- 
 head themselves, proceed ; in the words, " God is Light " 
 the special function of the Eternal Son, whose work it 
 was to reveal the Father, to communicate Him, to call 
 into being a vast universe of life, which should appre- 
 ciate, acknowledge, and adore the greatness and goodness 
 of Him who " inhabiteth eternity " ? And in the last of 
 
 Religion could not bring it, for religion, in every country of the world 
 save one, was itself corrupt. Philosophy could not bring it, for it 
 rested, not on the testimony of God, but on the opinions of men. 
 Even God's sore judgments could not bring it. They pointed out the 
 disease, but not the cure. Men knew that they were sinners, but they 
 knew not how to forsake their sin. 
 
 3. The Saviour was God's Only Begotten Son. The task of salvation 
 was beyond human power. See Ps. xlix. 7. Therefore God sent forth 
 His Only Begotten Son (see Exposition), One who stood in an entirely 
 
312 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 these three declarations, " God is Love," may we not 
 discover a special reference to the agency of the Holy 
 Spirit, whose task it is to bring about those mutual 
 relations of harmony and goodwill in the universe, which 
 shall cause it to reflect the nature of Him who made it, 
 whose function it is in the economy of redemption, to 
 impart the Divine influence to the soul of the individual 
 man, and to stir each up to communicate it to his 
 brother ? One other remark may be permitted on this 
 deep and inexhaustible subject. St. John says " God is 
 love." But he does not reverse the phrase and say, 
 " love is God." " Love," he says, is " of " or " from 
 God." In other words, love is not a transient phase of 
 God's dealings with man. It is a necessary part of the 
 Divine essence. But God is love and a thousand things 
 beside. The human tongue is powerless to express the 
 innumerable aspects in which His Infinite nature may 
 be viewed. But if there be one word which more 
 than another can express what He is to us, and what, 
 therefore, we are bound to be to all, it is the word 
 nsed in this never-to-be-forgotten sentence, " God is 
 Love." 
 
 Ver. 9. — In this was manifested the love of God toward 
 us. This great subject of love occupies us as far 
 as ch. V. 3 ; but, as usual with St. John, the divisions 
 of his subject overlap each other, and the con- 
 
 l^eculiar and unique relation to Him, in order to destroy the reign of 
 corruption, reconcile men to God, and make them fit to dwell in His 
 presence for evermore. This Saviour was God Incarnate in the flesh. 
 He only could "condemn sin" adequately "in the flesh," destroy it, 
 bring man's nature out victorious over it, translate man from tlie 
 distress and degradation he had been in, into a position not of mere 
 innocence, but of triumphant righteousness. 
 
 II. He saved us by giving us life. 
 
 I. Sill is death. We have frequently referred to St. John's habit of 
 
LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 
 
 o^O 
 
 elusion of his teaching on love introduces the subject 
 of the source whence love Hows, namely, faith. Here 
 the fact of Christ's coming and the results of that 
 coming, the life which we have by His means, is 
 regarded as the manifestation of God's love. In other 
 places (as in John i. 1 8, xiv. 6 ; Col. ii. 9) Christ 
 Himself is pointed out as the manifestation of the 
 fulness of the Divine essence. The Eevised Version 
 "in us" is to be preferred to the Authorised Version, 
 which cannot be defended. See also ver. 16. The 
 love of God is manifested in us, because Christ, His 
 Son, who is One with Him (John x. 30), is sent into the 
 world, and He " dwells in our hearts by faith " (Eph. 
 iii. 17). The variety of translation of ei^ tovtw in this 
 Epistle has been noticed before. — because that God sent 
 his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live 
 through him. Eather because God hatli sent. The mis- 
 sion of Christ was not a temporary, but an enduring 
 one. God sent His Son into the world ; and in the 
 world, by His Spirit, He remains (Matt, xxviii. 20 ; 
 Rev. V. 6). The word " only begotten," as applied to 
 Christ, only occurs four times in St. John's Gospel, and 
 in this passage. It carries upon the face of it the 
 assertion that the relation of Christ to the Father is 
 an unique relation. And such an idea it expressed to 
 those versed in the Hebrew literature. For it is used 
 
 viewing things in their tendencies. Viewed in this way, sin is death, 
 because it is the road to it. See Ezek. xviii. 4 ; Rom. vi. 23 ; 2 Cor. 
 V. 14 (where, perhaps, we should translate "then all died"), &c. In 
 fact, sin has in it the nature of death. The true death is sin (Eph. ii. 
 I, 5; Col. ii. 13), and the only reason why sin and death are not 
 equivalents while we are in this life is, because the state of sin is not 
 complete. Let a man once be given up to sin, and that man is morally 
 and spiritually dead. 
 2. Jesus came to give us life. This doctrine is more fully developed 
 
314 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 in the LXX. to render the Hebrew "J''n,\ which is 
 kindred to "^C^^?, one. It is true that sometimes this 
 Hebrew word is rendered by the LXX. aya-TDiro?, and 
 in English by " darling." But the idea of affection 
 comes from the idea of unique relation, and not that of 
 uniqueness from the affection. We may compare the 
 ■ Statement in John iii. i6 with this passage. There 
 Christ says that God gave His only begotten Son that 
 all who believe in Him should not perish, but have 
 eternal life. Here we are told that God sent His only 
 begotten Son into the world that we might live through 
 Him. The two statements are identical. Faith makes 
 us partakers of the Life of the only begotten Son of 
 God, and that Life rescues us from the destruction that 
 comes on all that is apart from Him (cf. Ps. xxxvi, 9 ; 
 also Eom. viii. 10; Eph. ii. 5; Col. ii. 13, iii. 4). 
 Professor Westcott remarks that we are never said to 
 live in Christ, though He is said to live in us (Gal. ii. 
 20). Poly carp, however, as he says, has the expression. 
 And our life (CoL iii. 3) is said to be "hid with Christ 
 in God." 
 
 Ver. 10. — Herein is love, not that we loved God, but 
 that he loved us. The ev tovtu) is referred by most 
 commentators to what follows. " The love to which I 
 am exhorting you consists not in our having in the first 
 instance loved God, but in this ; that He loved us, and 
 
 in ch. V. 12. There we see that He gives us life by giving us Him- 
 self. We will not here anticipate that teaching. But what we learn 
 here is that He was sent that we might live through Him. And what 
 is true life ? The destruction of sin. We live through Him, because 
 through Him we obtain the strength to mortify every sinful appetite. 
 Nothing but His Divine power can enable us to do this. Our corrupt 
 life needs to be restored by His uncorrupted and incorruptible life. 
 We need His power within us day by daj\ In fact, we need that 
 continual union with Him that faith alone can effect. It is He in us 
 
LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 315 
 
 sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sius." It does 
 not seem to have been observed that this is St. Paul's 
 doctrine in another form. In St. John to do righteous- 
 ness, to keep God's commandments, and to love, are 
 equivalent to each other (chaps, iii. 10, v. 3 ; also ii. 
 29, iv. 7). Thus the doctrine here expressed is pre- 
 cisely the same as in Titus iii. 5. "Not by works of 
 righteousness that we have done, but according to His 
 mercy He saved us." So also Eomans iii. 20-22, v. 8- 
 I o ; Eph. ii. 4, 8, 9 ; 2 Tim. i. 9. With these we may 
 compare John vi. 44. In other words, the initiative in 
 the work of salvation comes from God, and from Him 
 alone. Until He of His mercy hath given us the power 
 to become His sons (John i. i 2), we can do nothing to 
 turn to Him. But this does not exhaust the force of 
 the passage. For the explanation of €v Tovrcp the words 
 >7 ayaTTt] have been paraphrased above " the love to which 
 I am exhorting you." But it would be a mistake to 
 limit their meaning thus. They have a far wider mean- 
 ing than their relation to the words eV tovtm would 
 imply. ^ ayd-n-r] means love in the abstract. And what 
 St. John would tell us is that love is a power that conies 
 from God, and has no possible origin in man. " It is in 
 its nature not a shining upward towards God which 
 proceeds from man, but a flame which proceeds from 
 God, and thereby enkindles men " (Ebrard). Haupt has 
 
 Who alone can avail to give us the life we seek. If then we desire 
 life, we must desire Him. 
 
 Ver, 10. — The method of God's manifestation of His love. 
 
 I. The work was all His own. We cannot attain to salvation 
 by ourselves. Dead iu trespasses and sins, how can we find the power 
 to arise from them ? Alienated from God by wicked works, how can 
 we learn to love Him ? The impulse must come from without, from 
 above. We must feel that the Fatherly heart yearns for us, even iu 
 the depths of sin and sorrow. We must become sensible of its warmth 
 
3l6 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 taken this idea and improved upon it. "All human 
 loving is a flame from the Divine Flame, .having in itself 
 no independent existence : ' I love ' means no other than 
 that the Divine Love has become in me an over- 
 mastering and all-pervading power of life." And, there- 
 fore, instead of making constant efforts to kindle in our 
 own hearts a feeling of affection towards God in return 
 for His many mercies, those efforts should rather be 
 directed toward disposing our hearts to receive that full 
 tide of love which flows from Him to all created beings, 
 according to their capacities for its reception. Thus the 
 interpolation of the word " first " in the Vulgate (" but 
 for He first loved us " — Wiclif ) weakens the force of the 
 passage. The point here is not the priority of God's 
 love, which awakened in us a return (though this idea 
 occurs in ver. 19, where the idea is that of a love which 
 excludes fear), but the source fiom whence all love 
 proceeds, namely, He who, in His essence, is Himself 
 Love. — and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 
 Literally, and sent Ms Son, a propitiation for our sins. 
 See note on ch. ii. 2. 
 
 Ver. 1 1 . — Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to 
 love one another. " For the sixth and last time" (Plummer) 
 does St. John use this affectionate expression (the Eec. has 
 a§e\(poi, however, in ch. ii. 7). See note on ver. i. The 
 meaning here is not "if God loved us so much,'' we ought also 
 
 in the icy outer darkness of godlessness. We must see the Eternal 
 Son descending from His heavenly home to seek and to save that 
 ■which was lost. Thus stirred, our hearts may warm to Him once 
 more. 
 
 II. And it issues in forgiveness. We may ask, how can we 
 live through Him ? How, that is, can we forsake and conquer sin ? 
 Even could Ave attain to never so great a purity of heart, there is still 
 that dark load of transgression in the past, from which we cannot 
 sever ourselves. It is part of ourselves ; we cannot free ourselves of 
 
LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 317 
 
 to love one another, but, " if God love us in such a manner" 
 i.e., in the way in which we have been already told (vers. 
 9, 10) that He loved us, namely, in sending His Son 
 into the world ( i ) that " we might live through Him," 
 and (2) that He might " be a propitiation for our sins." 
 If God did this for us, if He in this way manifested His 
 love towards us, we also (the Kal belongs to jj/xei? as well 
 as 6(p€iXojuLev) ought to love one another. It is not that 
 we are to show love to our brethren without waiting for 
 them to show love to us, because God has set us this 
 example (see note on last verse), for this, as Haupt says, 
 would necessitate the outw9 again before ocpeiXo/nev. 
 But it is that since God has manifested His love to us 
 by giving us of Himself, and by " blotting out the hand- 
 writing of our sins, which was against us," there lies on 
 us a moral responsibility to act in His Spirit, and to take 
 care that the same relations exist between ourselves and 
 our brethren which exist between Him and us, and Him 
 and them. As Professor Westcott remarks, it is important 
 to notice the fact that the conclusion drawn from God's 
 love to us is not, as we might have expected, that we 
 should love God in return, but that we should love one 
 another. The reason for this is explained in the next 
 verse when compared with ver. 20. 
 
 Yee. 1 2. — No man hath seen God at any time. Or 
 perhaps better, God hath no man ever yet beheld. The 
 
 our responsibility for it. The answer is, He came to be a propitiation. 
 Not tliat He altered the Father's Avill of love towards us one iota. 
 He carae because He was sent. He came to carry out His Father's 
 purpose, which was, is, ever will and must be, one with His own. But he 
 altered man's relation to God. He "bare our sins in His own body 
 on the tree." He took the handwriting of our sins away, nailing it 
 to His cross. He manifested sin as it was, the most shocking insult 
 to God, the cruellest enemy of man, the hateful thing that poisoned all 
 the springs of being here below. He showed that forgiveness did not 
 
3l8 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 theological student should consult Dr. Westcott's exhaus- 
 tive note on the difference between Oeo? and 6 Oeo?. 
 The former is used when speaking of God as He is in 
 Himself (as in John i. i, i8), the latter when we think 
 of Him in His relation to ourselves — as He is realised 
 in our consciousness. The one, in short, represents the 
 objective, the latter the subjective idea of God. And 
 thus many supposed contradictions in God's Word are 
 explained. We next note that St. John does not say 
 that no one ever shall behold God, which would be to 
 contradict ch. iii. 2 and Matt. v. 8 ; nor even that no 
 man can see Him, though this is certainly asserted of 
 mankind in their present condition in i Tim. vi. i6. 
 Next we have to observe that reOearat here means 
 somewhat more than the eoopaKev of John i. 1 8. The 
 former verb has the idea of rapt or earnest contemplation. 
 What, then, is the purport of the Apostle's statement 
 here ? Tlie key to unlock the connection of thought is 
 undoubtedly ver. 20. And vers. 13, 14, also add their 
 contribution towards the unravelling of the difficulty.. The 
 drift of the passage, then, may be supposed to be as 
 follows : " You would naturally suppose that I would 
 lead you, by the thought of God's love, to direct your 
 affections towards Him. And indeed I would do so, 
 were there not danger of leading you to be content with 
 a barren and unreal sentiment. God, as He is in 
 
 mean indifference to evil, but its conquest. Henceforth all man needed 
 was faith in Him who had gained the victor^^ In Him, all mankind 
 is justified before God. Henceforth he Avho unites his will to Christ 
 by faith, is regarded as Christ Himself. No past sins of his are hence- 
 forth reckoned to him. His sins are washed away in the blood of 
 Christ, the ever-flowing stream of life which issues from His side. 
 Henceforth God smiles upon his efforts, pardons his weakness, supplies 
 him with the inner fount of strength whereby at last he can "beat 
 down Satan under his feet." 
 
LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 319 
 
 Himself, is beyond the reach of human contemplation. 
 Men have fled from the world and sought to discern 
 Him, but their efforts have been unsatisfactory to them- 
 selves and unprofitable to others. But there are ways 
 of discerning God which are more useful in every way. 
 We feel an influence from the unseen, a breath of the 
 invisible Godhead at work within us, and we know that 
 it comes from Him (ver. i 3). We cannot gaze on the 
 invisible God. But on that revelation of Him which 
 has taken place in the flesh we can gaze and we have 
 gazed (TeOedjULeOa — ver. 14). We have done this, either 
 as His first messengers and preachers have done, with 
 the eyes of flesh, or if that vision has not been vouch- 
 safed to us, still the idea of God as revealed to us in the 
 shape of Man is one which our intellects and hearts are 
 alike capable of grasping. Through Him the love of 
 God has been revealed to us (ver. 10). Through Him 
 we can understand how God can dwell in us and be in 
 us and we in Him (ver. i 3). And though for the pre- 
 sent we are denied the direct vision of God, we can feel 
 that He lives and dwells in us, moulding our minds and 
 purposes into union with His, when we display in our 
 conduct that love which His Spirit within us, and His 
 Image manifested in the world outside us, alike set 
 before us as our true perfection." — if we love one another, 
 God dwellethi in us, and his love is perfected in us. Literally, 
 
 Ver. I i.— W7iat return can tve make to God for His love ? 
 
 I. We are not asked to love God in return, but to love one 
 ANOTHER. We are constantly reminded how far the Gospel tran- 
 scends our human reasonings or instincts. The natural feeling excited 
 by this revelation of God's love vi'ould be to make a return to Him ; 
 to sacrifice our time, our goods, our persons to Him ; to indulge in 
 ascetic practices ; to spend days and nights in ecstatic contemplation ; 
 to give our goods to build splendid temples to Him. But what He 
 asks is that we should love one another. 
 
 II. The reason of this. It mav be found in the word "so." 
 
320 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 If we, love one, another, God abideth in us, and Sis love 
 hath heen perfected in us, and remains so perfected. This 
 is the only way of giving the force of the perfect 
 participle with ecrTiv, especially if, with ^J and B, we 
 separate the participle and verb by ev rj/juv. Much 
 ingenuity has been spent over the simple words rj ayanrr] 
 avTov. They have been explained by " His love to us," 
 *' our love to Him," " the mutual relation of love between 
 God and us." But surely, with vers. 7 and 8 before 
 us, we cannot go far wrong in interpreting the words of 
 that love which is part of His essential nature (ver. 8), 
 and which we, if we possess it at all, must have received 
 from Him (see ver. 7 and note on ver. 10). If we are 
 living that life of love {eav aya-Trw/ui.ev aWi'iXov^ — where 
 observe that the verb is in the present tense) God, we 
 may be sure, is abiding in us, and His love — that love 
 which He has shed abroad in our hearts — is already 
 perfected in us. Here, as elsewhere in these notes, we 
 have represented St. John as looking rather to the goal 
 to which the Christian is aiming than at his actual 
 present condition. No one — but One — has succeeded 
 perfectly in leading this life of love. But every single 
 act of love tends to bring each one of us nearer to that 
 consummation. And the more love is made the practical 
 principle of our lives, the nearer we are to that state to 
 which the Lord desired to bring us, when God abides in 
 
 " If God so loved us." That is to say, God flowed out, so to speak, 
 from Himself to us. He not merely cared for us, showed affection to 
 us, He put love in us. He "gave us of His Spirit" (ver. 13). And 
 we therefore must display that Spirit. We must pour out of that we 
 have received. The love which God has put in us must be manifested 
 in our conduct. God asks not for quid pro quo, but for our identity 
 of heart with Himself. 
 
 Vers. 12, 13. — The true way of being united to God. 
 
 I. Man's shortsightedness suggests mistaken ways of serv- 
 ing God. There is a wai-ning conveyed in the words "No man 
 
LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 32 I 
 
 US and we in Him, when we cease to commit sin and 
 have at last come to " do righteousness," when we love 
 our brethren even as Christ hath loved us. 
 
 Ver. 13. — Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and 
 he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. We have, 
 in .vers. 13-16, a rhum6 of vers. 1-12 ; and, as is usual 
 with St. John, the ideas thus repeated are also strength- 
 ened. This verse corresponds to vers. 1-6, the subject 
 being introduced, as we have seen, after St. John's manner, 
 at the end of the preceding section, in ch. iii. 24. Ver. 
 1 4 corresponds to ver. 9. The next two verses gather up 
 other threads of the first twelve verses. As the present 
 verse reminds us of the indwelling Spirit that impels us 
 to the confession of Jesus, so ver. i 5 reminds us of the 
 necessity of the confession itself (see ver. 2). And as in 
 ver. 14 we are reminded of the Father's love as mani- 
 fested in the person of His Son, so in ver. 16 we are 
 reminded once more that the love so manifested is a part 
 of His essential nature, and that if union with the God- 
 head be the result of Christ's coming, the outward sign of 
 that union in ourselves is the possession of a spirit of 
 love (see ver. 8). The recapitulation is occasioned by 
 the necessity of recalling the train of thought in connec- 
 tion with the conclusion to which we are brought by 
 vers. 9—12, namely, that it is not in the ideal contem- 
 plation of God, but in the manifestation of His indwelling 
 
 hath seen God at any time." We are not to be content with a 
 mere ideal contemplation of Him. Some have been so content, but 
 their lives have been barren. For God is beyond the range of our 
 intellectual, moral, spiritual faculties — at least for the present (i Cor. 
 xiii. 12). To imagine we love Him, because we reason about Him, 
 draw out conclusions from Scripture, Nature, or science about His 
 being, is a mistake. So it is if we inflame ourselves with ardour at 
 His goodness, and seek to pour ourselves out in fervent ejaculations 
 to His name. It is no less a mistake if we try to cultivate our spiritual 
 insight, by losing ourselves in meditations on His nature, His attributes, 
 
 X 
 
2,2 2 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 being, that the true life of God in the soul is to be found. 
 We have seen that the natural train of thought suggested 
 by the commencement of ver. 1 1 would be " if God so 
 loved us, we ought also to love Him." We have seen 
 also that the Apostle was prevented from drawing this 
 natural conclusion by the fact that God's essential nature 
 was beyond the grasp of our limited faculties. Yet we 
 were not, as he reminds us, to consider ourselves as 
 sundered from that nature. " If we love one another, 
 God abideth in us, and one part at least of His essential 
 nature is perfected in our lives." But if we ask how 
 this is, an answer is ready. God dwells in us because 
 there is a presence within us of His Spirit (ver. 13). Nor 
 is this a mere dream of the imagination. We have not 
 seen God, but we have seen Man, the Image of God, in 
 his fullest perfection, endowed, too, with the visible signs 
 of God's presence within Him. He announced Himself 
 as the Saviour of the world, and His claim was attested 
 by the works of mercy He untiringly performed, and by 
 that great and final attestation of His mission which His 
 resurrection placed before us (ver. 14). To Him we 
 testify. And it is to the confession of Him as God mani- 
 fest in the flesh that we owe the presence of the Spirit in 
 our hearts, and from this presence alone comes the life of 
 love we lead (ver. 15). Our union with, our comprehen- 
 sion of God comes, not from the intellectual insight which 
 
 His kingdom, His relations with ourselves. So men have done in times 
 past. It Avas the capital error of St. John's OAvn daJ^ It has pene- 
 trated into the Church from which he so earnestly strove to keep it 
 out. If these things are done in order to help us to attain to the true 
 method of serving God, they are not only most useful, but even neces- 
 sary. But if regarded as an end in themselves, they are vain. 
 
 II. The true method of serving Him. It consists in the placing 
 our wills in a line with His. His Avill is love to all mankind. Our 
 ■wills are in a line with His, when we desire to love as He does. And 
 so we are here told (i) that when our wills are thus one with His, He 
 
l 
 
 LOVE A DIVINE GIFT. 323 
 
 enables us to grasp the mystery of His being, but from the 
 spiritual oneness with Him which enables us to carry 
 out the purposes which He had in the creation of mankind 
 (ver. 16). This seems to be the connection of thought 
 between vers. 13-16 and what precedes. The more 
 special connection between vers. 12 and 13, which is 
 obviously implied in the turn of the language, must 
 next be drawn out. The Apostle desires to show what 
 evidence we have for the statement that " if we love 
 one another God dwelleth in us, and His love is per- 
 fected in us." That evidence, says St. John, is the 
 fact of our possession of the Divine Spirit ; and this 
 in turn (ver. 14) is made certain by the revelation of 
 God in His Son. And thus we return to the assertion in 
 ver. 2, that the Spirit of God is discerned by the con- 
 fession of His Son ; only that here we have the acknow- 
 ledgment of the Spirit connected with the life of love 
 which is His work. The Authorised Version has " dwell " 
 again here. But the Eevised Version keeps to "abide," 
 and thus preserves the continuity of thought. " Of (or 
 'out of) His Spirit," here contrasts with John iii. 34. 
 To Christ alone is the Spirit given without measure. In 
 the case of men in general God " divides to every man 
 severally as He will " ( i Cor. xii. 1 1 ). 
 
 abides within us. He makes no temporary visit to our heart, but 
 takes up His dwelling there. Our union with Him is a real and 
 permanent fact, manifested by our conduct. And we are further told 
 (2) how to discover the signs of this permanent indwelling. If it 
 exists, we shall be conscious of continued impulses toward good, due 
 to the constant presence of His Spirit in the heart. And the presence 
 of that Spirit is due to the humanity of Jesus (ver. 3). The union of 
 the Godhead in His person is the means Avhereby all men are taken 
 up once more into union with the Divine. Through the humanity of 
 Jesus the Divine Spirit flows into each human heart. And by its 
 impulses to love we recognise its presence within. We know that we 
 dwell in God and God in us, because we feel inspired and mastered 
 by the purpose which God has toward all the world. 
 
( 324 ) 
 
 XXII. 
 TEACHING OF CHEISTIAN EXPEEIENCE. 
 
 /^H. iv. 14. — And we have seen and do testify. The 
 
 ^ great majority of commentators suppose St. John 
 and the other Apostles to be meant by " we." But the 
 whole context requires us to understand the words of the 
 consciousness of the whole Christian community. It is 
 impossible to suppose that by " we " and " us " in this 
 whole passage St. John merely means himself and the 
 other Apostles. It is equally impossible to suppose that 
 without a word of explanation of his change of meaning, 
 the Apostle here " brings up in sharp relief the apostolic 
 body whom Christ appointed His witnesses " (Alford, the 
 only recent commentator adopting this interpretation who 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. iv. 14. —The character of Christian experience. 
 
 I. The Christian DOES NOT BELIEVE, HE KNOWS. The unbeliever 
 is wont to tell the Christian that his is but an opinion, and that one 
 opinion is as likely to be true as another. He asks for evidence, for 
 argument, for logical proof of the truth of Christianity. And he has a 
 right to demand tliis, within certain limits. Man is a reasonable being, 
 and his faith must be a reasonable faith. But reason must keep within 
 its own sphere. It is finite, God is infinite. Reason can apply principles 
 already ascertained, draw conclusions from facts already discovered. 
 But ivhy things are, and how they are, in their origin, is altogether 
 beyond its province and its power. It knows that they are, and can, 
 
TEACHING OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 325 
 
 seems to have tbe least idea that any difficulty attaches 
 to it). We must, therefore, with Professor Westcott, 
 understand it of " the experience of the Christian society 
 gathered up in that of its leaders." They had seen 
 (gazed on — TeOed/neOa) Christ with the eyes of flesh. 
 The rest had seen Him through the eyes of those who had 
 beheld His form, till they also could say, koi ^/xef? TeOedfxeOa 
 Kai juaprvpoufxev. And what have Christians seen, and to 
 what do they testify ? It is not God's essential nature, but 
 that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, 
 i.e., to be a continual manifestation of the fact that " God 
 is love." We should rather render " hath sent." The 
 testimony is given to the mission of the Son not as an 
 historic but as an abiding fact. And this further 
 strengthens the interpretation given to the words tcai 
 rjixeh above. Here the Father is spoken of as having 
 sent the Son. In vers. 9, 10 God is said to have done 
 so. The two sides of the truth are thus presented to us. 
 In ver. i o we have the Divine Nature of the Son brought 
 into prominence, here His Sonship. We may, moreover, 
 perceive a subtle corroboration of the interpretation given 
 above, that in these verses we have an explanation of 
 vers. II, 12. The presence of God in the heart, in spite 
 
 within certain limits, tell how they are, Avhat they will do, and what 
 they will become. It knows, for instance, certain natural laws, as of 
 motion, gravitation, chemical change, life. But it knows not their 
 cause, their duration, nor can it penetrate beyond a certain distance 
 in its attempts to define them. If it be thus powerless in the affairs 
 of the visible world, is it wonderful if it fail to penetrate the secrets 
 of the world of spirits ? Why should it pretend to more wisdom in 
 the spiritual sphere than elsewhere ? In the natural world it has been 
 compelled to guess at certain laws, assume their truth, apply them to 
 facts, and if the results correspond with observation, to regard them 
 as established. What other course is open to mortals in the things of 
 the spirit? We mixst believe first, then act on what we believe, and 
 then we come to know. We know, when we have tried the Gospel 
 
326 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 of the fact that immediate comprehension of the Divine 
 essence is denied to us, is proved to us by the inter- 
 mediate agency (i) of His Spirit within us, and (2) of 
 His Son in the world. Dr. Westcott remarks that the 
 use of the word " Saviour " is characteristic of the later 
 N. T. writings, and is only used once in St. John's 
 Gospel. It is not found even in the central group of St. 
 Paul's Epistles. This is in keeping with what we con- 
 stantly see with new ideas. They are expressed by 
 verbs, by periphrases, and the like, until necessity 
 demands some noun, some convenient expression to 
 denote the idea. So terms like " Kedeemer " are not 
 found in the N". T. applied to Christ, although they have 
 become most common in later times. In the earlier N. T. 
 writings the fact that Christ came to save is constantly 
 insisted on. So we are frequently told that He came to 
 redeem. It would not, therefore, be long before the titles 
 of Saviour and Eedeemer would come to be applied to 
 Him. The words " of the world " are significant. They 
 are decisive against the idea that Christ only came to 
 save a few. They must be construed in the light of 
 I Tim. ii. 4. Before leaving the subject we may observe 
 another point, which, though once more beneath the sur- 
 
 and found it answer our expectations. We have applied Christian 
 principles to facts, and found them true. The babe in Christ believes 
 "what he is told. He listens to those who "have seen and do testify'' 
 that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. But 
 Avhen he comes to put his belief into practice, when he tries practically 
 to ascertain whether it is true that Christ came to save, he soon dis- 
 covers without a doubt that what has been proclaimed to him is no 
 delusion, but literal, sober fact. 
 
 II. What the Christian knows. What is it then that the 
 Christian sees, and of what can he testify ? Of this : that the Father 
 sent the Son to save the ■world ; that Jesus Christ has power to save ; 
 that He does save, is saving, and will always save those who trust in 
 Him. He saves them from sin, from " fleshly lusts, " from the dominion 
 
TEACHING OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 327 
 
 face, corroborates the view we have taken of TeOedjueOa, 
 and of the reference of the passage to the whole lody of 
 the disciples. It is not " we have beheld Him" but " we 
 have beheld His saving power." We have beheld the 
 power of faith in Him to change the heart and life. We 
 have seen men turned " from darkness unto light, and 
 from the power of Satan unto God." We have seen His 
 Spirit thus working in men's hearts, and in the mighty- 
 moral revolution which that Spirit has achieved we see 
 the tokens of Divine love. 
 
 Ver. I 5 . — .Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son 
 of God, God dwelleth in Mm and he in God. Once more we 
 need " abideth " here, as elsewhere. It seems almost 
 certain that Alford is wrong in taking the aorist here in 
 its strict classical sense of a single act. Here, as in other 
 places, it has the sense of the Hebrew imperfect, of a 
 state once commenced and still continuing. Nothing 
 could be more alien to the whole spirit of this Epistle 
 than to imagine that the condition of abiding in Christ 
 could be the result of a " great act, once for all introducing 
 a man into a state of oixoKoywai." Eather the confession 
 is one not of the lips but of the life. He who is willing 
 
 of their evil appetites, from bitterness, and spite, and anger, and 
 covetousness, and lying, and all the vices to which man in his natui-al 
 state is only too prone. He translates them into a kingdom where 
 forgiveness, and favour, and acceptance, and trust, and light, and 
 peace, and love, are the pervading characteristics. 
 
 III. How THE Christian knows it. He knoAvs it by his own 
 and others' experience. He knows that Jesus Christ has saved him 
 over and over again. He knows how, when in secret agony he has 
 wrestled with temptation, and has breathed in his distress a heartfelt 
 prayer to the Saviour, that prayer has been heard. He knows how, 
 when he betakes himself to prayer, to Holy Communion, to commun- 
 ing frequently with God, his prayers are answered ; he " grows in 
 grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 He knows that no other can do it. He looks around him. He sees 
 
325 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 to own Jesus publicly as his Lord, and is ■willing to 
 accept the shame and humiliation as well as the un- 
 changing spirit of self-sacrifice which attaches to such a 
 confession, verily lie is a man in whom God is abiding, 
 and who abides in God. For that confession is produced 
 by the action of the Divine Spirit (ver. 2). And such a 
 confession (see next verse) must needs involve the living 
 the same life of love which He, the Son of God, lived, 
 and must testify to the saving power which proceeds from 
 Him. Professor Westcott invites us to compare this 
 statement, not only with that in ver. 2, which we have 
 done already, but with ch. ii. 23. There the con- 
 fession of Christ is connected with the anti- Christian 
 denial of Him (as indeed in ver. 2). But the point there 
 is the unity of essence, the unity of mind and will, 
 between the Father and the Son, so that the confession or 
 denial of God manifest in the flesh, is a confession or 
 denial of God Himself. Here, as is invariably the case 
 with St. John's repetitions, a deeper truth is reached than 
 before. The confession of Jesus as the Son of God, as 
 the true imase and manifestation of His Father — this 
 
 men who reject Christ the slaves of their own lusts, the votaries of 
 a world that is passing away. Or he finds them given over to a re- 
 fined selfishness, a polite indifference to all that is high and holy, 
 all that is generous and self-sacrificing. Or he finds them a prey 
 to doubt, darkness, despair ; miserable, wretched, unable to believe, 
 because unwilling to trust. Or at best, if he find them satisfied 
 with a creed which acknowledges not Christ, and if he find them, 
 moreover, moral, temperate, kindly, liberal, he finds them still 
 strangers to that nobler, more enthusiastic, more self-devoted life, 
 which, as he sees, is entirely confined to the soldiers of the Cross. 
 Thence alone can spring the impulse to a life of forgetfulness of self 
 in the care of others.' From the time that Christ came to our own, 
 all the higher deeds of heroism, of unremitting toil and devotion for 
 others' good, have been performed by Christian men and Christian 
 women. Nor is it possible, as has been proved over and over again, 
 
TEACHING OF CHRISTIAN EXPEKIEKCE. 329 
 
 confession, when made sincerely, when permitted to mould 
 the life, is at once the token of a life united to God, and 
 the means whereby such a life may be led. The word 
 lj.€vei, as has been before remarked, emphasises the abiding 
 nature of that union, and not merely the union itself. 
 
 Ver. 1 6. — And we have known and believe the love that 
 God hath to us. " We " here obviously, as before, relates 
 to the whole body of Christian believers. Professor 
 Westcott has some valuable remarks on the relation of 
 faith and knowledge as indicated here, and in John vi. 69, 
 where the words come in reverse order. The truth is that 
 while faith necessarily precedes knowledge, knowledge 
 perfects faith. Without faith the Apostles and the body- 
 of the faithful could never have known the things of God ; 
 without the knowledge which comes from experience of 
 Christ it may safely be said that no Christian can ever 
 have believed in the sense of that perfect comprehension 
 of Him, that thorough trust in His mercy and goodness, 
 that 'TrXripocpopia which constitutes Christian faith in all 
 its fulness. There is a rudimentary and there is a perfect 
 faith. The former precedes knowledge, the latter embodies 
 
 in the hour of strong temptation, to find any other safeguard than the 
 power of Jesus to "deliver us from evil." And therefore it is that 
 those Avho have lived to Jesus and for Jesus, can truly saj', not that 
 they are of opinion that Jesus was the Son of God, but that they 
 " have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Sou to be the 
 Saviour of the world." 
 
 We have already frequently referred to the evidences of God's 
 power in the altered face of the world since Jesus Christ came ; and 
 therefore we need not repeat here what has been before said. Only 
 let it be borne in mind that equally in the condition of Christian 
 society and in the experience of the individual life have these words 
 been verified : " We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the 
 Son to be the Saviour of the Avorld." 
 
 Ver. 15. — The confession of Jesus the means of salvation. 
 
 We need not here insist again on the fact that God is love, or that 
 
330 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 it. It should, however, be observed that the knowledge 
 here spoken of is the knowledge of God's love. " To us " 
 is in R. V. " in us." See note on ver. 9. The margin of 
 R. V. in each place, " in our case," does not rise to the 
 full height of the argument. See ver. 13. It is the 
 inward working of the Spirit of God, communicating His 
 love to us, making it the dominant principle of our lives, 
 and producing a real inward experience of His nature, of 
 which St. John is speaking here. — God is love ; and he that 
 dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Here, 
 again, we need the translation " abideth." We have in 
 this sentence the corroboration of our interpretation of the 
 last. The love that God hath is in us, because God 
 Himself is in us, and He is love. If we compare this 
 passage with ver. 8, we see that this is the climax to 
 which the rest is leading. " God is love " is used in ver. 8 
 as an argument to prove that we ought to walk in love. 
 But the statement itself, St. John feels, requires proof. 
 That proof is found (i) in God's mission of His Son, (2) 
 in the propitiation that Son made for human sin, (3) in 
 the inward witness of the Spirit, producing in us an actual 
 
 in order to abide in God we must manifest the spirit of love in our 
 own lives. Neither need we carry any further the thought of the last 
 verse, that the experienced Christian has not merely belief but know- 
 ledge. And we have explained in the notes how the knowledge which 
 springs from faith leads faith up to a higher stage, until we " see Him 
 who is invisible." We will confine ourselves here, therefore, to 
 developing the meaning of the Apostle in the words, " Whosoever 
 confesseth that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he 
 in God." 
 
 I. It is not the confession of the lips merely. Many confess 
 God with the lips who know not the power of His salvation. They 
 repeat our creeds, they partake of our sacraments, they mingle in our 
 public assemblies, they assist in the management of our religious 
 affairs, they subscribe to our charities, they call themselves members 
 of our body. But they know not the power of their Lord (as they call 
 
TEACHING OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 33 1 
 
 experience of the power of God to save us from evil. 
 After mentioning these experimental proofs, St. John 
 repeats the statement, with all the additional weight it 
 has gained, and concludes this section with the assertion 
 that in the abiding life of love alone can true union with 
 God be reached. 
 
 Before we pass on to the next section we may, with 
 Professor Westcott, review the various statements we have 
 concerning the abiding in God, which may be regarded as 
 the keystone of St. John's doctrine, (i.) In ch. ii. 6, 
 we see that some have perverted this leading idea in St. 
 John's teaching. One necessary characteristic of the man 
 who abides in God is conformity to Christ's example. 
 (2.) In ch. ii. 10 we are told that love is the key even 
 to the intellectual comprehension of one's position. He 
 that loveth abideth in the light; all others are in 
 darkness. (3.) Young disciples are told (ii. 14) that the 
 " Word " of God abides in them, and that from this they 
 gain their power over evil. (4.) We next have a precept 
 to let that abide in us which we have heard from the 
 beginning (ii. 24). If this abide with us, we abide in the 
 
 Him) to change their lives. Such there were of old, who "drew near 
 to God with the lips, Avhile the heart was far from Him," from whom 
 even the God-appointed services were an abomination in His eyes. 
 Such were the Pharisees, who pretended to keep the letter of His 
 Law while they hourly violated its spirit. And such there will ever 
 be, as long as it is supposed that by any form of words it is possible 
 to confess Christ. 
 
 II. It is the confession of the heart. And what is meant by 
 this ? It is the inner acknowledgment that what the Gospel says is 
 true. And the Gospel says that Jesus is the Son of God. But what 
 is involved in this ? That Jesus is the very image and likeness of 
 God, And God is love. Thus Jesus is incarnate love. And as such 
 He desires to save men from all that is not love. The heart must 
 acknowledge this, must respond to it, must place itself in union with 
 it, or the confession is no confession whatever. The first words of the 
 
23^ THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Son and in the Father. Thus one condition of our thus 
 abiding is the recognition of revealed truth. (5.) That 
 which abides in us is spoken of as an " unction ; " the sense 
 of consecration to a Divine purpose which comes from the 
 possession of a Divine spirit (ii. 27, 28), (6.) We come 
 next to an effect of this abiding in God. It protects us 
 from sin (iii. 6), and this (7.) because a seed of Divine life 
 has been given and remains within (iii. 9). This seed is 
 (8.) the seed of eternal life (iii. 15). And next (9.) we 
 have the central truth the Apostle desires to inculcate 
 indicated, and, after his manner, withdrawn until it can 
 be again presented in a clearer light. This life that abides 
 in us is the love of God (iii. 17). And thus (10.) a sign 
 of the presence of this life is the keeping God's com- 
 mandments (iii. 24), and its witness is the Spirit within 
 us (iii. 25). Love (i i.) is another sign that God dwells 
 in us, and this also is the work of His Spirit, who came 
 to save us from all that is unloving (iv, 12, 13). (12.) 
 But all depends on Jesus Christ. The confession of Him 
 as the Eevelation of the Father, the Unifier of God and 
 
 text must be read in connection witli the last. The acknowledgment 
 of Jesus must involve the desire to think with Jesus, feel with Jesus, 
 live in Jesus. And that desire has but to be formed and maintained 
 to be more than fulfilled. 
 
 III. It 13 THE CONFESSION OF THE LIFE. This and the former go 
 together. There cannot be one without the other. But it is possible 
 to be mistaken about either. We can fancy we are confessing Christ 
 in the heart, Avhen a glance at our lives would undeceive us. Let us 
 examine our lives in every particular, and seek there for the con- 
 formity to the image of Christ. Again, it is possible to imagine that 
 we are confessing Christ in the life and yet to be deceived. If we 
 have no inner love to Him, if our hearts are never kindled with the 
 flame of devotion, if we have no pleasure in sacraments, prayers, 
 praises, in study of His Word, in converse with the good and holj^ if 
 we do our deeds of charity mechanically, without love and sympathy 
 and brotherly kindness towards those for whom we do them, then we 
 
TEACHING OF CHRISTIAN" EXPERIENCE. 2)33 
 
 man, the Perfection of our humanity, is the source of the 
 Divine life that dwells in us. And thus, by a succession 
 of stages, are we led up to the full solution of the mystery 
 of the Divine indwelling. Jesus Christ, because He is the 
 Son, because He is the Saviour, because He has sent His 
 Spirit to subdue all evil in us — all, that is, which is 
 opposed to love — because He is Himself verily and truly 
 God, is love itself; and the one decisive sign of the 
 presence or absence of God in the heart, is the presence 
 or absence there of love. The whole secret of Christian 
 assurance consists in this, God is love, and he that 
 dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 
 
 With this variety and progressiveness of treatment of 
 the doctrine of the Divine indwelling, we may compare 
 St. John XV., where the inward life is spoken of as flowing 
 in a continuous stream from the Vine itself to the 
 branches, and St. John vi., where it is declared to be 
 fellowship in the flesh and blood, that is, the human 
 nature, of the Lord. These passages, however, give the 
 doctrinal, the Epistle the practical side of the truth ; the 
 
 may suspect that something has gone wrong in our confession : that 
 though we have "the form of godliness," we are strangers to the 
 power thereof ; the husk of godliness is there, the life which animates 
 the kernel is dead or dying. Is there any one who desires to know 
 what is meant by confessing that Jesus is the Son of God ? Let 
 him ponder well what follows, and he need not be long in doubt. 
 " God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God 
 in him." 
 
 Ver. i6. — Wliij the confession of Jesus results in the Divine in- 
 divelling. 
 
 I. Because Jesus leads us to God. The confession of Jesus is 
 the confession of God's Love, manifested in Jesus' life. From that 
 life we learn God's love. We come to know it. We learn to trust in 
 it. We accept it as the great fact which shapes our life. And thus 
 we apprehend the Divine Nature. 
 
334 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 former give the fact, the latter its subjective realisation j 
 the former tell us where the Divine Life is to be sought, 
 the latter whether we have obtained it. And the answer 
 to the question whether we dwell in God and He in us, 
 is to be found in the answer to the question whether or 
 no we are dwelling in love. 
 
 II. And God is Love. This might be inferred from creation itself. 
 But the Fall has so jarred and crushed the fair world God has made 
 and ourselves that we are scarcely able to discern His Hand in it. So 
 it needed Jesus to show us once more God's nature (a) by His Life, 
 and (6) by His Death. 
 
( 335 ) 
 
 C 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 CHAEACTER OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 
 
 H. iv. 1 7. — St. John now goes on to develop the true 
 doctrine of Christian assurance. Our irapprja-La, he 
 tells us, depends on our living the life of love. Nothing 
 else can deprive us of that uneasiness which the presence 
 of sin in the heart never fails to produce. And then, 
 having thus led us up step by step to the real secret of 
 Christian perfection, the Apostle proceeds (ch. iv. 1-12) to 
 point out the one indispensable condition of its possession 
 — faith. Herein is our love made perfect, ev tovtw again, 
 as so frequently before. The question is, does ev tovtm 
 belong (i) to what precedes, or (2) to our likeness to 
 Christ ? (2) has much to recommend it. The perfection 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. iv. 17. — Fresh light on Christian assurance. 
 
 I. Mutual love is perfected by our dwelling in God 'and 
 He in us. The object of Christ in founding His Church must not be 
 held to rest only on our delivery from ^vrath, but in the infusing into 
 us a spirit of love. Against that there is no law, and therefore there 
 can be no wrath. Thus salvation through Christ is no arbitrary act 
 of God's power or will, but has a moral fitness evident to all. We are 
 delivered from wrath because we are translated into a realm of love. 
 Love surrounds us on every side ; we are bathed in an atmosphere of 
 love ; we breathe it into us, and it becomes part of us. And this love 
 
33^ THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 of love might be held to consist in the likeness of the 
 believer to his Master. But then, beside the awkwardness 
 of " in this . . . because," what is to become of the inter- 
 mediate clause ? If our mutual love is perfected in our 
 likeness to Christ, is it to be supposed that St. John would 
 say that the cause of this was to be found in the desira- 
 bility that we should have boldness in the day of judg- 
 ment ? Are we to explain it thus : — " In this is love 
 perfected among us, namely, in the fact that we are like 
 Christ ; and this is the case in order that we may have 
 boldness in the day of judgment ? " If we give "iva the 
 sense of result, it yields, it is true, a considerably better 
 sense. But the best way is clearly, with all the best ex- 
 positors, to connect ev tovtco with what precedes. " In 
 this," namely, our union with God and God with us, is love 
 perfected among us, so that we may have boldness in the 
 day of judgment, because God sees in us, when thus united 
 in heart and spirit to Him, the likeness of that " Beloved 
 Son, in whom He was well pleased." ixeQ' ^fxwv cannot 
 mean anything else than the mutual affection between 
 Christians existing first in the heart of each individual, and 
 then, as a necessary consequence, in the community ; and 
 love must mean love in the abstract, that love which, as 
 
 is God Himself. We dwell in Him and He in us. And so do all 
 
 Christians. Hence, therefore, the nnitual love that exists among 
 Christians is perfected when God dwells in them and possesses them. 
 The more complete the indwelling, the more complete the possession, 
 and the more complete the result of that possession, the mutual love 
 of those thus possessed by love. 
 
 II. We need not fear the day of judgment. The whole tenor 
 of the N. T. proclaims this truth. It is distinctly set forth in such 
 passages as Rom. viii. i. The statement there is strengthened by 
 John iii. 17, 18, v. 24 ; Rom. v. i, 9-1 1, vi. 7 ; 2 Cor. v. 19, &c. But 
 the full reason may not be so obvious as it should be. It consists in 
 the identilicatiou of ourselves by faith with Jesus Christ, the uniting 
 
CHARACTER OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 2>37 
 
 we have just been told, sums up all God's relation to His 
 creatures. It is not " our love," however, as A. V. Eather 
 in this is love perfected among us, taking ixeO' ^fxcov with 
 T€TeXeici)Tai, not with ^ ayairri. Thus St. Juhn would re- 
 present the Christian Church as a body of men looking 
 forward with hope to that coming day of recompense, at 
 the thought of which other men tremble, relying on their 
 oneness in heart and spirit to Him whom the Father 
 " hath sanctified and sent into the world." — that we may 
 have boldness in the day of judgment. In regard to 
 irappriala, see notes on chaps, ii. 28, and iii. 21. Tiie 
 doctrine of Cliristian assurance is here further developed. 
 If we want assurance or rather boldness in consequence 
 of such assurance that we are Christ's, we shall find it in 
 the fact that we have been conformed to a spirit of love, 
 and in nothing else. Of course the Apostle means that 
 the boldness with which they may then present them- 
 selves at the awful tribunal in the last day is to be theirs 
 now, so far as in their conduct they are realising that 
 which alone can give them this boldness. The Apostle 
 bids them look forward to a time when they can cast 
 aside all that leads them to be afraid of God. There is 
 an innate antagonism between love and fear. Fear dis- 
 
 ourselves with His pure and perfect humanity. " In Him is no sin " 
 (iii. 5). In Him is love, and "love is the fulfilling of the law " (Rom. 
 xiii. 10). His are the deeds of the Spirit, and "a,L;ainst such there is 
 no law" (Gal. v. 23). They who have thus by faith "put on" the 
 Saviour (Rom. xiii. 14 ; Gal. iii. 27, &c.), need not fear the judgment 
 because they have "put oti'the old man " (Eph. iv. 22 ; Col. iii. 9), and 
 henceforth stand before God, "perfect in Christ Jesus " (Col. i. 28). 
 Nor is this a mere individual aftair. We are " one body in Christ " 
 (Rom. xii. 5), and all the members of that body, in so far as by faith 
 they have put on Christ, are free from all fear of His judgment. As 
 has frequently been stated before, St. John regards these Divine 
 truths as realised iu the present, whereas, in fact, they are only 
 
 Y 
 
338 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 appears as soon as ever love lias taken entire possession 
 of the heart. Does any one imagine that there is a con- 
 tradiction between this passage and John iii. i8, v. 24 ? 
 He will find the two doctrines harmonised in Gal. v. 6. 
 — because as he is, so are we in this world. The first 
 question here is, to whom does cKeivo^ refer ? There 
 can be little doubt that it refers here, as in ch. ii. 6, to 
 Christ. But the question is of little consequence, inas- 
 much as the identity of essence between the Father and 
 the Son is so plainly af&rmed in this Epistle (as, for in- 
 stance, in ch. ii. 22). Our next point is to observe 
 on the force of ecmv. It is not " as He was, when among 
 us," but " as He is now." " The ground of boldness is 
 present likeness to Christ " (Westcott). And as Haupt 
 says, the explanation of the thought is to be found in John 
 xvii. II — 18. Jesus is no longer in the world. He is 
 with His Father. Those whom He has called are still, how- 
 ever, in the world. But not of it. He has prayed that 
 they " may be sanctified in the truth." With these words 
 in his mind, the Apostle has written here, "As He is," 
 dwelling in the bosom of the Eternal Father, " so also are 
 we," even while we " are in this world." And this because 
 we partake of the life which is in Him. We abide in 
 
 partially so realised. But the more completely they are made our 
 own by faith, the more nearly do we approach to the ideal state of 
 things he puts before us. Consequently it is in the power of each one 
 of us to bring nearer that blessed time when we all live together in 
 offices of mutual kindness, rejoicing in present favour, and penetrated 
 with the hope of future blessedness. 
 
 III. Because we are formed anew in the image or Christ. 
 St. John tells us that even here we are like Christ. At the end of a 
 magnificent passage (2 Cor. iii.), St. Paul unfolds to us the process of 
 which St. John puts before us the completion. We gaze intently and 
 steadfastly on the image of Christ, and groAV more like Him as we 
 gaze. Even here we may strive to reproduce in our lives, as God has 
 
CHARACTER OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 339 
 
 Him and He in us. The various shifts to which inter- 
 preters have been driven in their explanation of this 
 passage, are all due to the impossibility of getting rid of 
 the idea that Christ's work is rather for us than in us, 
 the conception of a legal and forensic justification instead 
 of a justification consisting in a change of attitude in our 
 whole moral being effected by our appropriation of the 
 Eedeemer's life by faith. On the. forensic and external 
 theory of justification this passage is unintelligible, and 
 accordingly we have a host of evasive explanations such 
 as the following : — " As He is " means " as He loas." 
 Luther explains, " as He suffered, we also suffer." " As 
 He is the Son of God, so are we, adopted through Him " 
 (ISTeander). But a comparison of passages, such as 
 chaps, ii. 29, iii. 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, as well as the numerous 
 references both here and in the Gospel to abiding in Him, 
 as well as the parable of the Vine and the branches, will 
 sufficiently justify the explanation given above. The 
 connection of this part of the verse with what precedes, 
 indicated by on, is given in the words cited above from 
 Professor Westcott. Alford's note is well worth 
 reading. 
 
 Ver. 1 8. — There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth 
 
 called us, some lineaments of the heavenly pattern. This must needs 
 be a most consoling truth. Amid the weaknesses, the sorrows, the 
 annoyances, the petty cares, of our life here, there beams on us the 
 hope from a higher sphere. Our life gathers a dignity and a glory 
 which transfigures its daily cares. For as we learn to endure tliem, 
 we are mirroring back the likeness of Christ. As He was, so are we 
 "made perfect through suffering" (Heb. ii. 10). As He was wearied 
 with the faithlessness of a "perverse generation" (Matt. xvii. 17), as 
 He endured the " contradiction of sinners" (Heb. xii. 3), so we have to 
 bear the opposition of those who care not for Him, As He " bare tlie 
 sins of the world " (John i. 29), so we, in our measuie, strive to bear them 
 with Him. We complain not if ou us falls the weight of care and 
 
340 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 out fear. It may seem to be a distinction without a 
 difference, but " fear does not exist in love " would seem 
 a better translation than " there is no fear in love," of the 
 A. v., which the Eevisers have also accepted. The A. Y. 
 seems to imply that fear and love cannot co-exist in the 
 same person ; whereas what is meant is that love and 
 fear are so opposed that the one tends to drive the other 
 out of the mind. As we have frequently remarked before, 
 St. John has before his eyes the ideal condition of perfect 
 union with God to which the believer is ever tending. In 
 that condition no fear exists, nor can exist, for there is no 
 longer cause for fear. Of course St. John is not speaking 
 of that reverent awe which fears to offend (Ps. xix, 9, 
 cxi. 10), but the fear of punishment, of reprobation, of 
 rejection. If we ask how it is that " reverence and godly 
 fear" are so often inculcated on us in Scripture, if fear be 
 opposed to love, we shall find the reply in the words that 
 follow. — because fear hath torment. Eather chastisement. 
 All the earlier versions, from Wiclif downward, have 
 peyne or paynfulness. The word, as well as the verb, 
 from which it is derived, is used by Theophrastus of 
 the pruning of a tree (cf. John xv. 2). Aristotle in 
 his " Ehetoric " (i. 10, 17) distinguishes KoXaQn from 
 
 suffering which other men's sins have produced. And though no act 
 of ours can make compensation for sins committed, we offer ourselves 
 thankfully and joyfully to bear the consequences of our own, the 
 agony in wrestling with temptation, the dread of the results that may 
 follow, the shame, the contempt, the lowered estimation in which 
 others hold us, that at least we may display the "mind of Christ" 
 in willingly enduring the consequences of all sin. Far, infinitely far 
 as we fall below His perfections, yet there is a sense in which the 
 most imperfect Christian, if sincere, can feel that even in his case there 
 is a truth in the words, " As He is, so are we in the world." 
 
 Ver. 18. — Perfect love casteth out fear. 
 
 I. Fear and love may co-exist in the same person. To 
 
CHARACTER OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 34 1 
 
 rificopeofiai in the following way. The latter, he says, 
 has in view the satisfaction for the offence, the former 
 the restoration of the offender. There is no sufficient 
 evidence that it ever bears the meaning " torment." 
 Fear, then (not the fear to offend, but the fear of a de- 
 served punishment), is the direct consequence of the 
 sense of sinfulness. The " fear of the Lord " which St. 
 Paul (2 Cor. V. 11) used to "persuade men," the "fear 
 and trembling" in which (Phil. ii. 12, cf. Eph. vi. 5) he 
 advises us to " work out our own salvation," have to do 
 with that imperfect or transition state in which most 
 Christians are in this life, and from which their progress 
 in Christian love tends to emancipate them. — He that 
 feareth is not made perfect in love. These words prove the 
 correctness of the interpretation given above. The Apostle 
 does not say " he that feareth cannot love," because love 
 and fear can co-exist, and do co-exist, in all but perfect 
 Christians. What he says is that as long as a man lives 
 in fear of judgment, he thereby proves that he has not 
 been perfected in love. The reference of course is to ver. 
 1 7, where nearly the same words are used. And thus it 
 is clear from the context that fear of impending judgment 
 is meant. The exegesis of this passage would be incom- 
 
 imagine that this is not the case is to misrepresent the Apostle. He 
 does not say that there can be no fear in the mind of the man who has 
 love. What he says approaches far more nearly to the statement that 
 fear is not love. He says that fear is not contained in love. Fear to 
 offend God must always be felt. Fear for the consequences of sin 
 cannot be avoided, even where there is much love in the heart. But 
 the tendency of love is to diminish fear. The more a man is filled 
 with love, the less he is inclined to fear. 
 
 II. Fear is the punishment of wrong-doing ; love involves 
 THE impossibility OF WRONG-DOING. This is the Apostle's state- 
 ment, "Fear hath chastisement." It is the conseqiience of sin. A 
 man who sins incurs the wrath of God. He must live in the appre- 
 
342 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 plete without the mention of Bengel's " unmatched epi- 
 gram," as Professor Westcott calls it, (his " brief, pointed 
 manner " — Alford) " Yarius hominum status, sine timore 
 et amore, cum timore sine aniore, cum timore et amore, 
 sine timore cum amore." It is not at all clear why our 
 translators preferred to follow Tyndall and Cranmer here, 
 rather than the Geneva and Ehemish Versions, by omitting 
 the " and " which these last had introduced (Wiclif has 
 the adversative " but "). The Eevisers have restored it, 
 making the verse run thus (we have ventured to alter 
 the first sentence) : " Fear there is not in love, but perfect 
 love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment" (or 
 better, c]iastiseme7it), " and he that feareth is not made per- 
 fect in love." Thus the last clause, like the former, 
 depends upon the word " because." Perfect love casts 
 out fear, because fear is the outcome of a state of chastise- 
 ment, and chastisement is a sign of imperfection. He, 
 therefore, who fears, cannot have reached perfection in 
 love, which leaves nothing whatever to be feared, since 
 " love is the fulfilling of the law " (Eom. xiii. i o, cf. also 
 Rom. viii. 15). 
 
 Ver. 1 9. — We love him because he first loved us. The 
 " Him " here, which all the old versions have introduced. 
 
 liension of that wrath. And that "certain fearful looking for of judg- 
 ment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries," is 
 part of his punishment. A certain amount of love, as has been said, 
 is coiiipatihle with this state of mind. But perfect love is not. 
 Perfect love is the perfect fulfilling of tlie law. There can be no fear 
 of punishment in the heart of the man who is doing nothing to incur 
 punishment. And therefore the more perfect the love, the less fear is 
 felt, until the time when fear, in its strict sense — not fear to offend, 
 which is fear of putting oneself into a state in which one is not, but 
 present dread of consequences — is impossible. 
 
 III. The presence of fear in the heart is a sign of imper- 
 fection. "He that feareth is not made," or "has not been made 
 perfect in love." We most of us detect some signs of uneasiness when 
 
CHARACTER OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 343 
 
 has no authority, and is due to a misapprehension. Cf. 
 ch. iii. 1 6, note. What the Apostle means is not that we 
 are to be considered as returning an affection which God 
 has shown, but that we have no power to love at all, save 
 from the love of God. The next question is whether 
 (with many commentators and the Vulgate and Ehemish 
 Versions) we should take ayaircofxev as imperative. The 
 chief reason against it is the entire absence of any horta- 
 tory element in this passage. If we ask what is the 
 connection of thought between this verse and what precedes 
 and follows, we find more assistance from Dean Alford and 
 Mr. Plummer than from most other modern commentators. 
 It would seem to be this : There is no place for fear in 
 him who is perfected in love, because the love which he 
 has is from the source of love, namely, God. This gives 
 a perfect confidence to us when we regard God, and when 
 we feel that we are one with Him. But for that oneness 
 to exist, there must be practical proofs of its existence. 
 We must love, or we have no union with God, no ground 
 for coofidence. See note on ver. 10. The practical 
 consequence here indicated is still further drawn out in 
 the next verse. If we do 7iot love, the ground for our 
 confidence has disappeared. 
 
 we think of facing the awful judgments of a righteous God. Tlie feai* 
 of death falls upon us. All this is the sign that we are not, as yet, 
 made perfect in love. The spiritual life must grow in us. We must 
 gain by degrees the mastery over all habits inconsistent Avith love. 
 We must train ourselves into resisting all impulses that may do violence 
 to it. As long as oue single imkind, or unloving, or selfish thought 
 has even temporary possession of us, we shall continue to tremble. 
 Is is only when " our heart condemns us not " that we " have confidence 
 toward God." Such a blessed condition as this has never yet been 
 reached by mortal man. But blessed are they who approach it more 
 nearly every day. Their fears will lessen, and their hojies brighten, 
 until they reach the ' ' city that hath foundations, whose builder and 
 maker is God." 
 
344 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Ver. 20. — If a man say, I love God, and hateth his 
 brother, he is a liar. Dean Alford is quite right in saying 
 that they fall into a great error who, like Ebrard, for 
 instance, begin a new section here. As has been already 
 implied, this verse arises naturally out of the last. Our 
 love is a principle implanted within us. And as it comes 
 from One who is love, it is an universal principle. Love 
 cannot be shown to God and denied to those whom He 
 has made and whom He loves. The "if a man say," is, 
 like the expressions in chaps, i. 6, 8, lo, ii. 4, 6, 11, 
 18, 26, iii. 7, iv. I, an indication of the fact that in- 
 fluences are at work on Christian souls antagonistic to 
 God's truth, influences against which every Christian 
 must be on his guard. The Apostle is acutely sensible 
 that there' is a kingdom of darkness as well as a kingdom 
 of light, and that we need the utmost vigilance, lest our 
 eyes should be blinded to the truth. We viust love, in 
 consequence of God's love, which is not merely displayed 
 towards us, but if we abide in Him, must have been 
 poured out in us. If we do not love our brother, it is 
 untrue to say, as we are tempted to do, that we love 
 God, because that love which is in Him, and comes from 
 Him, is not in us. — for he that loveth not his brother 
 
 Ver. 19. — The sotirce of love. 
 
 I. Love not a work achieved by man, but an impulse de- 
 rived FROM God. See Exposition for the various readings here. 
 Two opposite mistakes have been fallen into on this point. On one 
 side salvation has been regarded as a work achieved by man with 
 God's help ; on the other, as a single act of faith which at once and 
 for ever decides a man's future. The first error has led to the most 
 painful efforts, the most rigid and cruel self-tortures, the most wearing 
 anxiety and uncertainty. The other imagines that salvation is not 
 attained by the works of the law, and that therefore any effort to ful- 
 fil the will of God is dangerous and deadly, as teaching men to trust 
 in themselves. The truth lies, as usual, between the two. Our sal- 
 vation does not consist in the fulfilment of a covenant of works, but 
 
CHARACTER OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 345 
 
 whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not 
 seen? The Sinaitic and Vatican MSS. read here (and 
 the E. V. follows them) " cannot " for " how can he." 
 Even these ancient MSS., as Tiscbendorf is careful to 
 remind us in his preface, are not without their signs of 
 corruption. The text of the New Testament had already 
 been tampered with in the time of Tertullian and Origen. 
 And here their reading looks like a correction. The 
 received reading, " how can he," was less likely to have 
 been substituted for the direct " cannot " than the con- 
 trary. But the oldest Syriac version supports J^ and B 
 here, so that their reading comes to us on very high 
 authority. But it makes no difference to the sense which 
 reading we take. The meaning is clear, that love must 
 be shown to those whom God loves, it must be displayed 
 in the region of the immediate and visible, if it is love 
 at all. As Ebrard reminds us, it is not that the in- 
 visible is harder to love than the visible. The contrary 
 may be more often the case. We may love a human 
 being whom we have not seen more ardently than one 
 who is nearer to us, whose imperfections jar on us from 
 day to day. We may find it far harder to overcome 
 prejudice and dislike, to forgive injuries, than to raise our 
 
 in the catching of a spirit from on high. That spirit will lead us to 
 crucify the flesh, will nerve us to every effort necessary to stay self 
 within us, and will finally bring our hearts into unison with God. 
 The whole work is His, but wrought out in us. The first impulse 
 comes from Him, and every subsequent struggle of the regenerate 
 will against the Avorks of the flesh is His M'ork. The final result is 
 not absorption in, but perfect union with Him. And He is love. If, 
 therefore. He is in us, love must be in us. Thus it conies to pass that 
 our love is but the stream of which His is the source. "We love, 
 because He first loved us." 
 
 II. Love in us is derived from the life and death of Christ. 
 I. It comes from the contemplation of the life and death of Jesus. 
 No story has ever had such power to move the human heart as the 
 
34^ THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 hearts in ecstatic adoration to an unseen Father of all. 
 But love, the Apostle reminds us, is a practical principle, 
 not a sentimental enthusiasm. It must be shown, not 
 in the ardour of contemplative feeling, but in the plain 
 \ and prosaic region of action. It consists in overcoming 
 ■ these dislikes and prejudices of which we have just 
 spoken, in rising superior to the spirit which would re- 
 venge injuries, in subduing those selfish impulses which 
 are the direct opposite of love. Even devotion itself 
 ► may be intensely selfish. Our religion may be no more 
 / than the desire to secure heaven for ourselves, happen 
 ' what may to other people. The intensest fervour in 
 prayer may co-exist with the most absolute devotion to 
 one's own interests. The true test of love is its freeness, 
 its expansiveness, its postponement of our own welfare to 
 that of others. Its most perfect presentment was on the 
 Cross. Thus the highest professions of sanctity, even 
 though evidenced by a life of the most rigid asceticism, 
 or the most utter self-abandonment to the raptures of 
 spiritual contemplation, are but means of self-deceit, if 
 they tempt us to substitute dreams of the invisible for 
 duties in the visible ; if they lead us to imagine that 
 there can be any love of God without a corresponding 
 
 story of Jesus Christ. And that story culminates in His death upon 
 the Cross. To that men look as the supreme embodiment of love. 
 " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for 
 his friends." 2. Btit it comes not only from the coyitcmplation, but 
 from the fact of Christ's life. Christ is living now. His life is poured 
 into us. From it alone can we derive the power to love. It is " Christ 
 in us," which gives "the hope of glory." So true is it that Ave can 
 only "love, because He first loved us." The Spirit of love which 
 streams forth from Him is the source of all the good deeds which, 
 since He came, have refreshed the world. And all the good deeds of 
 those who have not sought their inspiration from Him are a poor and 
 pale reflection of the unbounded zeal and love of those who have 
 caught the impulse of that Spirit. 
 
CHARACTER OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 347 
 
 love of one's neighbour. The word here translated 
 " seen " is used obviously of ordinary vision. It does 
 not convey the same idea of intensity and earnestness as 
 the word used in vers. 12, 14. 
 
 Vek. 21. — And this commandment have we from him, 
 that he who loveth God love his brother also. " That which 
 is a spiritual necessity is also an express iu junction " 
 (Westcott). " From Him " must surely mean God, for 
 our Lord is not mentioned from ver. i 5 onward. But 
 we must not forget that the word " God " includes Jesus 
 Christ, nor that all we know of God or God's will comes 
 to us through Him. He is the Word of the Father, 
 through whom every command of the Father comes to 
 us. If we inquire where this command is given, it is 
 sufficient if we find it in substance. We need not look 
 for the exact words. We find it in Deut. vi. 5, and in 
 Lev, xix. 18. We find it in Matt. xxii. 37-39. We 
 find it in John xiii. 34, 35. It is possible, as Professor 
 Westcott tells us, that 'iva here marks an " injunction 
 directed to an aim." Jesus gave us the commandment m 
 order that we might keep it. But it is also possible that 
 here we have only the subject-matter of the commandment 
 itself, and also, after St. John's manner, a fuller development 
 
 Vers. 20, 2 1 . — Deeds, not words. 
 
 I. Love is not a beautiful sentiment, but a practical 
 PRINCIPLE. The test of true religion is conduct. "Pure religion 
 and undefiled before God and the Father is this ; to visit the fatherless 
 and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the 
 world." It might have been otherwise if religion consisted only in the 
 intellectual apprehension of revealed truth. But since it consists in 
 the reception, by faith, of a Person and of a life, it must be far more 
 than this. It must display tlie cliaructeristics of Him who is thus 
 received and believed. What those characteristics are, is fully 
 unfolded in His Holy Word. 
 
 II. We must look for the signs of acceptance in our con- 
 duct TO OUR brethren. It is easy to say we love God. It is easy 
 
348 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 of the thought contained in ch. ii. 3, 4. The whole com- 
 mandment is summed up in one word — love, even as 
 another Apostle has said, in words already quoted, " Love 
 worketh no ill to his neighbour, therefore love is the ful- 
 filling of the law," and again, " If there be any other 
 commandment it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself " (Eom. xiii. 9, i o). 
 And if any ask in what sense the word " brother " is to 
 be understood here, he will find the answer in Luke x. 
 29-37- 
 
 to excite ourselves into an ecstatic admiration for an abstract prin- 
 ciple of perfection. To say we love God is easy, but it is very often 
 unreal. For we cannot see God. We do not know Him. We may 
 \ persuade ourselves that we love Him, but we may be deceiving our- 
 selves. The persuasion in most cases is but a form of words. The 
 true proof of our love for God is the possession of His love. If we 
 possess it, we shall render it back to Him. If we possess it, we shall 
 give evidence of the fact. And this can only be done by displaying 
 it. Our life must be first a struggle with, then a victory over, all that 
 is inconsistent with love. All selfishness, pride, prejudice, littleness 
 must be subdued. All class isolation must as far as possible be over- 
 come. Tenderness, thoiightfulness, willingness to yield, care for the 
 happiness of others rather than our owti, such as Christ showed, are 
 the signs of His presence within. If we really love God we must love 
 love, for love is Himself. 
 
( 349 ) 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 SOURCE OF THE LIEE OF LOVE. 
 
 riH. V. — This chapter may he divided into three 
 ^ portions: — (i) Faith the source of the life of love 
 (vers. I- 1 2); (2) the true application of faith (vers. 
 13-17); (3) general summary of the purport of the 
 Epistle (vers. 18-21). The first part divides itself 
 into two heads, (a) the relation between faith and 
 practice, and (h) the grounds on which faith rests. 
 It has been remarked as strange that faith is not so 
 much as mentioned in St. John's Gospel, and only in 
 eh. V. 4 of this Epistle. But the wonder diminishes 
 when we remember that the contents of St. John's 
 Gospel belong to the very early period of the history of 
 Christianity, when facts were not yet formulated into 
 phrases. It is a fact, the significance of which has not 
 been generally appreciated, that whereas the word irla-Ti^ 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. v. I a. — The connection of faith and the new birth. 
 
 I. Faith is not the cause but the consequence of the new 
 BIRTH. This statement will be looked upon as a paradox, so firmly 
 is it believed by many that faith is the necessary condition of the new 
 birth. But the paradox, if paradox it be, is plainly asserted here. No 
 other interpretation can be put on St. John's words than this, " Who- 
 soever believeth that Jesus is the Christ has already been born anew 
 from God," i.e., faith is nut the cause, but the consequence of the new 
 
350 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 does not occur in St. John's Gospel, the word irLcrrevw 
 occurs ninety-three times. Thus the position of belief 
 as the ground of the Christian life is most distinctly- 
 recognised by St. John. But we do not find in his 
 writings the words which came into use after the 
 doctrines of Christianity had taken hold of the Christian 
 conscience, and thus demanded phrases for the succinct 
 expression of the facts of Christian experience. Thus, 
 though the ideas of salvation, justification, reconciliation, 
 redemption, sanctification, are clearly to be found in St. 
 John's Gospel, the words which express them will be 
 looked for in vain. There is one exception : a-corfjpla 
 is found in ch. iv. 22. The Epistle follows strictly 
 on the lines of the Gospel. And yet the occurrence of 
 such a word as tXao-yao? is sufficient to show that in the 
 Epistle we have passed from the elementary to the doctrinal 
 stage of Christianity. I would simply remark in passing 
 on the evidential force of these facts. I have dealt 
 with them more fully in another work. ttIo-ti? occurs, 
 it is true, occasionally in the Synoptic Gospels. But it 
 refers to a more obvious, less esoteric form of faith than 
 that we are here invited to consider. Eaith is not, in 
 those Gospels, represented as the foundation of Christian 
 life, though it clearly involves confidence in a person, the 
 principle on which Christian faith, in the widest accepta- 
 
 birth. So St. Paul thinks it necessary to caution us in Eph. ii. 8. 
 "Salvation," lie there points out, "is not your work. It is not 
 achieved by your faith. It is a Divine gift. Faith is only the law of 
 its working." Many in our own day make salvation and the new 
 birth man's act, not God's. Man believes, and then God operates. 
 The opposite is the case. With the spiritual as with the natural life, 
 the divinely given germ is the first starting-point, which gathers shape 
 and form by divinely given laws. The natural life develops according 
 to the law of Nature. The spiritual life, if it grows at all, develops 
 according to a spirit of faith. Faith is, no doubt, man's "corre- 
 
SOURCE OF THE LIFE OF LOVE. 35 1 
 
 tion of the word, is based. There is much to be learned 
 from the position assigned to faith in this Epistle. St. 
 John's method of gradual and ahiiost imperceptible 
 progress in teaching was based on that of his Master. 
 He gives many instances of it in his Gospel. In this 
 Epistle he has taught us (i) that a life has been given 
 us from on high; (2) that this life is one which sheds 
 light on our lives ; (3) that it brings with it assurance 
 of pardon ; (4) that the light involves not merely in- 
 tellectual, but moral instruction, and that " love is the 
 fulfilling of the law;" (5) that there are many adverse 
 influences in the world, which it behoves the disciple to 
 resist ; (6) that a power is infused into the disciple's 
 heart by which he may rise superior to all evil solici- 
 tations ; (7) that there is need to make diligent use of 
 this power ; (8) that it proceeds from the recognition of 
 Jesus Christ come in our mortal flesh ; (9) that this 
 power is nothing less than God Himself, who is Love, 
 dwelling in us, and inspiring His Spirit into us. The 
 next question which naturally arises is, How do we 
 become possessors of this power ? The answer is given 
 in the verses which follow (1-12). It is made ours by 
 faith. No definition of faith is given. In fact, no 
 definition of faith is given at all in the New Testament 
 save in Heb. xi. I. But Tria-revoo, Trlcmg are the New 
 
 spondence to environment," to use modern scientific language. But 
 even that power is God's gift. Man lias nothing of his own beyond 
 the self-determining power which accepts or rejects Avliat God offers 
 him. 
 
 IL Faith puts the principle of the new birth into opera- 
 tion. For (i) the new birth is not, as some imagine, an exjjerience, 
 a sense of reconciliation, an assurance of pardon, or of final salvation. 
 It is the inipartation of the airepfia deov (ch. iii. 9) — of the higlier 
 Divine life known as spirit. And (2) faith is not simply the belief in 
 a work already done, the acceptance of pardon, the confident expecta- 
 
352 THE FmST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Testament equivalents to the Hebrew word signifying 
 reliance, and they involve the double sense (i) of seeing 
 and (2) of trusting Him who is invisible. The acknow- 
 ledgment that this mighty power of Divine love exists, 
 and the readiness to throw ourselves upon it for support 
 and guidance, in full confidence that they will be given, 
 is the idea of Christian faith put before us by St. John. 
 This faith rests upon testimony (vers. 6—12), and that 
 testimony the inward work of the Spirit carried out (i) 
 by the reanimation of our fainting humanity and (2) 
 by the making us partakers of the humanity of Christ. 
 (This appears to me to be the meaning of the allusions 
 to water and blood.) And it produces boldness, or con- 
 fidence (7rappt](ria), not only in regard to our own future 
 condition (as in ch. iv. 1 7), but in the fatherly love and 
 tenderness of God, who will grant every petition of 
 ours (ch. V. 14) which is not in conflict with His wise 
 purposes. 
 
 Vee. I . — Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, 
 is born of God. Eather, as before, eveiy one that believeth 
 that Jesus is the Christ, hath been horn (or begotten) from 
 God. These words are in close connection with what 
 has gone before. Though they lead to the definition of 
 the place of faith in the Christian scheme, this definition, 
 nevertheless, according to the subtle law of evolution 
 characteristic of St. John's Epistle and Gospel, flows 
 
 tion of final salvation. Faith is confidence in, reliance on, full persua- 
 sion of, the power and goodness of God. His power, in that we are 
 convinced He can destroy the empire of sin in us. His goodness, in 
 that we are as firndy persuaded that He will. This confidence is the 
 evidence of the presence of the Divine life within us. But it is more. 
 It is (see above) the law of its working. As tlie heavenly bodies 
 revolve in their orbits according to the law of gravitation, so the Divine 
 life unfolds itself witliin us according to the law of faith. Nor need 
 this seem strange. If God be good, if in consequence He hates siu, 
 
SOURCE OF THE LIFE OF LOVE. 353 
 
 gradually and imperceptibly from the thought with which 
 the last chapter concludes. The thought unfolds itself 
 thus : — It is a fundamental principle of the Gospel that 
 each disciple should love his brother. And why ? 
 Because each is the possessor of a new life, coming direct 
 from God. As Dean Alford contends, these words, 
 '■■ every one that believeth that Jesus is the Christ is 
 born of God," do Twt refer to the individual, but to the 
 community. We are to love our brother because evcrj/ 
 believer shares the gift of the supernatural life (John i, 
 12, 13). This is made clear by what follows. (See 
 next note.) Our next question is regarding the meaning 
 of in(TTevwv. The word has occurred twice before in the 
 Epistle. In ch. iii. 23 it is coupled with love, but not 
 represented as in any sense the channel through which 
 that love flows. It involves the recognition of Jesus 
 Christ, and a full trust and confidence in Him, But 
 there is no specific definition of its character. In ch, 
 iv. 1 6, it is in one sense yet more restricted, if in another 
 fuller in its scope. It is not belief in God or Christ, 
 but in His love. It is true that this is immediately 
 connected with the assertion that love is of His essence. 
 But what we are in that passage specially asked to 
 contemplate is the action of God towards us, as witnessed 
 to by our experience. Here, however, the nature of 
 faith is clearly set forth. It accepts the truth that 
 
 if He have j>o\vcr to destroy it, it follows that if we believe all this, 
 we i)lace ourselves in dependence on Hiin, we rely on His power to 
 overcome sin in us. If, moreover, we believe that tliis Divine life- 
 principle be really in ourselves, it becomes a moral necessity that iu 
 t)bedience to it, in full trust and persuasion of its presence, we shall 
 set ourselves to work out our own deliverance from sin, in accordance 
 with its promptings. Thus, then, as Jesus said to Niendcmus, the 
 first and essential necessity for those who would enter His kingdom 
 is the new birth. But the second and equally necessary condition is 
 
 Z 
 
354 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Jesus is the Christ, and this, of course, involves all the 
 doctrinal statements of ch. i.v. He who believes that 
 Jesus is the Christ, believes in Him as the personal 
 manifestation, in human form, of God Himself. We 
 have next to discuss the words, " Hath been begotten of 
 God." In ch. iii. 9 we regarded the words as referring 
 to the tendencies of the new life. It may either mean 
 that when the Divine life has reached the stage of 
 maturity, there is no more transgression, or it may 
 regard the man from the point of view of the regenerate 
 life, and lay down the doctrine that so far as that life is 
 concerned he cannot sin, but that whatsoever sin he 
 commits is due not to the operation of that life, but to 
 the " corruption which remaineth, yea, even in them 
 which are regenerate." Whatever its meaning — - and 
 the passage is one of serious difficulty — it cannot, 
 without contradicting plain facts, be interpreted to mean 
 the absolute impeccability of every one who has been 
 born again. In the present passage, however, there is 
 considerably less difficulty. The perfect refers to the 
 gift of the Divine life in the first instance, and regards 
 it from the point of view of the gift, not of its develop- 
 ment. The Divine life is given once for all when the 
 soul is taken into union with Christ. And the possession 
 of faith in Christ is the clear evidence that this Divine 
 life has been received. He who believes has already been 
 
 to believe in Christ, as liavinijf thus regenerated us, so that the new 
 Lirth may develoji into a new life. 
 Ver. lb. — The hrotJurhood of faith. 
 
 I. It springs from the possession of a Divine life. The 
 Apostle assumes that we love Him from whom our life proceeds. We 
 recognise our relation to God. We feel that He is the source of all 
 our being. And we especially tliaiik Him for that second creation 
 which makes us possessors of His higher excellences. 
 
 II. It recognises the Divine life in others as a bond of 
 
SOURCE OF THE LIFE OF LOVE. 355 
 
 begotten of God. Haiipt asks why we have -jria-Teveiu 
 here and not ofxoXoyelu, as in eh. iv. 15. His answer 
 is that here the Apostle is leading us to consider the 
 inward basis of the Christian life, and not, as there, its 
 outward expression. He further cites John i, 1 2 to 
 show that we must not confound faith and the Divine 
 life. The former is the means of appropriating the latter 
 the attitude of the human spirit which enables it to re- 
 ceive the heavenly gift, and also, as we have just seen, 
 tlie sign and evidence of its possession. — and every one 
 that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of 
 him. Some ancient and modern expositors explain "him 
 that is begotten of Him," of Jesus Christ. But the connec- 
 tion of thought makes it clear that the reference here, as in 
 the former part of the verse, is to the individual Christian. 
 In fact, in this passage and in the succeeding verse we 
 have the converse proposition of that presented to us in 
 ch. iv. 20. The two propositions are not contradictory, 
 but parallel. In the first we are concerned with the 
 Christian life in its manifestation. If a man is not, in 
 his conduct, actuated by love of his neighbour, it is clear 
 that he is not animated by the love of God. Here, 
 however, we are asked to regard the Christian life from 
 the point of view of its origin. He who is conscious 
 that he has been born again of God through the opera- 
 tion of the Holy Spirit (" it is assumed that the child 
 
 UNIOX. We know that the same faith Avliich stamps us as having 
 received the new life, stamps others as liaving received it also. And 
 if we love and prize Christ, and Him who gave Christ above all other 
 tilings, we cannot fail to love those iu whom Christ is to be found. 
 We love them because in them we Hnd Him who is the source of all 
 goodness and trutli. One with Him, we are, by a natural and irresist- 
 ible law, one with each other. And the only possible cause of strife 
 and alienation is the absence of the Divine life, or at best, its failure 
 to pervade the whole man. 
 
356 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 M'ill have love for the Author of his heiiiL;- " — Westcott), 
 will feel himself inspired by a love for all in whom he 
 perceives tliat new life in operation ; in all, that is, who 
 are possessed by the spirit of faith in Jesus Christ. 
 Thus the Christian life harmoniously revolves in a 
 perfect circle round God its centre. The love of God 
 involves the love of man : the love of man is the visible 
 manifestation of the love of God. It is important, 
 further, to notice, with Professor Maurice, that here, as 
 in ch. iv. 19, the order is not the ascending from tlie 
 love of man to the love of God. The love which conies 
 I'rom God is the primary principle of all love. Without 
 it no love were possible. The love of man is its neces- 
 sary result, the necessary indication of its presence. 
 But the love of man is no more the cause of the love 
 of God than the rise or fall of the barometer is the cause 
 of good or bad weather. 
 
 Ver. 2. — By this we know that we love the children of 
 God, when we love God and keep his commandments. 
 Eatlier iji this, as before. This verse still more markedly 
 asserts the converse of the proposition in ch. iv. 20. 
 But its last words supply the explanation. We cannot 
 really love God unless we love our brother. And if we 
 want to know whether we love our brother, we must ask 
 whether we love God. But the keeping of God's com- 
 mandments is at once the test of our love to God, and 
 
 Ver. 2. — The test of love — ohediciice. 
 
 I. The paradoxes of Scripture. In the Bible we frequently iind 
 ourselves confronted by apparent contradictions. Tluis (Prov. xxvi. 
 4, 5) we are told to answer and not to answer a fool accordini^ to his 
 folly. Again (Gal. vi. 2, 5) we are told to bear one another's burdens, 
 because eveiy one shall bear his own. Everj^ one is familiar with the 
 contradiction in Avords between St. Paul and St. James on the suliject 
 of justiiication by woiks. So here, \\c have an apparent contradiction 
 to ch. iv. 20. Tliere the love of our neighbour is the test of our love 
 
SOURCE OF THE LIFE OF LOVE. 357 
 
 the mode in which we must display our love to our 
 neighbour. Even in so obvious a duty as the display 
 of love we need direction. The weak compliance which 
 some people mistake for love very often proves to be 
 its exact opposite. " There is/' says Haupt, " a purely 
 natural love which is only a sublimated egotism." If we 
 want to know how to display love to our brother, we 
 must seek tlie source of our inspiration in God. He is 
 love, and to do what He tells ns must be to love our 
 neighbour. If, therefore, we want to know whether our 
 course is one of love or not, let us make God the object 
 of all our aspirations, and His Word the guide of all our 
 actions, and we shall not be far wrong. As Professor 
 Westcott reminds ns, this truth is emphasised by otuv. 
 Whensoever we feel that we are actuated by the love of 
 God, and are walking in the way of His commandments, 
 we may be sure that we are fulfilling the great duty of 
 Christian love. The Vatican MS., as well as the Vulgate 
 and other ancient versions, read Troiw/xev in the place of 
 T>]pwjaev, which is the reading of the Sinaitic MS. and 
 the IJec. text. The editors prefer the former as being an 
 unusual expression, and as, therefore, more likely to be 
 corrected to the more usual Tiipcofxev than the contrary. 
 We may compare the expression to " do His command- 
 ments" with the still more remarkable expression to "do 
 the truth," in ch. i. 6. 
 
 to God. Here the love of God and the keeping His commandments 
 are tlie test of our love to our neighhour. And yet there is no real 
 contradiction in any of these. Truth is many-sided. And every truth 
 has its comiilement, which confiues it to its proper limits, and, so to 
 speak, rounds it otf. 
 IL The direction ix which the true definitiox of 
 
 BROTHERLY LOVE IS TO BE LOOKED FOR. Mail is ignorant. He 
 knows not how to direct his steps. If he tries to show forth love to 
 his nei'dibour he knows not how to set about it. i. Wlicre is lie to 
 
358 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Ver. 3 — For this is the love of God, that we keep his 
 commandments. The thought of the last verse finds yet 
 more distinct expression here. The keeping of God's 
 commandments is the love of God. His commandments 
 are the outward expression of His love, the laws whereby 
 we are kept within its sphere. I have regarded tVa here 
 as the sign of the infinitive, as it is in many other places 
 in Scripture. For similar thoughts cf. John xiv. 15,21,23, 
 3 I ; also John xv. i o, and 2 John 6. It is very neces- 
 sary that this side of the truth should be borne in mind. 
 Had we only ch. iv. 20 before us, we might have imagined 
 that the love of God was a thing that came by practice, 
 and become involved in the Pelagian error that we could 
 of ourselves rise to the level of God's requirements. But 
 such a view is shut out by the present passage, which 
 represents love in us as the expression of the love of 
 God, and God's commandments as the channel in which 
 that expression of love must necessarily flow. — and his 
 commandments are not grievous. The reason of this state- 
 ment is given in the next verse (Alford). Consequently 
 here we are simply concerned with the fact. It had been 
 already declared by Christ in the well-known words, 
 " My yoke is easy, and My burden is light " (Matt. xi. 30). 
 The meaning here, however, is not so much that God's 
 commandments are not difficult to keep, as that they 
 
 look for dii'ection ? To God's commandments set forth in His Holy 
 Word. 2. Why is this ? Because God is love, and we can only carry 
 out the principle of brotherly love by actini,' in His Spirit. The direc- 
 tions given us are twofold ; precept, and better still, example — the 
 example of Jesus Christ (Phil. ii. 5). Thus a man cannot be loving 
 God unless he be loving his neighbour. Neither can he know how 
 to love his neighbour unless he loves God and seeks direction from 
 Him. 
 
 Vers. 3, 4. — The lifjht yoke of Christ. 
 
 I. His YOKE IS LIGHT BECAUoE OF THE NATURE OF HiS COM- 
 
SOURCE OF THE LIFE OF LOVE. 359 
 
 are not burdensome, do not impose a heavy yoke iclien 
 kept., Eather we should say with the Psalmist, " In 
 keeping of them there is great reward" (Psalm xix. i i), 
 i.c.^ the very fact of keeping them is in itself happiness. 
 It is true that the next verse implies that the difficulty 
 is not so great to the Christian, — not so great as he might 
 be inclined to imagine, seeing that he is provided with a 
 faculty which will enable him to. overcome all temptations 
 to break them. But the continuity of thought demands 
 that we should view these words also in connection with 
 what has gone before. There the commandments of God 
 have been regarded as the expression of His love to man, 
 and a guide to us in the manifestation of that love. But 
 they can hardly be this, and also the " heavy burdens, and 
 grievous to be borne," which our Lord speaks of as being 
 imposed by the Pharisees (Matt, xxiii. 4). On the contrary, 
 it is the breach of God's commandments that entails 
 grievous consequences upon us. The more we fulfil God's 
 commandments, the lighter they grow, and the lighter also 
 grow our hearts. Those commandments are the " path 
 of life ; " perfectly to fulfil them would be " fulness of 
 joy," the attainment of that " pleasure for evermore " 
 which is declared to be " at God's right hand " (Psalm 
 xvi. I 2). 
 
 Ver. 4. — For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the 
 
 MANDMENTS. For ( i) tile keeping of them produces 2}cn<'c of mind ; 
 (2) it produces an appi'oving conscience ; (3) it tends to promote imity 
 jiiid peace among mankinil ; and (4) it grows easier by practice and 
 tlie formation of lioly liabits. 
 
 II. It is light because of the power He gives us to bear it. 
 The new life, quickened into operation in us by faith, conquers the 
 world. And this because it is the life of God manifested in Jesus 
 (Christ, and imparted to us by the Spirit. A Divine life must be a 
 victorious lite. It cannot be otherwise (Luke xi. 22). It is this which 
 makes the fulhlment of Gods commands not grievous. By ourselves 
 
360 THE FIRST EPISTLJ? OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 world. The neuter here is not, as some have thought, 
 equivalent to all men. It rather refers to the power 
 inherent in them, as in John iii. 6, vi. 37, xvii. 2. It is 
 not we who conquer, hut the power that dwelleth in us. 
 Or rather, perhaps, we should put it thus. If we conquer, 
 it is through no natural power of our own apart from 
 God, hut through His Divine gift, working in each one 
 of us, according to the laws impressed on it by His 
 Providence, and uniting us into one body in Christ. 
 We must observe the present and perfect tenses here, 
 as contrasted with the aorist in the next j^assnge. What- 
 soever has hccn born from God overcomes, i.e., is in per- 
 manent possession of the power to overcome the world. 
 — and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even 
 our faith. Literally, ihis is the victory ivliicJi overcame (or 
 liatJi hccn ovcrcominfj) the world. It seems impossible to 
 deny that here the grammar is literally incorrect, but 
 spiritually true. It is not literally true that our faith 
 overcame the world. But the Apostle is linking that 
 faith with the past fact from which alone it draws its 
 power. Without connection wiih that past fact our 
 faith could have no such power. That which overcame 
 the world was the natural life on earth of Jesus Christ 
 (John xvi. 33). To that past fact our faith leads us, in 
 all our struii'des with the evil the world contains. With 
 
 00 
 
 we are utterly incapable of rising to the level of their requirements 
 (Rom. iii. 9, 20, 28). But in His strength Ave are always able to 
 conquer. 
 
 III. Faith the source of obedience. We have but to believe 
 (i) that God is Lord and Ruler of all ; (2) that He -wills to make us 
 partakers of His glory ; (3) that Ho is ready to impart to us the power 
 Ave need in order to have victory over sin ; and (4) that this power is 
 in His Son ; — to attain to perfect obedience. A perfect faith of this 
 kind of necessity produces perfect obedience. If we are not yet vic- 
 torious over sin, it is because our faith is imperfect. And according 
 
SOURCE OF THE LIFE OF LOVE. 36 1 
 
 that past fact it unites us, so that the life of Christ is 
 lived over again by each one of us. Hence the deep 
 inner truth suggested by the aorist. Our faith is not a 
 thing of the past but of the present. But it would be 
 utterly ineffective, useless, unless it were in immediate 
 connection with that victory over sin and death achieved 
 by Jesus Christ, a fact literally past, and yet eternally 
 present with His Church. Nor is this the only point in 
 which this passage, viewed literally only, would be mis- 
 leading. Our faith, regarded in itself, is not the victory. 
 Tlie victory is the victory of Christ, repeated and con- 
 tinued in us. It is, as Professor Westcott says, " the 
 individual appropriation of a victory gained once for all." 
 It should be observed that vikij occurs here only in the 
 New Testament, and ttio-ti? only here in St. John. 
 
 Yer. 5. — Who is he that overcometh the world, hut he 
 that helieveth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This 
 ])assage has hidden links of connection with what has 
 preceded. And various truths are implied in it. First, 
 we are informed ivJi?/ faith overcomes the world, — because 
 it is faith in the Son of God, in One who possesses 
 Divine power to overcome all that is evil. Next, we are 
 once more taught to look upon God's disordered world as 
 the antagonist to goodness, or, in other words, to love. 
 And thirdly, in connection with ver. i, we see an addi- 
 
 to the measure of onr faitli, so is our approach to Cliristian perfection. 
 Let us then "reach forward towards the tilings that are before " (Pliil. 
 iii. 13, 14; 2 Pet. i. 5-7). 
 
 Ver. 5. — 27ic basis and result of Christian faith. 
 
 I. Our faith in Jesus as the Sox of God. Let us consider 
 ■what is involved in this. i. It asserts a special character in Jesus 
 Christ. He is not a son of God in the sense that all created beings 
 are. He is the Son of God iu a sense peculiar to Himself. 2. Wiuit 
 is implied in sonshi]) ? Likeness to the Father. Tims thr Son of God 
 is one who conies from God, and displays the nature of Him from 
 
2,62 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 tional reason for mutual love in the common antagonism 
 of every true child of God to the tendencies to strife and 
 selfishness which human society presents. This thought, 
 however, is pursued no further. The Apostle turns in 
 the verses which follow to the grounds on which we 
 Lelieve Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. And those 
 grounds, it will be seen, lead us to no barren acceptance 
 of a dogma. It is not belief in the Incarnation, as a 
 formula, but belief in One wlio has become incarnate. 
 And this belief rests, we learn in what follows, on the 
 inward witness we have (i) of a Spirit, guiding and 
 inspiring us ; (2) of an influence, purifying and refreshing 
 us ; (3) of a life imparted to us and flowing in our veins. 
 These are felt to be working within us to one and the 
 same purpose, to make us one with God. We cannot 
 leave the subject without pointing out the connection 
 between these two verses on the one hand, and John 
 xvi. 33, and the many passages in which 6 vikcov occurs 
 in the Revelation as a mark of the common authorship 
 of the three books. For a similar thought to the one 
 contained in tliis verse cf. i Cor. xv. 57. 
 
 Avliom He comes. 3. We find in Jesus Clnist all the attributes of His 
 Father : power, -wisdom, intelligence, righteousness, glory, love (John 
 i. 14 ; Col. i. 19, ii. 9 ; Heb. i. 3 ; &c.) 
 
 II. Such a faith is itself victory. See notes on the last two 
 verses. Also Expositions. This faith overcomes the Avorld (i) by 
 uniting us to Christ ; (2) because His power, to which it unites us, is 
 Divine. Apart from Christ, we are nothing (John xv. 5). In Him 
 we are partakers of His fulness, and sharers of His victory (John i. 
 16, xvi. 23). 
 
;6 
 
 O^J 
 
 XXV. 
 
 UNION" AVITH CHEIST. 
 
 f^H. V. 6. — The Apostle, in the next eight verses, pro- 
 ^ ceeds to explain the grounds on which faith rests. 
 And it is of great importance to observe that, of however 
 much value the historical evidence for Christianity may 
 be, its inward witness is of far greater importance. It is 
 solely to this inward witness that the Apostle refers here. 
 The external evidence is necessary to bring men to 
 Christ ; the internal witness confirms them in Christ. 
 That internal witness is the witness of the Spirit. And 
 this witness is confirmed by two other facts — facts which 
 are not really distinct from the Spirit's witness, but form 
 part of it — the one the cleansing and refreshing influence 
 of the Gospel, the other the intimate union with the 
 humanity of Christ which the Spirit produces in us by 
 iueans of faitli. 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. v. 6. — (i.) Jesus Christ comcth by luater and bij blood. 
 
 The language of the Apostle emphatically intimates that the work 
 of Jesus Christ was a double work, and that he Miio only regards one 
 ]iart of that work has received only a defective impression of the 
 nature of the Gospel. The first work is the taking away from us 
 wliat we have — namely, a sinful nature ; the second is the giving us 
 
364 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 This is he that came by water and by blood. Tliis verse 
 is one fullof meaning. And as usual with passages so 
 pregnant, it lias given rise to endless diversities of in- 
 terpretation. It will Le convenient to deal with questions 
 of reading and rendering first, and then with questions 
 of interpretation, i. In regard to reading, it is note- 
 worthy that the Codex Sinaiticus adds "and spirit" after 
 the word "blood." But the addition is clearly made in 
 order to assimilate the passage to ver. 8, as well as to 
 pave the way for tlie introduction of the words " and the 
 Spirit bearetli witness;"' &c., in this verse. The other 
 uncial MSS., as well as the Syriac and Vulgate, read as 
 the Authorised Version. 2. In regard to rendering, we 
 ought not to fail to observe the difference between Sl 
 vSaT09 here and the iv tm uSari of the next clause. 
 Sid here, without the article, refers to the way in which 
 Jesus Clirist was pleased to redeem the world. He came, 
 Ave are told. He was pleased to work in us, by two means 
 — water and blood. But He did not come to us, or 
 work in us, by the water only, but by the water and by 
 the blood (tlie article indicating the water and the blood 
 just specified). That is, the method of His working in 
 the soul combined both these media, each being an 
 equally necessary element in the work He came to do. 
 3. The next question that arises is that of interpretation, 
 and we are at once plunged into a sea of difficulties. 
 
 ■what we have not — tliat is, fellowsliip Avith the Divine nature. 
 Water may l)e taken as the type of cleansing from sin (tlion;:h — see 
 Exposition — it may receive a wider interpretation). Blood is a phr ise 
 iiseil to denote the impartation of Clirist's righteousness. Let us 
 r.gard each of these in tnrn. 
 
 I. The clkansing pkocess. 
 
 n. Thcfird stc2'> is a sense of reconciliation irith God. To cxpiess 
 this Ave have a variety of words in the English Bible. Iteconciliation, 
 
UNION WITH crirjsT. 365 
 
 First, it is disputed whether there is any reference here 
 to Jolm xix. 34 ; next, wliether there is any reference to 
 the two Sacraments ; and tliirdly, what is actually meant 
 by the words. We will discuss these questions in the 
 order in which they have Leen stated, (i.) The reference 
 to John xix. 34 can hardly be denied by any one who 
 reflects on the inward unity of Scripture, and especially 
 on the close connection between St. John's Epistle and 
 his Gospel. The emphatic words with which the Evan- 
 gelist refers to what he saw, prove beyond a doubt that 
 a mystic meaning attached itself to that which appeared 
 to him to be so wondrous a sight. The occurrence was 
 unquestionably in his eyes typical of some great principle. 
 And when he here (for only a lover of paradox can dis- 
 pute that the Gospel and Epistle are by the same hand) 
 refers to these very principles, there can be little doubt 
 that he is expounding that of which the incident he re- 
 ports to us in the Gospel was the type. (2.) "VVe are 
 asked whether the two great Sacraments of the Gospel 
 are here referred to. We may reply that they are re- 
 ferred to in precisely the degree in which they are re- 
 i'erred to in the third and sixth chapters of St. John's 
 Gospel. That is to say, the reference is rather to the 
 first principles of the Gospel which these two Sacraments 
 symbolise and apply than directly to the Sacraments 
 themselves. The difficulty has arisen, on the one hand, 
 
 atonement (both renderings of the word KaraWayri), justilicatioii, 
 adoption, grace, and the lilce, are used to conve\' it. All these imply 
 the removal of the alienation between God and man which is the 
 necessary consequence of sin, and the substitution in its place of the 
 conlidence (wapp-qjia), the access (wpocraywyri), the assurance of fathcriy 
 love on God's part Avhich has been revealed bj'^ Jesus Cliiist. 
 
 b. The next step is the stirring lis np to a conflict with sin. God's 
 object is not merely the removal of the sentence, but of the cause of 
 
366 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 fiom the inability on the part of some to make any 
 distinction b&tween the Sacraments and the eternal truths 
 that underlie tliem, and on the other liand, from the 
 natural reaction on the part of others which leads them 
 to deny any connection between the outward sign and 
 the thing signified. But as it is impossible ibr any un- 
 prejudiced mind to help seeing some link of connection 
 between the discourses in the third and sixth chapters of 
 St. John and those great ceremonies of the Church which 
 are a kind of visible presentment of the teaching in those 
 chapters, so here, both the order of the words (" water " 
 coming first and " blood " afterwards) and the connection 
 of the first Sacrament with the former, and of the second 
 with the latter, would naturally suggest some reference to 
 the truths symbolised in those Sacraments and embodied 
 in the Saviour's life and work. Those who regard the 
 two Sacraments as at once the expression of two great 
 princij^les in the Gospel scheme, and as the appointed 
 means whereby those principles are applied to the indi- 
 vidual soul, will naturally see here a primary reference, 
 to the principles and a secondary reference to the Sacra- 
 ments as concerned in the application of those principles 
 to the life of the believer. 
 
 The first of these two great principles is the work of 
 Christ in cleansing from sin. To tliis fact of the 
 Christian scheme baptism bears witness. And not only 
 
 the sentence. Tlie renewed life is entirely irreconcilaltle with sin, 
 and must be in deadly enmity with it. See chaps, i. 6, 9 (where the 
 word is d^rj — .see Exposition of this verse), ii. 5, 15, iii. 3, 9, 10, &c., 
 and cf. Rom. vi. throughout, viii. 2, 4, 7, &c. And the object of the 
 renewed life (see Exposition) is the expulsion of sin. The cleansing, 
 or washing, is a process involving tlie gradual detachment of the soul 
 from all sinful habits. 
 
 c. We are sustained in this conflict by the assuran':e of victory. 
 
UNION WITH CHKIST. 367 
 
 does it bear witness to it, but it asserts tliat the power 
 which will produce this cleansing is already at work 
 within the heart of every one who is admitted into the 
 fellowship of Christ's Church. This cleansing is two- 
 fold in its nature. As the well-known hymn says, we 
 need cleansing from the guilt and from the power of sin. 
 The guilt of sin is remitted at the outset of the Christian 
 life. No burden hangs hencefortli round the sinner's 
 neck of original sin, nor of any sin repented of. " There 
 is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," 
 provided their will and purpose is in accordance with 
 His. But cleansing from the i^owcr of sin is a process, 
 a life-long work, of which baptism represents the initial 
 stage. He who has been baptized need not doubt that 
 this process has been begun in him, and that if his faith 
 remain unimpaired, it will go on to its final completion. 
 Thus baptism is an expression as well as an application 
 of the fact that Jesus Christ came by water. When 
 we come to the otlier Sacrament, the Body and Blood 
 of Christ are the prominent thouglit. And not that 
 Body and Blood objectively alone, as an object of con- 
 templation or worship, but subjectively also, as a fact 
 realised within. And the Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper involves the recognition of the other great 
 principle of Christianity, namely, that tlie redeeming 
 work of Christ is carried on simply and solely through 
 
 See John xvi. 33 ; i Cor. xv. 57 ; i Tliess. i. 5 ; as well as the 
 mimcroiis passaj;'es in this Epistle and the IJevelation which speak of 
 overcoming. From this point of view water is regarded in its refresli- 
 ing as well as cleansing aspects. It implies the confidence with which 
 the Christian warrior advances to the hattle, armed with the shield of 
 faith; the sxi.stained energy he displays in the conflict; the renewed 
 vigour he evinces wlien downcast or wearied, wlien he recurs to the 
 fountain, and is invigorated by fresh draughts of the water of li.e. 
 
368 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 the infusion into tlie believer, by a process purely 
 spiritual, of the human life of our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. The blood is the life. And the Blood of Jesus 
 is His life. That life He came to impart to ns. We 
 have dwelt too much on the unquestionable truth 
 that His Blood was shed for us. We have allowed 
 ourselves to dwell too little on the equally unquestion- 
 able truth that this Blood is imparted to us, in- 
 wrought by faith into the very tissue and texture of our 
 lives. And this view will serve also to explain the 
 difference of order here and in St. John's Gospel. There 
 we read of " blood and water," here of " water and blood." 
 This is because there we have the Divine, here the human 
 side of this vital truth. There we have these facts 
 regarded Irom the point of view of their origin. The 
 Christian Church in her Sacraments, as well as the Apostle 
 in this passage, and our Lord Himself in the two great 
 discourses already referred to, regards them in their 
 application. In the case of each believer the cleansing 
 comes first, the removal of guilt, of the antecedent bar 
 which siu jiresents to the full union between the spirit 
 and God, and then the consciousness of communion, the 
 reception of life, the "growing together" (Rom. vi. 5) of 
 the believer and his Lord. But from the Divine point of 
 view this order is reversed. The Blood of Clirist is that 
 which effects the whole work. " God is one " (Gal. iii. 
 
 d. But it is the life of Chrht wliich docs all. As -we have already 
 seen, the Avater, after all, only represents one particular eli'ect of the 
 ;^ift of the blood. It is the blood -which cleanseth ns from sin — ch. 
 i. 7 ; cf. Eph. i. 7 ; Heb. xii. 24 ; ILev. i. 5 (where, liowever, there is a 
 different reading), vii. 14, &c. It is to the blood that Ave owe our 
 justification, adoption, i)eacc (Roru. iii. 24-26), and all the refreshment 
 and strength Avhich the Christian can receive through his faith. liut 
 these ideas are not immediately connected in our minds with blood. 
 
UNION WITH CHRIST. 369 
 
 20). It is only the human intellect that requires to divide 
 truth into propositions. The cleansing process is part of 
 the embodying (Eph. ii. 13-20, iii. 6) of the believer into 
 Christ. It is "the Blood of Christ" that " cleanseth 
 from all sin" (ch. i. 7). The water is but a type of that 
 particular truth. It represents, that is, one aspect of the 
 work accomplished by the precious Blood. The Sacra- 
 ments, then, clearly come within the scope of this passage 
 as the visible ceremonies whereby the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of the Gospel are proclaimed and applied to all 
 mankind. (3.) It remains, then, to state what is meant 
 by the words here used. And the answer has been to a 
 great extent anticipated by what has already been said. 
 But the connection between these words and the Christian 
 Sacraments, as symbolising and expressing the relation of 
 the members of Christ to their Head having been admitted, 
 we may proceed to give the words a wider interpretation. 
 The passage has been one full of difficulty to the commen- 
 tators. The number of explanations has been almost 
 endless. Yet the one here adopted, if not precisely 
 coinciding in all respects with any the writer has seen, 
 is at least in accordance, not perhaps with some modern 
 conceptions, but at least with the doctrine of the Incar- 
 nation as it has been taught in the Church from the 
 earliest ages. 
 
 The cleansing effects of water have already been 
 
 Hence this aspect of the Divine life is represented to us under the 
 figure of water. 
 
 e. Exhortation to confidence in the Christian walk. Vers. 13, 18, 20; 
 Rom. V. I, &c. 
 
 II. The union of the believer with Christ. 
 
 a. This was Christ's aim. John xvii. 20, 21 ; Rom. vi. 23 ; Tit. ii. 
 14, chap. iv. 9, 13, 14, V. II. 
 
 b. It is carried out by the gift of Himself. So we are taught in 
 
 2 A 
 
3/0 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 mentioned. But hitherto nothing has been said of its 
 invigorating effects. This aspect of tlie type of water is 
 also represented to us by the wine of the Lord's Supper. 
 Hence, though the two Sacraments are referred to in this 
 passage by the water and the blood respectively, it is 
 impossible to confine the reference to them. The water 
 also represents the strengthening and refreshing effects of 
 the Life of Christ, the power wliich is spoken of in the pre- 
 ceding verses as overcoming the world, and as being 
 closely connected with the new birth from on high. It 
 is hardly possible to suppose that the words of Christ, 
 reported with much emphasis by himself, the words, that 
 is, which speak of the Christian as " born again of water 
 and the Spirit," can have been absent from the Apostle's 
 mind. The idea of birth does not involve the idea of 
 cleansing. This last idea is only connected with the 
 former when we conceive of the birth within a sin- 
 stained being of a pure and regenerating influence such as 
 the Life of Christ. Hence, then, the conception of spiritual 
 vigour, as well as the removal of condemnation, must be 
 involved in the mention of water, the idea of a faculty 
 fitting us for conflict and assuring us of victory. But 
 this, true as it is, would only be an one-sided view (a 
 view, nevertheless, very widely diffused. See below). 
 '■ Not in the water only, but in the water and the blood." 
 The notion is not of a being separate from us cleansing 
 
 Jolm vi. And this is the truth which underlies the sacrament of Holy 
 Coninumion. The life the Christian lives is henceforth not his own, 
 but Christ's (Gal. ii. 20). The jirecious blood is the life of his soul. 
 It is not merely the price paid (i Pet. i. 18, 19). It is the gift given. 
 (See esp. John vi. 57, with which compare John iii. 16 ; Heb. ix. 14, 
 X. 10-22. Also Rom. v. 17, 21, and texts cited under head a). 
 
 c. The necessary condition on our part is faith. It needs not to 
 prove this by Scripture No doctrine of Holy Writ is more continually 
 
UNION WITH CHKIST. 37 1 
 
 US by any external process of purification, nor even of 
 such a being stirring us up by example, precept, or even 
 assistance, to an energetic conflict with evil. The Apostle's 
 teaching goes deeper. He speaks of inward and vital 
 union with Christ. Christ not only cleanses us as He 
 did the leper, by a touch from without, He cleanses us by 
 His presence within. He not only invigorates us by His 
 example and by His grace, but He strengthens us by the 
 gift of His own self. The explanations of some com- 
 mentators seem to involve a contracted or mistaken notion 
 not only of the word a(pecri9, but of the English word 
 " atone." As we have seen, men speak of the former as 
 equivalent to forgiveness. But its more natural meaning 
 is expulsion. That the former idea is excluded we would 
 not contend. But we contend for the inclusion of the 
 latter. As the virus of deadly poison is expelled from the 
 body by the antidote, so the poison of sin is expelled from 
 man's composite being by the life of Christ. Sin is first 
 forgiven, no doubt. But it is afterwards destroyed. Its 
 power over the man is taken away, and he stands, not 
 only justified, but purified, sanctified, victorious, by the 
 indwelling of Jesus Christ. So again, the expression 
 "atoning blood" is not used at the present day in its 
 Scriptural and strict English sense as equivalent to 
 " reconciling blood," but involves in modern English ears 
 the idea of reconcilinfj throufjh the endurance of vicarious 
 
 laid down. But faith, it may be worth while to repeat, is rathei- the 
 ackuowledgment of a fact than the acceptance of a dogma. It is 
 practical rather than intellectual. And as in all other cases, so here, 
 the refusal to i-ecognise facts must bring trouble in its train. If a man 
 wUl not use the light, he stumbles. If he will not use his ears, he 
 meets with accidents. If he will not admit that he is responsible 
 for his actions, he has that responsibility brought home to him iij 
 many very unpleasant ways. So, if he wiU not admit the existence 
 
372 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 punishment. That the sufferings and death of Christ were 
 those of the One Sacrifice for sin is not denied. But we lose 
 sight of half the virtue of that Blood shed, if we merely re- 
 gard it as offered for us. As the sixth chapter of St. John 
 and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper most plainly teach, 
 that blood circulates in the veins of every redeemed man. 
 Thus it is not enough to regard it as simply pleading for 
 the forgiveness of our sins. It " atones " by becoming the 
 very life of our life, and its revivifying power effects the 
 expulsion of sin from within us. Thus, then, Jesus came 
 by water and blood. The one typified the removal of the 
 curse from mankind, the free access of all to a gracious 
 and loving Father no longer estranged from us by sin, the 
 quickening and inspiring effects of the new relation 
 between God and man in stirring us up vigorously to live 
 the new life. The other is no type at all, but the plain 
 literal foundation of the Christian religion. The life of 
 Christ is our life. His Blood mystically, yet really, flows 
 in our veins, uniting us in the first instance to His 
 humanity, and through it to the Divine nature itself (2 
 Peter i. 4). There are many types in the Old Testament 
 of this twofold character of the Divine work, or rather, 
 perhaps, of this method of regarding it first in its effects, 
 and next in its essential character. Of these the most 
 remarkable, perhaps, is the rite of purification in the case 
 of leprosy (Leviticus xiv. 5-7), where the death of the one 
 bird, the dipping of the leper and the living bird in the 
 
 of a Fatlier, a Saviour, a Divine Spirit, a life proceeding from God, 
 manifested by the Son, infused by the Spirit, he shuts himself out 
 from all its benefits. But like all other gifts of God, the gift of eternal 
 life in Christ is offered to the whole world freely and without stint. 
 It only needs willingness on our part to recognise and to receive it, 
 to enjoy all the blessings Avhich are summed up in the word sal- 
 vation. 
 
UNION WITH CHRIST. ^JT, 
 
 dead bird's blood, and the doing all this in connection with 
 an earthen vessel, and over running water (Heb. living 
 water) are singularly corroborative of the interpretation of 
 blood and water given above. The comparison of the 
 last clause in this verse with ver. 1 1 tends to corroborate 
 the view that has been taken. See note there. — not by 
 water only, but by water and blood. The Eevised Version 
 translates not with the water only, hut ivith the water and 
 the blood. But if the explanation given above is correct 
 it is better to translate ev literally, " in." Thus we have 
 the assertion that Jesus comes to the spirit of man not 
 merely in His cleansing and reviving influences, but in His 
 very humanity itself. As has already been said, the 
 belief which St. John here repudiates has nevertheless 
 been very widely diffused. It is impossible to avoid 
 seeing a reference here to those Gnostic heretics who 
 believed that the Spirit first descended on the Saviour at 
 His baptism, and that His Death, which the Church has 
 always regarded as the shedding of His Blood, the sacrifice 
 of Himself, to take away the sins of the world, was, on the 
 contrary, either the act of a phantom, or the ordinary 
 death of a human being — the ^on, or Divine emanation, 
 having left the man Jesus before the agony in the Garden, 
 and returned to His heavenly home. But the error is as 
 prevalent now as it was in the Apostle's day, though in 
 
 (2.) There is a Divine witness/or these things, eveti the Spirit of 
 God. 
 
 The soul of man cries out with Zacharias (Luke i. 18), " Whereby 
 shall I know this?" when the wondrous things of God are made 
 known to him. Let us briefly consider on what authority these truths 
 come to us. 
 
 I. Nature witnesses to God's goodness. 
 
 So says St. Paul (Acts xiv. 17, xvii. 27 ; Rom. i. 20). So said the 
 Psalmist (Ps. xix. 20). So says the historian of creation (Gen. i. 31). 
 So sang the angels when Christ was born (Luke ii. 14). Aud so says 
 
374 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 another form. The actual entrance of the Saviour 
 Himself into the regenerate man is kept in the background, 
 and an intermediate influence, grace, Divine assistance, 
 something which though given by Christ is not Christ, 
 has taken its place. We need constantly to bear in mind 
 the truth enshrined in fitting words in Cardinal Newman's 
 striking hymn : — 
 
 ' ' And that a higher gift than grace 
 Should flesh and blood refine, 
 God's presence and His very self 
 And essence all Divine." 
 
 So, too, the old Gnostic error, derived from the still 
 older philosophical error of the essential evil of matter, 
 still remains among us. Redemption consists, according 
 to this view, not in the salvation of the whole man, but, 
 as the Gnostics taught, in his severance into his compo- 
 nent elements. His spirit is saved, his body dies. Thus 
 the great truth the Christian Church has ever taught, that 
 of the resurrection of the body, becomes no more than the 
 Platonic doctrine of the immortality of the soul. And the 
 teaching of such passages as Eomans viii, 1 1, 23 ; i Cor. 
 vi. 19, 20 (and observe the time text), xv. 44 ; Eph. v. 23 ; 
 Phil. iii. 21; I Thess. v. 2 3 ; and the like, is lost sight 
 of. The Church of Christ still needs almost as much as 
 ever the caution " not in the water only, but in the water 
 
 modern discovery, every fresh addition to ■which is only another proof 
 of the wisdom and beneficence of God. 
 
 II. Revelation testifies to Christ. 
 
 It cannot be denied (i) that revelation falls in with the plan of God's 
 dealings as revealed in the history of man. The argument of Bishop 
 Butler on this point has never been seriously assailed. Again (2) the 
 evidence for revelation is such that it cannot be laughed out of court. 
 The character of Christ {a), the indisputable prediction beforehand 
 
UNION WITH CHRIST. 375 
 
 and in the blood." — And it is the Spirit that beareth 
 witness. It seems that the inversion of thought here, as 
 compared with ver. 8, is due to the allusion to the fact 
 recorded in John xix. 34. The strange and to the 
 Apostle so mysterious incident of which he was the 
 witness, seemed to him to typify most wondrously and 
 most aptly the modus operandi of his Master in the 
 redemptive work. And thus we have the two effects of 
 Christ's coming placed before the efficient cause. It is 
 the Spirit from whom we receive the cleansing and 
 refreshing influences of the life of Christ. Nay, it is He 
 who infuses Christ's humanity into us. Our faith, too, 
 rests ultimately upon His presence within. See John 
 iii. 3, 5, xiv. 16—18, XV. 26, xvi. 13, 14; Eom. viii. 2, 
 9-17, 26, 27; I Cor. iii. 16, vi. 19; 2 Cor. iii. 6, 17, 
 18; Gal. V. 16-18, 22, 25; Eph. V. 9, 18, &c. By a 
 comparison of the various statements of God's Word, we 
 find that the work Jesus Christ came to do is accom- 
 plished through the operation of the Spirit. Thus the 
 Spirit beareth witness of Christ by His operations in 
 the heart. The faith that conquers the world is His 
 work. The believer may be attracted to the doctrine 
 of Christ by external evidence, but he can only be built 
 up in it by inward experience. The influence felt by 
 every one who has accepted the message of Christ and 
 begun to act upon it, producing as it does the sense of 
 
 that the seed of Abraham (Geu. xii. 3), Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 14) and 
 David (2 Sam. vii. 12) should be a source of blessing to mankind, and 
 that to the posterity of the latter an everlasting kingdom was promised 
 (b), and the evidence for the resurrection of Christ, which no ingenuity 
 has ever been able to explain away (c), are points which insist on the 
 attention of every reasonable man. And (3) the complete change 
 Avhich has taken place, and is still taking place in the state of society 
 wherever the religion of Christ is recognised, is another Avitness for 
 
2^"]^ THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 pardon, the feeling of inward rest and refreshment, the 
 strong encouragement to conflict with all that is evil, 
 and progress in all that is good, is the best and surest 
 witness to the reality of the revelation of God in Christ. 
 It is this on which the foundation of our faith ultimately 
 rests, the testimony of Christian experience, the evidence 
 of our inward consciousness in regard to the transforming 
 and regenerating power of Christ. Just as the Samaritans 
 (John iv. 42) believed first on the testimony of the 
 Samaritan woman and then — and more permanently — 
 on their own experience of His teaching, so men now 
 believe first on the testimony of others, and then, when 
 they have acted on that testimony, they have practical 
 demonstration of the truth of that to which they have 
 yielded credence. Thus "it is the Spirit that beareth 
 witness." It may perhaps be necessary to call attention 
 once more to the way in which the Authorised Version 
 translates fiaprvpia indifferently by "record," "testi- 
 mony," " witness," thus somewhat diminishing the em- 
 phasis with which St. John dwells on the true character 
 and necessity of the witness for Christ. — because the Spirit 
 is truth. This is one of the passages from which the 
 divinity of the Holy Spirit may be inferred, God is 
 truth (Ps. xxxi. 5). Jesus Christ is the truth (John xiv. 
 6). And the Spirit is truth. It is not said that He is 
 " of," or " from," the truth, that He bears witness to the 
 
 the truth of His Gospel. This testimony may he rejected. But it is 
 at least testimony which no rational man can pass by unheeded. 
 
 III. Conscience testifies to Christ. 
 
 What St. John intends here to appeal to is not the unconverted, 
 unsanctified conscience, but the believing conscience. It is the uni- 
 versal testimony of those who have accepted and acted on the 
 belief in Christ, that experience has confirmed their faith. We may 
 even call upon unbelievers for a confession of this. The meu whose 
 
UNION WITH CHRIST. 2ill 
 
 truth, but that He is truth. In other words, He shares 
 the essential nature of the Father and the Son. In this 
 passage we find the ground for relying on His testimony, 
 namely, the conviction of His truth. This is (i) 
 objective, and consists in relying on Him who it is felt 
 will not fail us, since He is the truth itself; and (2) 
 subjective, in that by relying on Him we gain repeated 
 experience that He deserves our trust. We first rely on 
 Him because we are persuaded that He is the truth. 
 We continue to rely on Him because as a fact we find 
 that He is the truth. But the subjective belief depends 
 on the objective. We must first surrender ourselves to 
 the guidance of His power, and then we find out what 
 that inward power or energy is. The rendering which 
 would take on as " that," and translate " the Spirit 
 beareth witness that the Spirit is truth," need only be 
 noticed to be rejected. St. John may sometimes seem to 
 be arguing in a circle. But he never actually does so, 
 as would be the case if this rendering were adopted. For 
 the Vulgate reading here, " because Christ is the truth," 
 and a remarkable note by Bede on the passage as thus 
 read, see Dr. Westcott's Commentary. The full force of 
 this verse will not be understood till we come to ver. 8, 
 where the Apostle points to the three lines of testimony 
 converging to one end. We have the objective fact, the 
 existence of the Spirit who is truth, on the one hand, 
 
 lives have been best and worthiest and most devoted, have ever sought 
 their inspiration from Christ. And those, moreover, who have sought 
 from Christ the sense of sin forgiven, the energy to combat sin, en- 
 couragement when weary, hope when defeated, perseverance when 
 despondent, have never failed to obtain it. Those Avho have rested 
 on the sense of oneness with Christ, on the sense of the possession of 
 a new life Avhich is not their own but His, have ever felt — and found 
 ^this belief to be one which could not disappoint them. They have 
 
27S THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 and the two forms His energy in the soul assumes, the 
 water and the blood, on the other, tending to establish 
 that necessary condition of Christian life, Christian faith. 
 But while the three lines of testimony lead to the same 
 end, the Apostle here is careful to remind us that the 
 objective fact is that on which our faith must ultimately 
 rest. Whatever His modus operandi in the soul, our 
 faith is faith in a person. " It is the Spirit that beareth 
 witness, because the Spirit is truth." 
 
 an iuward conviction which rests not on opinion, but on fact. Not 
 only do they feel the Spirit bearing witness within them, but they 
 know that "the Spirit is truth." 
 
( 379 ) 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 THE THEEE WITNESSES. 
 
 rm. V, 7, 8. — For there are three that bear witness in 
 ^ heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, 
 and these three are one. And there are three that bear 
 witness on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and 
 these three agree in one. The spuriousness of ver. 7 is 
 a fact which, in the present stage of textual criticism, 
 can hardly be said to admit of dispute. A brief summary 
 of the evidence is all that need be offered here. For a 
 fuller statement the reader is referred to those works on 
 New Testament criticism designed for the use of scholars. 
 Especially will the latest view of the critical evidence be 
 found in Professor Westcott's Commentary. The argu- 
 ments against the genuineness of the verse are as 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. v. 8. — The threefold witness. 
 
 I. The witness of the Spirit. St. John had previously led U3 
 to look on the Spirit alone as bearing witness. And thus (see pp. 
 375-377) he turns our attention to the fact tliat there is a witness. 
 Now he bids us observe what is tlie nature of this witness, and that 
 we cannot conceive of the Spirit as witnessing (i) apart from Christ, 
 nor {2) apart from the effects of His work. Not apart from Christ, for 
 He is Christ's Spirit (Rom. viii. 9; Gal. iv. 6), and Christ sent Him 
 (John XV. 26 ; Acts ii. 33). Nor apart from His own work, for the 
 presence of the Spirit is manifested in the fruits of the Spirit (Matt. 
 
SSo THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 follows: — I. It is not found in any Greek manuscript 
 until the i6th century. 2. In spite of its obvious re- 
 levancy to the issue, it was never cited in the great 
 Homoousian controversy, which lasted from about A.D. 318 
 to 38 1. 3. It is not quoted by the vast majority of Latin 
 writers, even when the character of their argument 
 demands the citation. This is notably the case with 
 Ambrose, in his De Spiritu Sando, a treatise in which he 
 would naturally quote every passage which in any degree 
 bears on the subject, and in which he actually quotes a 
 good many passages which have a very remote bearing 
 on it. And not only this, but he quotes the passage in 
 which the words in question are now found, leaving those 
 words out, a thing perfectly impossible had he ever heard 
 of them as forming part of the sacred text. The same 
 thing occurs in Leo's letter to Flavian, read publicly at 
 the Fourth OEcumenical Council. And the words are also 
 absent from the whole of the immensely numerous works 
 of Augustine. The arguments for their genuineness are 
 as follows: — i. The passage is found in the authorised 
 edition of the Vulgate, although unknown to Jerome, and 
 originally appearing after ver. 8, and then apparently 
 placed in its present position on grounds of logical order. 
 Precisely the same phenomena present themselves in the 
 
 viL 16-20 ; Rom. viii. i-ii ; Gal. v. 22). If we ask how we are to 
 distinguish between the witness of the Spirit and that of the water 
 and the blood, the answer is that He witnesses for God by imparting 
 to us the sense that we are under a Divine influence, that we are the 
 children of God (Rom. viii. 16, 17), that we have the right to cry, " Abba, 
 Father." This sense of being under Divine protection and enjoy- 
 ing the Divine favour, is the very first step toward all life in Christ. 
 
 II. The witness of the water. The water which flowed from 
 the Saviour's side, like the water of which He spake in His discourse 
 to Nicodemus (John iii.) and at the Feast of Tabernacles (John vii.), 
 and the water of baptism, was symbolic of a fundamental Scripture 
 
THE THREE WITNESSES. 38 I 
 
 copies of the more ancient Latin version. 2. It is 
 quoted by Victor towards the end of the fifth century. 
 3. The words, or something like them, appear in Ter- 
 tullian and Cyprian, but in such a form that it is difficult 
 to ascertain how much of them is a quotation from 
 Scripture. Possibly the words actually quoted are only 
 the concluding words of ver. 8. The rest are the words 
 of Tertullian himself, and are probably quoted as such 
 by Cyprian from his "master." The way in which they 
 found their way into the text of the Authorised Version 
 is this ; Erasmus made a rash promise to introduce them 
 into his text if they could be found in any Greek MS. 
 One Greek MS. was found to contain them, and accord- 
 ingly they were introduced into his third edition, from 
 whence they found their way into the texts of Stephens 
 and the Elzevir edition, and thence into our English 
 Bible. The success of the interpolation is easily ex- 
 plained by the convenient formula in which the orthodox 
 doctrine of the Trinity is embodied. In an age 
 less critical, perhaps in some respects less scrupulous 
 than our own, they obtained ready currency. It may 
 be added that their introduction into the sacred text is 
 no doubt due to citations of the passages in Tertullian 
 and Cyprian, in which the words occur in close juxta- 
 
 truth, the (i) purification and (2) refreshing influences which flow 
 from Christ. 
 
 (i.) Purification, or removal of the sense of alienation from God. 
 It is hopelessness which leads to recklessness. It is the sense of peace 
 with God which is the startiug-point of all effort after holiness (John 
 xvi. 33 ; Itom. v. i). 
 
 (2.) Refreshing. As the sense of peace is a necessary antecedent 
 condition of all eff'orts after holiness, so it leads to that elasticity and 
 joyousness which enables us to persevere, in spite of failures and dis- 
 couragements. We know that pardon is not a single act, hut a con- 
 tinuous fact. Pardon on repentance is ever being bestowed. We sia 
 
382 THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 position with the sacred text. By degrees, as these 
 passages became well known, it came to be believed that 
 the additions were part of the Scripture itself, and thus 
 they were introduced by later Latin copyists into the 
 Epistle from which they were supposed to be taken. 
 Internal evidence does not support the retention of the 
 words. Not to insist upon the arguments to be found 
 in Mr. Plummer's excellent note in loc, concerning the 
 connection in which the word Logos appears in Scripture, 
 which, though suggestive, are not immediately decisive, 
 we may observe that the introduction of the words is 
 contrary to the whole drift of the passage. As is re- 
 marked in the note at the opening of the chapter, the 
 subject of the Apostle is the inward witness for Cliris- 
 tianity in the heart of the believer. That inward witness 
 (ver. 6) is the Spirit. His witness is manifested by the 
 effects in the human spirit of that life of Christ which 
 He came to impart. The introduction of the three 
 Persons of the Blessed Trinity, bearing witness in heaven 
 to the Saviour's work on earth, introduces an altogether 
 foreign element into the argument. It is of course not 
 impossible that such a consideration should have been 
 .introduced. But any one accustomed to the subtle laws 
 of consecution in accordance with which St. John's 
 
 daily while yet the corrupt nature remains. We are pardoned daily 
 as we brace ourselves afresh to subdue it. And thus as water refreshes 
 and cheers the way-worn traveller, so does the refreshing eiiect of 
 peace spur us up to renewed exertion in the journey back to our 
 Father. 
 
 Each of these efTects of the sense of sonship are present with every 
 Christian Avho realises his position, who believes, that is, on the Name 
 of the Son of God. 
 
 III. The witness of the blood. Our consciousness of the effects 
 of Christ's work cannot be dissociated from our consciousness of His 
 presence within to whom these effects are owing. "Not by water 
 
THE THREE WITNESSES. 383 
 
 thoughts are evolved, and his invariable custom of repeat- 
 ing in a slightly modified form propositions of importance 
 once introduced, will feel that this passage is no more 
 entitled to recognition as a part of the Epistle on internal 
 than it is on external grounds. The passage, then, should 
 run as follows : — For they vjIio are hearing witness are 
 three, the Spirit, the water, and the Mood, and the three are 
 unto (or into) the one. The words in fact amplify and 
 explain what precedes. St. John has said that Jesus 
 Christ comes, " not by water only, but by water and 
 blood." He proceeds, " and it is the Spirit that beareth 
 witness, because the Spirit is truth." But, he continues, 
 the witnesses in point of fact are three, the Spirit Him- 
 self, and the cleansing and invigorating processes He 
 ministers, coming as they do from Christ. He, the Truth 
 itself, makes the presence of His Spirit felt in the heart, 
 first by the sense of pardon, and next by the consciousness 
 of a supernatural power. And both He, and those effects 
 of His work which are thus recognised, tend to the same 
 result, incorporation of each one who is sensible of 
 them into the Divine unity. As has been so frequently 
 insisted on, the pregnant language of the Apostle 
 must be interpreted in its widest signification, e/? to 
 ev means both " unto " and " into the one." The goal 
 
 only, but by water and blood." And our consciousness of our posses- 
 sion of this life of His must depend on the feeling that Ave are being 
 transformed from the likeness of sinful flesh, and conformed to the 
 image of the Son of God (see again Rom. viii. 16, 29, and cf. Eoni. 
 xii. 2, and 2 Cor. x. 5). For if the life of Christ dwell in us, it must 
 manifest its presence by its eflects. And those efl'ects are our likeness 
 to Christ, displayed in our daily walk. 
 
 Ver. 9. — The trustivorthiness of the tvitness. 
 
 This depends on two facts : (i) that it is God's witness, and (2) that 
 it is a Avitness concerning Christ. The conseqiience is {3) that we 
 should surrender ourselves to it with perfect coulidence. 
 
384 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 to which each testimony tends is the same. But the 
 goal is God Himself. And therefore we not only tend 
 to Him, but are received into Him. The object of Christ's 
 coming is to unite all in Himself to God (i Cor. xii. i 2 ; 
 Eph. i. 10, ii. 14, iii. 19, iv. 6, &c.) This is the point 
 of the whole Epistle we are now considering. And there- 
 fore I am constrained to believe that all interpretations 
 which refer these words to the Truth, or the Gospel, or any- 
 thing but God Himself, fall far short of the mark. The 
 witnesses not only " converge to one goal, that is, the fact 
 already announced, and the consequences deducible from it 
 (vers. II, 12), that we possess in Jesus Christ eternal 
 life " (Haupt), but even more than this. The witnesses not 
 only testify to us of the fact. They concur in producing 
 it. The work of the Spirit within, the cleansing from sin, 
 the participation in the Life of the Son, are eternal life. 
 And so (ver. 11) the Apostle soon goes on to tell us, 
 having, after his manner, led the way to the declaration 
 by what he says here. One other point must be noticed. 
 fiapTvpovvre^ is ])resent. The three are bearing witness in 
 each believer's heart. It is not merely (as we might 
 suppose from the English versions) that it is the custom, 
 of the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood to bear witness, 
 but that they are at this moment active, energising 
 
 I. It is God's witness. This is the ground of our faith. We 
 believe on Divine testimony. We even give credence to our fellow- 
 men on points on which we believe them to be well-informed. How 
 much more should we believe in Him who cannot lie, and cannot be 
 deceived ? There can be no doubt, to those who do not wilfully shut 
 their eyes to facts, that it is a Divine witness. For not only are there 
 the objective facts (i) of the resurrection of Christ, a fact which no 
 human ingenuity has been able to disprove, and (2) of the marked 
 change which from the date of that fact has come over the world, but 
 there is also (3) the witness within, the consciousness that a Divine 
 life is imparted to the soul, that it does convey a sense of pardon and 
 
THE THREE WITNESSES. 385 
 
 witnesses for the Living God and His Eternal Son, as 
 ever-existent verities, to each individual human heart 
 capable of receiving their testimony. 
 
 Ver. 9. — If we receive the witness of men, the witness 
 of God is greater. We might at first sight think that a 
 reference is here made to the witness of God in heaven, 
 mentioned in the verse we have rejected as spurious. 
 But further examination does not sustain such a view. 
 The witness of the Spirit, and His effects, is in truth 
 the witness of God, and it is a witness concerning His 
 Son. See vers. 9, 10. We are in the habit of receiv- 
 ing such testimony in our earthly affairs (this is the 
 force of et with an indicative). See John v. 31—47, 
 viii. 17. How much more then shall we rest with con- 
 fidence on the Divine testimony we find at work within 
 us to certain spiritual facts ? — for this is the witness of 
 God, which he hath testified of his Son. There are three 
 ways of translating the last ore (on being the reading 
 of the Sinaitic and Alexandrian MSS. for the Eec. ijv). 
 We may either (i) take on as the Authorised Version 
 takes rjv, as equivalent to " what," or (2) we may 
 translate for this is the vjitness of God, because he hath 
 witnessed concerning his Son, or (3) for the witness of 
 God is this, that he hath home tvitness concerning his Son. 
 
 a joyous energy of resistance to the powers of evil, and a manifest 
 fellowship in Christ, a fact of which we are hourly conscious, when 
 we are united to Him by faith. 
 
 II. It is a witness concerning the Son of God. This, too, is 
 proved by the Divine characteristics that displayed themselves in the 
 life of Christ — His power, in the realm (rt)of Nature, (6) of grace ; His 
 purity (John viii. 46; Heb. iv. 15), His authority (Mark i. 27), His 
 love. (See Scriptures passim.) Belief in the Son of God is the secret 
 (ver. 5) which overcomes the world. And that rests upon a Divine 
 testimony, outward, conveyed to us, that is, by others, and inward, 
 borne in, that is, upon our own inward being to the Divine essence as 
 visibly present to the world in Christ. 
 
 2 B 
 
386 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST, JOHN. 
 
 (i) and (2) would refer back to what has gone before, 
 while (3) refers to what follows. The last of the three 
 renderings is preferred by the best Editors. But the 
 sense of the passage is, in the main, the same, whichever 
 of them is taken. What the Apostle would say is this : 
 that if we seek a proof of the truth of our faith, it is to 
 be found in the Presence of the Son, through the Spirit, 
 within us. The commentators here (Haupt excepted) 
 have hardly kept in view the whole drift of the passage. 
 St. John has passed from the idea of love (ver. i ) to that 
 of obedience (ver. 3). From thence he passes on to the 
 idea of conflict and victory (vers. 4, 5), since obedience 
 can only be obtained through the subjection of the 
 rebellious elements of our fallen nature. But the 
 primary condition on which the victory depends is faith. 
 Faith brings us within the reach of the spiritual in- 
 fluences proceeding from Jesus Christ alone (ver. 6), 
 and depends upon our consciousness of the power of 
 those spiritual influences (vers. 6, 8). But this conscious- 
 ness comes from God Himself, and is a witness to His 
 Son. It is not till we reach vers. 11, 12, that this truth 
 is fully unfolded. At present we stop short at the truth 
 that our faith is dependent on the inward witness God has 
 
 III. And therefore we may rest upon it. This is St. John's 
 object, to lead us to put our whole trust in the revelation of God iu 
 Jesus Christ. For this reason he appeals to testimony. He bids us 
 listen to the voice of the Spirit. He points out the effects of recon- 
 ciliation. He dwells on the evidences that the life of Christ dwells 
 within us. And He bids us take courage. All these things are evi- 
 dences of a voice of God within us, of a Presence of His Son iu the 
 world, on which we may safely rest. He gives us confidence amid 
 all the doubts and distresses that assail us, all the temptations that 
 beset us. Our trust is in God, and He will save those who put their 
 trust iu Him. 
 
 Ver. 10. — Tlie contrast hctivecn faith and unbelief . 
 
 I. The source of the power of faith. What, tlien the Apostle 
 
THE THREE WITNESSES. 387 
 
 given us to the Person and Work of His Son. Hence 
 we may either adopt (2) with Haupt, and explain, as he 
 explains, that the witness is God's witness, because it is 
 the fact that He has borne witness concerning His Son, 
 or that His witness is such as ver. 8 describes, because 
 it is a witness concerning His Son. Or if, with Dr. 
 Westcott, we adopt (3), we must explain thus. The 
 witness of God is this : that He has witnessed, by means 
 of the Spirit, the Water, and the Blood, to the redeeming 
 and regenerating energy possessed and displayed by Him 
 whom He hath " sanctified and sent into the world " 
 (John X. 36). Haupt reminds us, in words well deservino- 
 of attention, that this testimony is not merely subjective, 
 but objective. " It stands before us as an incontro- 
 vertible historical fact. It is with faith in this testimony 
 of God as it is with the miraculous power indwelling 
 in Christ and in Christianity. He who has experienced 
 the miracle of sinful man's renewal needs no other witness 
 for the miracles which the Lord aforetime wrought. But 
 has not he to whom this is not a living experience histori- 
 cally before him the great and undeniable miracle that a 
 sunken, dying, ruined world has been awakened through 
 Christ to a new life ? " Finally, we may remark a link 
 
 goes on to aslc, is the secret of that power of faith which enables us to 
 overcome tlie world ? It is this : — faith is the appropriation by the 
 individual of the xvitness God has given. Faith is the acceptance of 
 His testimony, the principle which causes us to act on it. Believe on 
 the testimony which God has given, and henceforth the testimony is 
 within. And it will not be long before it manifests its presence by the 
 working of the Divine power that changes the heart. 
 
 II. Unbelief is accusation of God. St. John points out the 
 daring nature of unbelief. God has borne witness concerning His 
 Son. The witness is clear enough to those who will receive it. What 
 it is we have already seen. What is involved in rejecting it we are 
 now told. It is to accuse God of untruth, to insult Him by rejecting 
 His testimony. It is not merely blindness, or misfortune, or excusable 
 
388 THE FmST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 of connection between ver. 5 and the present verse. 
 There, faith in the Son of God is the condition of victory 
 over the world. Here the value of God's testimony 
 consists in this, that it is a testimony concerning His 
 Son. Our faith, therefore, depends upon a truth on which 
 there can be no mistake. Nor can there be any mistake 
 on our part as to His power to sanctify and save Who 
 is demonstrated to be the " Son of God with power, by 
 the resurrection from the dead." Eom. i. 4. 
 
 Ver. 10. — He that believeth on the Son of God hath the 
 witness in himself. This verse is clearly an expansion 
 of ver. 5. He who believes in the Son overcomes the 
 world by virtue of the persuasion he has in his own 
 mind of the reality of the fact in which he believes. 
 He is convinced that He in whom he believes is no 
 other than the Only Begotten of the Father, capable of 
 inspiring him with every " good and perfect gift " which 
 conies from that "Father of all light" (James i. 17). 
 The present {irLo-Tevuiv) signifies either the habitual, 
 permanent attitude of the soul, or the condition on which 
 alone the witness can be possessed. Most probably the 
 latter, because we are immediately afterwards told what 
 the position of the man is who does not fulfil this condition 
 
 ignorance. It is downright sin. So manifest, to those who do not 
 wilfully slmt their eyes to it, is " tlie witness God hath borne con- 
 cerning His Son," We must, therefore, not shrink from telling men 
 plainly of the danger of refusing to believe, as well as of the infinite 
 blessing of hearing the voice of God, and acknowledging the revelation 
 of Him in His Son. 
 
 Vers, ii, 12. — Eternal life in the Son of God. 
 
 We have seen in the Exposition how St. John reaches this great 
 conclusion in his usual meditative and cumulative fashion, and how 
 St. Paul also reaches it as the result of a train of reasoning on spiritual 
 facts. We proceed, therefore, to remark on the nature of the con- 
 clusion thus reached in all its fulness. This will be done briefly, 
 because it has been impossible, in this Homiletic Section, altogether 
 
THE THREE WITNESSES. 389 
 
 of faith. The Revised Version reads avTw for the Rec. 
 eavTw. The former is probably the true reading, having 
 the support of A and B against ^i, which supports the Eec. 
 But whether we translate " him " or " himself " makes no 
 difference to the sense. The R. V. also reads rov OeoO 
 after /naprvpiav, and so does the Vulgate and some other 
 versions. — He that believeth not God hath made him a liar. 
 The text is in some confusion here, some MSS. having 
 Oeu), some vio), some ui<3 tov Oeov, and so on. But there 
 can be little doubt that Oeco is the true reading, vlm no 
 doubt comes from the extremely similar passage in John 
 iii. 18, where belief in the Son is inculcated, and from 
 the desire to make this part of the antithesis correspond 
 more exactly to the other. But, as Mr. Plummer remarks, 
 St. John's antitheses do not usually correspond exactly. 
 Besides, the whole point of this part of the passage is 
 belief in God. He who believes on the Son of God 
 has God's testimony in himself. Not to believe this 
 testimony is to disbelieve God, and to disbelieve God is 
 to make Him a liar, because it is a fact that God has 
 borne witness, and not to believe that witness is neither 
 more nor less than deliberately to give Him the lie. 
 The use of the dative after Tna-Tevco in this clause, instead 
 
 to help anticipating the conclusion in considering the steps whicli 
 led to it. 
 
 I. The gift of God is eternal life. 
 
 It may be well to compare the methods by which St. Paul and St. 
 John reach this end. The first does so by the following process. Man 
 is liable to sin, and thus to the wrath of God. He needs deliverance 
 from this sin — a deliverance which he cannot obtain for himself. Tliis 
 deliverance he obtains through the Sacrifice of Christ — a Sacrifice 
 which at once demonstrates the righteousness and justice of God in 
 the past, present, and future. It is faith which makes us partakers of 
 that deliverance, by making us partakers of that righteousness which 
 alone lias satisfied the requirements of God's law. Tlius we are 
 justified, and thus we obtain peace. And not only so, but we are 
 
390 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 of the accusative with e*?, represents no further difference 
 than there is between our placing reliance upon, and 
 trusting to, a person. — because he believeth not the record 
 that God hath given of his Son. The reason is given here 
 for the statement above. God is made a liar because 
 He has given witness to His Son, and to disbelieve that 
 witness is to impute falsehood to Him. Four points are 
 to be noticed here. The first is that, as elsewhere, the 
 Authorised Version has used a variety of words to 
 translate juaprvplav, thus weakening the emphasis of the 
 passage. Next we are to observe the perfect (A, how- 
 ever, reads eirlcrTevcTev), denoting a definite attitude 
 deliberately taken up on the part of the unbeliever, and 
 a complete and decisive witness given by God to His 
 Son. That such conclusive witness has been given, is 
 simply a matter of experience on the part of Christians. 
 We may further observe that the hypothetical ixiq in the 
 former part of the verse gives place to ov when a definite 
 condition has to be expressed. Lastly, we have Tria-Teveiv 
 etV with fxaprvpiav here. The dative is the usual form. 
 It implies the giving credence to a statement. The con- 
 struction with eig signifies the reliance on authority. 
 And when we refer back to ver. 8 to see the nature of 
 
 admitted into a state of things whereby sin, which -worketh death, is 
 destroyed, and righteousness, which bringeth life, implanted. We 
 can no longer sin, because we have been set free from its power, and 
 henceforth we live unto God. And this living unto God produces 
 its natural result, holiness, since eternal life, the gift of God, is given 
 us in Jesus Christ our Lord. In the Exposition a short summary has 
 been given of the way St. John reaches the same goal. The new 
 birth in Christ, he shows, is the necessary starting-point of the life of 
 light and love. Faith is the immediate result of that new birth. And 
 faith rests upon the witness of God Himself, given by means of His 
 Spirit, and the experience of Christ's work in the soul. The witness, 
 in short, is the fact that He has given eternal life in His Son Jesus 
 Christ. Thus St. Paul reaches the point through man's experience of 
 
THE THREE WITNESSES. 39 I 
 
 the testimony, we can understand how the construction 
 here is in every way suited to the meaning. 
 
 Vee, 1 1 . — And this is the record. Once more we 
 should translate with Revised Version. A7id the witness 
 is this. — that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life 
 is in his Son. Here we come to the climax to which St. 
 John has been slowly leading us — the central thought in 
 which our whole religion is summed up. It was the 
 '• Word of life " which (ch. i. i ) he desired to declare to 
 those whom he addressed. He had seen It and known 
 It (ch. i. 2). He knew how It enlightened men's minds 
 in an age of darkness (i. 4), how It purified from sin 
 (i, 7), how It disposed men to mutual love (ii. 9), how It 
 diffused a sense of sonship (iii. 2), how It stirred up oppo- 
 sition to sin and sinners (iii. 5 , 10), how It imparted the 
 life of love (iv. 8, 9), how faith gave a strength to 
 that life of love which made it superior to all opposition 
 (v. 5), how God bore witness to His life within the soul 
 by the Water and Blood mystically shed from the 
 Saviour's wounded side (v. 6, 8). And now we are 
 permitted to grasp the truth in its fulness. " The life 
 was manifested " that it might become ours. Eternal, 
 unchangeable life is within our reach. And this life 
 
 sin and his need of salvation, St. John through his experience of that 
 which redeems from sin, and of the need of remaining in the state of 
 salvation in which we have been phxced. But the result is the same. 
 God has given us a changeless life ; weak, perishing, dying, as we 
 were, we are saved by being engrafted into that life whose funda- 
 mental principle is permanence. Henceforth we need be no more 
 swayed hither and thither by the passions of our liuman nature, the 
 circumstances of life, the opinions of men. Christ remaineth for 
 ever more as the Rock, and they that are stayed on Him cannot be 
 moved. 
 
 II. That life is in the Son of God. It needs not to stay now 
 to establish this fact. We have already dealt with it in our treat- 
 ment of vers. I, 5, 6, 8. But St. John could not avoid stating it as 
 
392 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 can only be obtained in and through the Son of God, 
 who was manifested, as He repeatedly tells us (John 
 vi. 33, 51, X. 10), that we might have life. For ^co?? 
 aiu)vi09 see ch. i. 2, ii. 26. The eScoKev here refers no 
 doubt to the coming of Christ into the world as the one 
 act which once for all gave eternal life to the world 
 Had we the perfect, it would fix our thoughts rather on 
 the Divine gift of life. The aorist asks us to contemplate 
 the fact that this gift reached us in the Person of the 
 Son. We should not fail to observe how St. Paul comes 
 to precisely the same conclusion after a long train of 
 argument, in almost the same words. " The gift of God 
 is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Eom. vi. 23. 
 
 Ver. I 2. — He that hath the Son hath life, and he that 
 hath not the Son hath not life. Perhaps we should here 
 render the life (i.e., the life which has just been spoken 
 of as in the Son of God). And we should certainly not 
 neglect Bengel's acute remark on the order of the words. 
 Tijv l^wrjv is the emphatic portion of the first part of the 
 sentence. It is life which he possesses who has the Son. 
 e-^ei is the emphatic word in the second member of the 
 
 the grand conclusion at whicli he has been aiming. There is eternal life 
 in Jesus Christ, and in none other. And this because He is the Word 
 of the Father ( Jolm i. i ), whose task it was to make that Father known 
 (John i. 18), and He was His Son in such sort that to see Him was to 
 see the Father (Jolm xiv. 9). The gift of God comes in and through 
 His Son, and thus alone. And it comes in this way, because Jesus is 
 the Son of God, "of one substance with the Fatlier, who through His 
 having become man, has the power of communicating the otherwise 
 incommunicable life of Him "who dwelleth in the light that no man 
 can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see" (i Tim. 
 vi. 16). 
 
 III. To HAVE THE Sox IS TO HAVE THE LIFE. This is clear from 
 what has been previously said. But what is it to "have the Son"? 
 This : to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and through faith 
 to receive Him into the souk Not merely to think of Him, and 
 
THE THKEE WITNESSES. 393 
 
 sentence. He who has not the Son is destitute of the 
 blessings which flow from Him. And " of the things 
 which have been spoken this is the sum." This is 
 the point to which St. John would lead us. What 
 follows are practical deductions from the central fact. 
 But all that He has said hitherto, — his remarlvs on light 
 and darkness, on the Church (or believers) and the 
 world, on truth and falsehood, on Christ and Antichrist, 
 on the children of God and the children of the devil, on 
 love and hate, on the spirit of truth and the spirit of 
 error, on conflict with evil, on the testimony of the Spirit 
 — all is summed up in this, the possession of Jesus 
 Christ by those who believe on Him, and the gift to them 
 of eternal life in Him. He who has Him has all. But 
 he who has Him not has nothing — is dead while he 
 liveth. Before passing away from this verse we must 
 not fail to observe that eternal life is not a future but a 
 2'>resent possession of the believer. That its strength and 
 vigour may differ among different people is not to be 
 wondered at. It could not be otherwise, since it is pre- 
 cisely proportioned to the strength and vigour of our 
 
 believe in Him as a Deliverer. Not merely to think that the stain 
 and guilt of our sins is removed by His death, that He purities and 
 refreshes us by the water that flowed from His side. But to realise His 
 life in us ; to feel His blood flomng in our veins, and washing away 
 each impurity as it flows ; to feel ourselves growing daily into closer 
 and more intimate union with Him ; to be ever more fully experiencing 
 the truth that His life is our life, and our life His, until at length 
 we are one with Him. 
 
 IV. Not to have the Son is not to have the life. There are 
 many ways of deceiving ourselves. We may fancy we are saved 
 because we have experienced the sense of pardon, or because we think 
 there is no need of it, or because we imagine ourselves to have satis- 
 lied God's requirements, or because we have access to God through 
 His ministers and receive daily cleansing, or because we are regular in 
 our use of the means of grace. But there is one only test — Have we 
 
394 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 faith or realising power. But we must try and escape 
 from the narrow and imperfect conception of eternity as 
 a thing future which is so firmly rooted in the minds of 
 many. Eternal life may, nay must be obtained here, if 
 it is to be obtained at all. And its measure is the grasp 
 we have obtained on the fact that God has revealed it to 
 us in His Son. 
 
 Ver. I 3. — These things have I written unto you that 
 believe in 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 G-od. These words should conclude 
 the present section, not commence that which follows. 
 They obviously refer to the whole of what has gone 
 before, and explain the object with which the Epistle 
 was written. That object was that the fact of the 
 possession of eternal life by believers in Christ should 
 be one thoroughly understood and grasped by those to 
 whom he was writing. The Eevised Version follows a 
 different reading here. The text has no doubt been 
 altered to avoid a supposed obscurity, caused by the 
 
 the Son ? And to this nothing but a life conformed to His life can 
 testify. Tlie desire to bring every thought into obedience to His law, 
 to cast away all tliat is contrary to His example and His will, to set 
 no other purpose before us than the one he set before Him, to "do the 
 Father's will, and to finish His work," this it is which tells us that we 
 have the Son. Not to have this, is not to have the Son. And not to 
 have the Son is to be an outcast from God, to be tossed about by every 
 current of temptation, to be carried hither and thither, the sport of 
 our own and other men's passions, to have no life beyond the feeble 
 flickering of a lamp in its socket, to be in danger of being banished 
 for ever from the true and eternal light, and of being consigned to 
 that eternal darkness " where is wailing and gnashing of teeth." 
 
 Ver. 13. — The certainty of life. 
 
 St. John writes his Gospel that men may believe, and have life, his 
 Epistle that men may Z;?to-w; that they have it. The latter is the appli- 
 cation of the principles contained in the former. Without faith in 
 Christ we cannot possess His life. Without knowing that we have that 
 
THE THREE WITXESSES. 395 
 
 introduction of a dependent sentence between u/xiv and 
 -iricTTevovariv. The Eec. text is supported by some later 
 uncials. K and B omit toIi; Tna-Tevovcriv . . . Oeou after 
 vfxiv, but insert it after alwviov. A reads oi TricrTevovTe? 
 for Toh TTicTTevovcnv in the latter place. The sense of 
 the passage is the same whichever of the last two read- 
 ings we prefer. And that sense is as follows : " I have 
 written these things to you who believe on the Name of 
 the Son of God, in order that you may fully understand 
 the full value of what you receive in Him. You receive 
 the gift of an imperishable life." aiwviov, it may be 
 observed, is emphatic in its position. Thus then the 
 truth that St. John wishes to emphasise is that belief in 
 Christ introduces him who has it to no temporary excite- 
 ment, enthusiasm, influence, but places him in contact 
 with the Divine Nature in its fixedness and unchangeable- 
 ness. If we take the Authorised Version reading, we are 
 met by an apparent absurdity, which is not, however, so 
 great as it seems. St. John, according to this reading, 
 writes to those who believe on the Name of the Son of 
 
 life we cannot live it. The spiritual life, therefore, has its outward 
 and its inward side. 
 
 I. The outward aspect of faith. To this we have already- 
 referred in the notes on preceding portions of this chapter. (A. ) In 
 the first preaching of the Gospel faith rested on testimomj. i. The 
 testiinonx/ of facts to Christ. His life, His miracles, His teaching, all 
 these were God's witnesses either (a) to Christ, or still more (6) in 
 Christ, the witness of His Divinity to His Humanity. 2. Christ's 
 testimony to Himself His claims to Divine authority being otherwise 
 established, we come next to ask what He taught concerning Him- 
 self. And it amounts to this : that He was the Only-begotten Son 
 of the Father, one with Him, Who came to make Him known to men, 
 and in Whom the majesty and dignity and holiness of the Father were 
 fitly represented (see N. T. passim). 3. The Apostles' testimony to 
 Christ. This was their account of what they had seen and heard 
 (ch. i. i), of what He said, and what they found Him to be. From 
 this threefold testimony men believed in Apostolic times. (B. ) We 
 
396 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 God in order that they may believe on His Name. But 
 since belief on the part of many was a very imperfect 
 thing, there is no absurdity in endeavouring to lead those 
 to a higher degree of comprehension of what is involved 
 in Christian faith, who have already given in their 
 adhesion to Christ, with, it may be, a very imperfect 
 conception of the true nature of His work. But, as we 
 have seen, this reading is almost certainly not the true 
 one. For eypa^a see ch. ii. 12, and for Name in place 
 of the thing named see ii. 12, iii. 23. We must not 
 leave this passage without comparing it with John xx. 3 i. 
 " These things are written that ye may believe that Jesus 
 is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may 
 have life in His Name." The Epistle marks a more 
 advanced stage of spiritual knowledge. The account of 
 the human life and sayings of Jesus is intended to lead 
 men up to a belief in Him which may lead to life in 
 Him. The Epistle is written to those who have already 
 believed, but who want to be taught more fully what 
 
 come next to ask, is this the case still ? Do men believe still first on 
 testimony ? We reply, at least as regards active efficient faith, yes. 
 For (i) the question of baptismal grace does not affect the question. 
 We may believe that at the moment of the child's reception into the 
 Christian Church, he has a title to all the privileges of its membership, 
 that he is brought into new relations to God, and that he has the right 
 to forgiveness of sins, to access to the Father, to union with Him. 
 But (2) the translation of this right into fact rests with himself. The 
 ])rivileges become operative as soon as, and no sooner than, there is the 
 disposition to use them. There needs the response of the human will 
 before potentialities become energies. Thus (3) were the child never 
 told of its baptism, never informed of the truths on which its salvation 
 depends, the powers vouchsafed to it would remain dormant. It is 
 the instruction the child receives as a member of the Christian Church 
 which wakens these powers into action. And we may observe (4) 
 that the same is true even of natural powers. Thus then, faith, the 
 active living faith of the Christian, must still depend for its activity 
 on testimony, the witness of Jesus to Himself in His Church. 
 
 II. Its inward aspect. But faith has nevertheless an inward 
 
THE THREE WITNESSES. 397 
 
 sucli a belief involves. They need to know that they 
 have eternal life in Christ, lest their belief should be a 
 barren acknowledgment of certain facts or acquiescence 
 in certain formulae, instead of a vital inward union with 
 the source of life. The comparison of these two passages 
 throws very considerable light on the mutual relations of 
 Gospel and Epistle, and would seem to demonstrate the 
 priority of the publication of the former. 
 
 source. A faith purely historical will never touch the soul. The 
 testimony to Christ is a testimony to certain inwai-d realities. It is as 
 the voice to which the strings which have been tuned respond. If men 
 speak to us of One Who Lived and died for man, we must feel that 
 within which tells us that it was for us He lived and died, a power 
 quickening us into a life like His. The Spirit, the Water and the 
 Blood must be ever making their presence felt in the heart, and tend- 
 ing unto the One in Whom all fulness dwells. 
 
 III. The Christian life consists in the continual harmony 
 BETWEEN THE TWO. It is necessary to remember that Christ came 
 to make men one Body in Him. " None of us liveth unto himself 
 and none dieth unto himself" (Rom. xiv. 7). And thus Ave need that 
 others should witness to us for Christ, should remind us of those eter- 
 nal truths which have been preached to us, that we may ever grow in 
 the " certainty of those things wherein we have been instructed" (Luke 
 i. 4). And thus, by the mutual ministration of " every joint of supply," 
 do we, imbued with truth in love, grow up in all things unto " the 
 measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ " (Eph. iv. 13-16). 
 
( 398 ) 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 
 
 /"^H. V. 14. — And this is the confidence that we have in 
 ^ him, that if we ask anything according to his will he 
 heareth us. We now enter upon St. John's concluding 
 words of application of the truth to which he has just 
 led us by successive steps. The first consideration to 
 which he invites us is the duty of intercessory prayer 
 for the spread of the life obtainable in Christ. The next 
 is the perfect safety of those who have the life of God, 
 and are disposed to live it. He concludes with a warn- 
 ing to those to whom he speaks not to be carried away 
 by the temptations to return to the life they have for- 
 saken. St. John returns to the idea of boldness or 
 confidence of which he has spoken in ch. ii, 2 8, iii. 2 i , 
 iv. 17. But he gives a different turn to the thought 
 here. In ii. 28 he speaks of boldness in itself — the not 
 being ashamed when in God's presence. In iii. 21, this 
 boldness is represented as the result of a clear conscience. 
 
 HOMILETICS. 
 
 Ch. v. 14, 15. — Confidence that prayer roill he heard. 
 
 I. Whatsoever we ask, we receive. See ch. iii. 22 ; Matt. 
 vii. 8, xxi. 22 ; John xiv. 15, xv. 7, xvi. 23, 24. It may be well to 
 notice the grounds on which this principle rests. In John xv. 7, it is 
 conditional on abiding in Christ. In ch. iii. 22, it depends upon 
 keeping God's commandments. Here, it rests upon the boldness 
 which comes from the fact that we possess eternal life in the Sou 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 399 
 
 In iv. 17 our boldness in the day of judgment is said to 
 be due to our likeness to Christ, and to the spirit of love 
 we have imbibed from Him. Here a result of our bold- 
 ness is spoken of. We feel that we may venture to 
 approach God. And not only so, but we feel sure that 
 He hears our petitions. There is only one condition to 
 be fulfilled, that we shall not ask what He is not likely 
 to grant (James iv, 3), But this we cannot do when 
 we are penetrated through and through with the life 
 that comes from God through His Son, and especially 
 when for that reason we seek no selfish advantage, but 
 our brother's good. We must not, however, forget to 
 compare ch. iii. 22 with this passage. There, as here, 
 the connection of irapptjcr'ia and prayer is pointed out. 
 But there is no condition there, because it is presupposed 
 that our will is one with God's. Here the condition is 
 mentioned, lest liberty and license in prayer should be, as 
 by many they have been, confounded. The "confidence" 
 of the Authorised Version is introduced from the Ehemish 
 version. The principal earlier versions have trust. uKovei 
 here, as in John ix. 31, includes the idea of granting the 
 petition. 
 
 Ver. I 5 . — And if we know that he heareth us, whatso- 
 ever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we 
 desired of him. The best editors, followed by the Eevised 
 Version, connect ivhatsoever we ask with what goes before 
 
 of God. In truth the acceptance of our prayers depends upon 
 their being offered up in the Spirit of Christ, and this, again, on our 
 being inspired by that Spirit, — in otlier words, on our believing on 
 Christ, and consequently living His life. When this is the case, it is 
 Christ's Life, not our own, whicli God recognises in us, and which He 
 receives as pleasing in His sight. We may compare James v. 16, 
 where we are told that the prayer of a righteous man (St. James says 
 little as to the source whence this righteousness is derived — yet see 
 James i. 21), is of great avail when put in action. 
 
400 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 rather than with what follows. It is impossible to speak 
 with authority on the point, nor does its settlement one 
 way or other affect the general sense of the passage. 
 The Authorised Version, as usual, has weakened the con- 
 nection between the two members of the sentence by 
 translating the same word ashed in the former, and desired 
 in the latter part. And the Ee vised Version lias rightly 
 rendered have asked, instead of by the simple past tense. 
 In this verse the presence of the condition referred to in 
 the preceding verse is assumed. Granted that our union 
 with Christ gives us the boldness to approach Him, and 
 the desire to unite our will to His, we know that the 
 petitions we have offered in the true spirit of unselfish- 
 ness and submission are granted as soon as asked. 
 
 Vee. 1 6. — If any man see his brother sin a sin which is 
 not unto death. Eather, as Eevised Version, " sinning a 
 sin," the condition of the person who does the act rather 
 than the act itself being implied by the participle. We 
 now perceive more clearly the drift of the Apostle in the 
 previous verses. We have come, many of us, to regard 
 prayer as so entirely a selfish matter that we assume 
 almost as a matter of course that when we ask anything 
 of God, it will be for ourselves. The Apostle has nothing 
 of the kind in his mind. The prayer he is thinking of 
 has nothing selfish in its nature. It is the natural out- 
 come of the life of love which results from the indwellinfr 
 
 II. The condition on which this tkuth depends. Our petition 
 must be according to God's Will. See James iv. 4, where tlie reason 
 wliy our petitions are not answered is because we wish to spend 
 what we receive on our own pleasures. It may be doubted whether we 
 have any right to expect that any petitions will be answered which are 
 dictated simply with a view to our own happiness. Such petitions may 
 have been answered " in the forbearance of God " in days when men 
 knew not His Will. And so perchance chastisements may be removed 
 from us noAV for which, in our imperfection, we are not prepared. But 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 40I 
 
 of the Son of God. It consists, therefore, not of petitions 
 for ourselves, but for others. And the Apostle points out 
 the limits of such intercessory prayer, conditioned as it 
 is by the mysterious power of self-determination with 
 which God has endowed every man. Ebrard has some 
 excellent remarks here which deserve to be quoted. He 
 says, " One might be misled into the theoretical notion 
 that every prayer for the conversion of a fellow-man must 
 be heard and granted. The Apostle here sets aside that 
 erroneous inference. Conversion proceeds in a sphere of 
 its own which touches at all points the domain of human 
 voluntary determination ; and in this domain there is a 
 point at which the human will may have so hardened 
 itself against the converting influences of the grace of 
 God, as that God cannot and will not any more save. 
 When this point has been reached, intercession has no 
 assurance of being heard." The Apostle, however, con- 
 siders first the case in which such intercessions will be 
 heard. And we may ask in limine, whether the com- 
 mentators are entitled here to assume, as they do appa- 
 rently without exception, that aixaprla is to be translated 
 " a sin " here. In the next verse it is translated sin. 
 So it is in ch. i. 8, iii. 4, and again, for example, in Eom. 
 V. 13, vii. 7, Is it too much to say that nothing but the 
 rooted idea that there is some particular sin which brings 
 death in its train (the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, 
 for instance), would have induced so many to assume 
 
 the utmost that can be permitted is a prayer in the spirit of Matt. 
 xxvi. 39 (which, however, we may profitably remember Avas not 
 -answered, being only the cry of weakness of our mortal flesh, which 
 ■was to be perfected by Divine power). At all events it is not of 
 sucli prayer, but of prayer for others, that the Apostle speaks here. 
 It is the duty of praying for others, not for ourselves, which the 
 Apostle is here enforcing. He makes the common possession by 
 Christians of a common life the ground for insisting on the necessity 
 
 2 C 
 
402 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 that a particular act of sin is spoken of here ? But the 
 teaching of the Scripture does not represent death as 
 being the penalty for any particular act of sin (see note 
 on ver. i6), but only for a sinful habit of mind. It 
 is djULapTia amounting to avoixla — the deliberate and 
 defiant repudiation of God's law, which has this fatal 
 effect. We come next to the words ttjOo? Qdvarov. We 
 must observe that it is not e/V Qdvarov, that is to say, 
 leading to death and reaching that to which it leads, but 
 Trpo? OdvaTov, that is, tending towards death. The diffi- 
 culty here is how we can suppose that there is any sin 
 which is not ttjoo? Qdvarov. Every sin tends directly to 
 death. There can be no doubt that the compression of 
 the thought renders the Apostle's language very obscure 
 here. Yet though the language may be obscure, atten- 
 tion to the general drift of the Epistle may serve to clear 
 up the meaning. As we have often seen, St. John is 
 accustomed to look forward to the ultimate result, not 
 only of actions but of conditions. And it is of the con- 
 dition of the man, not the tendency of the act, that we 
 may suppose him here to be speaking. Thus dfxapTia 
 jiirj irpoi Odvarov is error of a kind which has not unfixed 
 the whole man from his anchorage on Christ — which is 
 not bearing him irresistibly on to destruction. Bather 
 the case is thus. Error is dragging at the chain, striving 
 to detach the man from his hold on Christ, putting a 
 strain on him which forces him to strive with all his 
 
 of prayer for each other. And it is prayer of this sort that he wishes 
 us to tmderstand is certain to receive a favourahle answer. 
 
 Vers. i6, 17. — The duty of intercessory prayer. 
 
 I. Its value. It is well worthy of being remembered that w& 
 never utter a prayer for other's without brinying dotvnon them a bless- 
 ing. How great that blessing is, no tongue can tell. It is here spoken 
 of as life. Life, it is true, for those who are not actually on the road 
 to death, but are still in the way of salvation. Yet so far as each act of 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 403 
 
 mirrht to preserve his union with his Lord. But the 
 anchor holds — faith resists the strain — the will remains 
 firm to Christ and will not be detached. The man is 
 not tending towards death in the whole bent of his 
 disposition and affections. He is in the way of life, 
 and each sin, as it occurs through the frailty which 
 still subsists in him, is repented of, and washed away 
 in the Blood of Christ. See notes on ch. ii. i, 2. 
 Thus, then, afiapTavovra a/xapTtav fir] Trpog Odvarov need 
 mean no more than a man in a condition of sinfulness 
 which, though more or less habitual, does not involve the 
 full consent of the will. By assigning to the words a more 
 definite meaning, we involve ourselves in many difficul- 
 ties which are not suggested by the Apostle's language. 
 Whether a§e\(f)6v here and elsewhere is to be confined to 
 the members of the Christian Church is not certain. But, 
 as we have before seen, the probability is that the sense 
 of the words cannot be so confined. See for instance ch. 
 iii. 17. Therefore this part of the verse may be thus 
 paraphrased : " If any one should see another in a condi- 
 tion of sinfulness indeed, but not deadly sinfulness." — 
 he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not 
 unto death. These words are full of difi&culties. At first 
 sight it would appear that alWjcrei and Schcrei are to be 
 construed in close connection with each other, and in 
 relation to the same subject. But then two questions 
 arise. Can avru) in the singular be in apposition to 
 
 sin is concerned it is a step tONvards death, and we are told that our 
 prayers may do something to bring the sinner back, may impart a 
 renewed impulse towards that holiness which is life. Even in the 
 case of those who are bent on sin, we receive at least the ofcr of a 
 blessing, though the condition of the soul is such that even God Him- 
 self can do no more than make that offer. 
 
 II. Its obligation. The Apostle is not here giving a command 
 (see Exposition). But his language comes practically to the same thino'. 
 
404 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Toi? a/uLaprdvovcri in the plural ? And can the giving life 
 to the sinner be predicated of any but God ? The 
 Authorised Version solves the difficulty by introducing a 
 new subject, Oeo?, as the nominative to Suxrei, and by 
 translating T019 afxapTapovcri, for (i.e., on hchalf of) those 
 that sin. But this also involves some violence to the 
 sentence. Tertullian and the Vulgate render freely dabitur 
 ei vita, though Tertullian also has Dominus ddbit. So Re- 
 vised Version. On the whole, it is best to render he will 
 ask, and he will give life to him — to them who do not sin 
 unto death. The " he shall ask," and " he shall give " of the 
 Eevised Version savour too much of command. What is 
 meant is that a man who can thus approach the throne 
 of God with confidence will naturally ask what his neigh- 
 bour most needs. If the expression " he will give him 
 life " seems strong, we may remember that the recognition 
 of secondary causes is not infrequent in the New Testa- 
 ment. James v. 20 is cited by several recent editors. 
 So also Eom. xi. 14; i Cor. vii. 16, ix. 20; i Tim. iv. 
 16. This is also the explanation of much of such ap- 
 parent contradictions as Phil. ii. 12, 13, and Heb. ix. 13, 
 x. 4. What is meant is that the faithful servant of God, 
 in thus offering prayers for those who are within the 
 reach of the saving influences of Christ, will be the means 
 of giving life to them. The Apostle speaks first of the 
 person for whom he has supposed prayers to be offered, 
 
 The man who feels he has access to the throne of grace will certainly^ 
 so St. John declares, make use of his privilege, on his brother's 
 hehalf. For if Ave have eternal life in the Son of God we have love 
 towards the brethren. We cannot have one without tlie other. Interest 
 in our brother's welfare is inseparable from participation in the Divine 
 life. And so it is a matter of course that in our petitions to the throne 
 of grace we shall largely concern ourselves with his wellbeing. 
 
 III. Its result. Our brother's benefit, certainly. As the Exposi- 
 tion shows, St. John is not speaking of those whose error cuts theip 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 405 
 
 and then extends his language so as to embrace all who 
 are in that condition (oxitu) — toIi afxaoTavovari). And 
 here we see, perhaps, the meaning of the " whatever we 
 ask " of the last verse. It might seem almost too much 
 to believe that we should have the amazing privilege of 
 contributing to a brother's salvation. N"or does it seem 
 at all clear even to us how so great a thing may be. But 
 so it is. Prayer is a mighty spiritual force, capable of 
 being put into action and of securing results, in the same 
 way as natural forces do. And one employment of the 
 life of love given us in Jesus Christ (v. 11, 12) must 
 therefore be the offering up of intercessory prayer for 
 those who are entangled in the coils of sin, that they may 
 receive strength to recover themselves out of them. 
 Strange as it is, we have here the assurance that it is 
 here that the " prayer of faith can save," not only " the 
 sick" (James v. 15), but the erring. Our last inquiry 
 will be, What is meant by giving life ? We must observe 
 first that this life is somewhat strangely said to be given 
 to those who do not sin unto death. The truth is that 
 here again we have a Gospel paradox. The sin is a sin 
 unto death because every sin tends to death. It is not a 
 sin unto death because he who commits it is not in a con- 
 dition tending to death. And giving life must not be 
 interpreted as of producing the union between the soul 
 and God, but of promoting it by imparting such gifts and 
 
 off from union with Christ, those, that is, who are deliberately acting 
 in a way to terminate the union. What is the effect of prayers for 
 such persons he does not say, nor need we here inquire. What we 
 are told is that in the case of those whose errors are not such as to 
 cut them off from Christ our prayers will certainly be answered. They 
 will draw down fresh supplies of the Spirit of life on those who need 
 them. Thus by mutual intercessions and mutual acts of brotherly 
 love is the Catholic Church, the Great Communion of Saints, main- 
 tained and " increased with the increase of God." 
 
406 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 graces flowing from union with Christ as each of us are 
 in a position to bestow on one another according to God's 
 will. See Col. ii. 19. Also Eom. i. 11, 12, xv, 15, 16, 
 29 ; I Peter iv. 10, where the word is ■j^apia-ina, a special 
 gift of the Spirit. — There is a sin unto death. Here Professor 
 Westcott remarks that " a sin unto death " is too definite, 
 and Mr. Plummer reminds us that we have not t/? or 
 [x'la, so that we cannot affirm tliat any act of sin is meant. 
 He further goes on to say that we must get rid of the 
 notion that any such sin can be readily recognised by 
 those among whom the person who commits it lives. So 
 far as this refers to an act of sin it is no doubt correct. 
 But the condition of sin described by this passage 
 would surely be one readily recognisable as one of an- 
 tagonism to Christ and Christians. Dr. Westcott 
 points out that the expression was one familiar to the 
 Jews of St. John's day through the teaching of their 
 Eabbis. He gives a number of citations from the 
 Christian Fathers. We find the germ of the idea so 
 prevailed in later ages, of the distinction of sins into 
 venial and mortal where we should expect to find it, in 
 the vehement, impulsive, dogmatic Tertullian. The 
 Eastern Fathers, with Origen at their head, are more 
 careful and balanced in their utterances. But there is 
 a general tendency more or less prevalent in all to turn 
 what St. John said as to the condition of sinfulness into a 
 
 Vers. 16, 17. — The sin unto death. 
 
 The Exposition here contains the principal part of what is to he 
 said. But we may sum up tlie conclusions of the Exposition in 
 Homiletic form. 
 
 I. There is no such thing as " a " sin unto death. Therefore 
 ■we may dismiss (a) all distinctions hetween venial and mortal sins, 
 (6) all endeavours to discover what this particular sin is, and (c) all 
 attempts to discuss it in connection with Mark iii. 28, 29, and the 
 parallel passages. For Mark iii. 30, states distinctly that it is the 
 incapacity to discern hetween good and evil, and the tendency to 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 407 
 
 reference to certain particular sins which are "ad damnum" 
 and others which are " ad interitum." Professor Westcott 
 confines the intercessoryprayer here mentioned to the mem- 
 bers of the Christian Church. Such, undoubtedly, is its 
 primary reference. But, like aS€X(p6g,it is capable of being 
 extended further. And though Swaret ^coj/i/, as we have 
 already contended, refers not to the original gift of life, 
 but its subsidiary augmentation, yet though no man can 
 be the origin of his brother's salvation, he may surely, 
 in various ways, contribute largely to it. It would not 
 be contended, for instance, that if the heart of a heathen 
 were disposed towards the life which is in Christ, it were 
 useless to pray for him. It would deprive those engaged 
 in missionary work of great comfort and encouragement, 
 if we refused to let them take heart from this passage, 
 and expect an answer to their prayers on behalf of the 
 heathen, of whom it may be said, as of the scribe in 
 Mark xii. 34, that they are "not far from the kingdom 
 of God." For since all are sinners, all mankind are 
 either ajuapravovTc^ irpog OdvaTOv or ov ttjOo? OavaTov. 
 Let us briefly inquire what is meant by the words. 
 And first of all, Is any sin whatever here referred to 
 which is entirely irremediable in its results ? Is Haupt 
 correct when he says that " the sin unto death can be no 
 other than consummate enmity to Christ " ? I say 
 nothing about those interpretations which explain the 
 
 substitute the one for the other, which constitutes this sin, that is to 
 say, it is not an act but a state — a state of alienation from, and 
 opposition to the Spirit of God. 
 
 II. There is sin unto death. This is a consideration for 
 warning. Tliere is sin whicli tends to separate us from Christ and 
 therefore from life. Such sin we may believe to be (a) indifference 
 to religious duties and privileges which clearly tends to paralyse the 
 spirit, (6) direct and continued disobedience of any plain command 
 of Christ, whether that command be (i) positive, as the direction to 
 receive baptism or to partake of the Holy Communion, or (2) moral. 
 
40S THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 words of physical death, or of ecclesiastical excommu- 
 nication. In the present state of theology such explana- 
 tions scarcely need refutation. But it would seem 
 that Haupt's view is not borne out by the Apostle's 
 language. irpos Odvarov is not the same thing as 
 €(V davarov. The former means '' tending towards 
 death." It is only the latter which includes the 
 reaching death. Why the Apostle says that we are 
 not to pray for a person in this unsettled condition, 
 or whether he says so at all, will be considered in 
 the next note. At present we will confine ourselves 
 to the fact that the Apostle deliberately uses a word 
 which does not denote a final condition of the soul. 
 There are conditions of the soul, as of the body, which 
 distinctly tend towards death, and if means are not 
 taken to prevent that result, will lead directly to it. 
 But though the danger is great and even imminent, 
 persons so affected are still within the reach of means. 
 Deliberate sin, no doubt, tends directly to the death of 
 the soul. Still, we cannot assert in every case that no 
 repentance is henceforth possible. Thus, then, it appears 
 that every kind of deliberate sin, as distinct from sin 
 of infirmity, may be within the Apostle's meaning here. 
 Every sort of sin directly tending to break off fellowship 
 with Christ or to prevent our entering into it is of so 
 serious a character as to jeopardise those relations of 
 
 as the direction to avoid hatred, jealousy, evil speaking, or any other 
 sin, and (c) careless, irreverent, rash langua,:5e, such as it is to be 
 feared many indulge in, concerning (i) holy things, as Scripture, or the 
 rites of the Church, (2) questions of right and wrong, whereby we are 
 apt to "call evil good and good evil," (3) about holy men and holy 
 causes generally, tending to depreciate holiness or good Avorks. Such 
 sins irpbs Bdvarov are more common among those who call themselves 
 Christians, frequent the house of God, receive Holy Communion, 
 claim the highest privileges of Church membership, than many of us 
 suppose. 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 409 
 
 affection in which we would fain live with all men. 
 That there are such sins — sins tending to make all 
 fellowship impossible between Christ and the sinner, 
 we have been plainly told in Heb. vi. 4—8, x. 26—31, 
 2 Pet. ii. 20-22. Of what kind these offences are, our 
 Lord has Himself pointed out in Matt. xii. 3 i . They are 
 the deliberate refusal to acknowledge God as God, the 
 fixed resolve to reject His voice and disobey His Will. 
 What St. John would here enforce upon us is the very 
 serious nature of offences which have this tendency. 
 There is, he emphatically tells us, a state of sinfulness 
 which tends to death. And this because it is incom- 
 patible with the loving relations in which we should 
 strive to live with all mankind. The commentators as 
 a rule rather avoid placing an interpretation on Oauarov. 
 But, as Alford rightly points out, it is the opposite to 
 ^co)/. But what form that opposition takes ; whether it 
 is that of joyless, loveless, hopeless, remorseful existence 
 in opposition to a life of joy and love, or whether anni- 
 hilation is meant, we are not told. The only passage 
 which in any way explains the Scripture sense of such 
 words as die and death is Eev. xx. 14. But into the 
 large question of the future of the lost it is not our 
 purpose to enter. We may remark in conclusion on the 
 full agreement between this passage and Eom. vi. 23. — 
 I do not say that he should pray for it. Literally, not for 
 
 III. There is sin not unto death. This is a consideration for 
 comfort. For (a) since " the soul that sinneth, it sliall die," is a law 
 of God's kingdom, and if "all wrong-doing be sin," we may well be 
 anxious about a single act of sin, lest it should cut us off from Christ. 
 And such souls there are, who go in heaviness throughout tlie whole 
 course of their lives, because of their deep sense of weakness and 
 transgression. To such it must be an unspeakable comfort to be 
 reminded that " there is sin not unto death." And they may more- 
 over (b) be comforted by the thought that the very distress their 
 sins occasion tiiem, if it prompt them to strive after amendment, is a 
 
4IO THE FIEST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 that do I say that he should ask, i.e., iu this case, though 
 there may be hope, there can be no certainty that 
 his prayers will be answered. There is doubtless 
 some reason for the substitution here of epoorav for 
 aiTelv. The latter implies more humble supplication 
 than the former. And the idea sugaested is the more 
 familar request of one admitted to the privilege of ready 
 access to him to whom he makes request. It may be 
 observed (i) that the intercessory prayer of which the 
 Apostle speaks is offered, as we learn from vers. 14, 15, 
 by one united by faith to the life of Christ for all who 
 are or may be possessors of that life ; (2) that there are 
 those whose conduct places them outside that certainty 
 which under all other circumstances the Christian has 
 that his prayer will be answered ; and (3) that we 
 misunderstand the Apostle if we suppose him to forbid 
 prayer even for the most hardened sinner upon earth. 
 He does nothing of the kind. All he says is that he is 
 not speaking of such persons just at present, because in 
 their case at least we do not " know that we have the 
 petitions we have asked." His words are, " it is not on 
 behalf of that I am saying we should ask." If we are 
 to understand the passage, we must not treat it as an 
 isolated assertion, but keep the context clearly in view. 
 It is impossible to grasp its meaning unless we keep in 
 mind its close connection with the assertion (i) of the 
 
 proof that their sin is not unto death. And (c) another source of com- 
 fort is open to them in tlie intercessions of God's people. As Moses' 
 hands, when lifted up to God, gave new strength to Israel in their 
 Avarfare, so may the feeling that a father or mother, a brother or 
 sister, a true Christian friend, the congregation in which Ave are Avont 
 to Avorship, the faithful band Avitli Avhom it is our privilege to "break 
 bread," are offering up heartfelt prayers for us that our hearts may 
 not be " hardened through the deceitfulness of sin " (Heb. iii. 13). 
 And so may Ave " run Avith patience the race that is set before us, look- 
 ing unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith," 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 41 I 
 
 union of mankind in Christ, and (2) of tlie consequent 
 value, duty, and effectiveness of intercessory prayer. 
 
 Ver. 17. — All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin 
 not unto death. Eather, all wrong-doing is sin, and 
 there is sin not unto death. " Tliere are indeed other 
 cases quite enough," he proceeds, " to which your inter- 
 cessory prayer may find application. "Wherever there is 
 any measure of unrighteousness, there is sin, and fit 
 occasion therefore for intercession " (Haupt). aSiKia is 
 the opposite to SiKaioa-vvfj — righteousness or justice. 
 Therefore aStKia is any act of unfairness or injustice or 
 unkindness. With this declaration we may compare that 
 of iii. 4. Here sin consists in wrong-doing, there in the 
 disposition to set law aside. The latter definition is 
 theoretical, the former practical. The latter answers the 
 question, What is the true character of sin ? What is 
 the principle which lies at the root of it ? The former 
 answers the question. How shall I know sin to be sin ? 
 What sort of conduct is sinful ? The answer is, " Every- 
 thing which transgresses the golden rule of doing as we 
 would be done by." Into such conduct even the regene- 
 rate is frequently betrayed. As St. John has reminded 
 us at the outset, "If we say that we have not sin, we 
 deceive ourselves " (ch. i. 9), and the forgiveness of that 
 sin is " faithful and just " on God's part. If therefore 
 that " mind is to be in us which is also in Christ Jesus " 
 (Phil. ii. 5) we must be constant in intercessions for 
 them that so oifend, for in one sense all sin tends to 
 
 Vers. 18-20. — Three concluding thoughts. 
 
 L The knowledge that a Divine power protects us from 
 
 SIN. 
 
 I. This rests on the fact that we have been begotten of God, i.e., our 
 confidence is in God, not in ourselves, in the new life, not the old one. 
 We have not yet attained to the condition of which the Apostle speaks. 
 But (a) we are tending thither, and (6) the practical value of the know- 
 
412 I'HE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 death. If not, why does the Apostle represent the 
 prayer of the faithful as giving life to the offender. 
 Sin, however, of the kind of which the Apostle is speaking, 
 does not tend to death, because it is in opposition to, 
 not in accordance with, the whole spirit and tendency of 
 the man's life. Eegarded in itself, it does tend to death. 
 It is an evidence that the principle of death is still at 
 work within the man. If it does not produce its natural 
 results it is because a tide of life stronger than that 
 tending toward death is working in him, cleansing him 
 from all that defiles him. In such persons no sooner is 
 the sin committed than the antagonistic spirit is roused. 
 There is immediate repentance, immediate and determined 
 effort not to offend again in like manner. Only thus 
 can what would otherwise be the paradox of a sin not 
 unto death be maintained. Sin by its very nature is 
 deadly. " The soul that sinneth it shall die " (Ezek. 
 xviii. 4). "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. vi. 23). 
 " Sin, when it is full-grown, bringeth forth death " (James 
 i. 15). It can only be where sin is kept in check by 
 the life of the Spirit that it can be said to be ov Trpog 
 OavaTov. And it is because the prayer of the faithful 
 falls in with, conspires with this life of the Spirit, that 
 it can be said to give life. The truth is well worth 
 remembering in all ages (i) that there is forgiveness for 
 sin committed, even by those in fellowship with Christ, 
 and (2) that the danger of sin lies not so much in the 
 specific act, as in the attitude of opposition to God's 
 
 ledge is that whenever we realise this one source of strength we liave 
 it. It is the feebleness of our hold on the truth which is the cause of 
 our many falls. We never fall, but when we forget on Whom it is 
 that we are bidden to rely. 
 
 2. It rests also on the protection of the Son of God. Since our faith 
 is too feeble to conceive of God (a) He has taken mau's shape and thus 
 brought Himself within the reach of our capacities. And [b] He is 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 413 
 
 Will it tempts us to take up. (Here, again, we may 
 remark that the /*>/ of the hypothetical clause be- 
 comes the ov of the direct assertion). Before passing 
 on to the next lesson St. John would have us draw, it 
 will be well to pause and observe with what immense 
 force this recommendation to intercessory prayer is pressed 
 upon us. Step by step through the successive portions 
 of this most weighty Epistle, we are led to the conclusion 
 that the possession of the Son of God, and of life in 
 Him, is the goal to which all Christian faith tends. And 
 the first use the Apostle makes of this most momentous 
 truth, is to impress on us the necessity of praying for 
 one another, and especially in the hour of temptation. 
 Surely there must be something especially solemn in 
 such a duty when presented to us in such a connection. 
 We can hardly escape from the conclusion that inter- 
 cessory prayer of this particular kind is one of the first 
 duties of every Christian. 
 
 Ver. 18. — We know that whosoever is born of God 
 sinneth not ; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself. 
 The first point to be noticed here is the threefold 
 repetition of o'lSaimev in this and the two following verses. 
 It gives a special solemnity to this conclusion of the 
 Epistle. Three things are specially singled out as re- 
 cognised by the Christian consciousness, i. The know- 
 ledge that an inward power enables the Christian to 
 preserve himself from sin. 2. The knowledge that this 
 
 one of ourselves. If we have been begotten of God, it is through 
 the agency of one Who Himself has been thus begotten. The allusion 
 here may be either (i) to the eternal begetting of the Son by the 
 Father, or (2) to His assumption of human flesh. But whichever it 
 be, "He was not ashamed to call us brethren" (Heb. ii. 11). 
 
 3. The evil one has no power over those over ivhom Jesus watches. It 
 is not that he cannot tempt them, for he tempted Him. It is not that 
 we have not sinned, lor "in many things we oflend all," Lut it is 
 
414 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 inward power is the result of our new birth from on high 
 and our severance thereby from the world (comp. for e/c 
 6eov, ch. iii. 1,2, iv. 6, &c.) 3. The knowledge that this 
 new birth inspires our understandings and keeps clearly 
 before us the vision of Him that is true. " St. John 
 here recapitulates, not the five main divisions of his 
 Epistle, but three main, aspects and points of his teach- 
 ing which pervade more or less the various sections of 
 his Epistle ; — our obligation and prerogative of holi- 
 ness ; our opposition to the world ; our relation to the 
 Person of Christ." — Ebrard. For (i) see ch. ii. i, 4, 5, iii. 
 3-10, 23, 24, V. 2, 3. For (2) see i. 6, ii. 9-1 1, 15- 
 17, iii. 14, 15, iv. 1-6, V. 10. And for (3) see i. 3, 7, 
 ii. 20, 23, iii. I, 2, 9, iv. 6-16, v. 1-4, 10-12. The 
 appeal to the Christian consciousness is a remarkable 
 feature of this Epistle. We find it in ch. ii. 21, iii. 2, 5, 
 14, 15. But it is most emphatically expressed in ch. ii. 
 20, where the Holy Spirit is indicated as the fountain of 
 Christian knowledge (see note there). St. Paul frequently 
 uses the same expression, but in a very different manner. 
 With him it is the expression of intellectual conviction, 
 either in the form of the conclusions of the sanctified 
 reason, or of the assent to what has been delivered as 
 the doctrine of Christ. In St. John, with the exception 
 of ch. iii. 15, the expression has always some relation to 
 the inward dependence of the believer on God. As 
 usual, our version, following Tyndale, renders yeyewtjinevog 
 
 that He Who conquered sin in our mortal flesh, in our fallen nature, 
 can conquer it in us. And hence, however many the assaults of the 
 evil one may be, we have only to believe that we are in Christ, to 
 overcome them all. 
 II. The knowledge that we ake sepakated to a higher 
 
 LIFE. 
 
 I. We owe our being to God. The leading thought here is not the 
 protection of God but our deliverance from evD. We have been sepa- 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 415 
 
 and yevvrjOei^ by two different words and by the same 
 tense. The Vulgate has generatio for yevi/rjOeig, whence 
 the translation by Wiclif and the Ehemisli Version, the 
 generation of God preserveth him (keepith him, Wiclif). 
 The Eevised Version, applying the words 6 yevi/rjOe!^ to 
 Jesus Christ (see ver. i), renders JVe know that whoso- 
 ever is begotten of God sinneth not, hut he that was begotten 
 of God keepeth him. It is true that himself is put in the 
 margin, being the reading of the rec. text with i>J. But the 
 translation and reading followed by the Eevisers in their 
 text (that of A B) presents us with a meaning so much 
 deeper, and corresponding so marvellously, not only with 
 the whole tenor of the Epistle, but with the contrasted 
 idea of the 6 Trovrjpos in the last part of the verse, that 
 we should do very ill to reject it. As Professor Westcott 
 remarks, " the phrase o yevvrjOei? is unique." But at 
 least it is happy in its uniqueness. It expresses an 
 unique relation, that between the Father and the Son, 
 elsewhere expressed by the almost unique term juovoyevij^. 
 The Son's generation is an eternal fact, incapable of 
 alteration, addition, or completion. Hence the peculiar 
 fitness of the aorist for the expression of the fact. 
 The word yevvrjOel^, involving as it does the same 
 idea as that of yeyevvriixevo^ in the preceding clause, 
 implies that participation in the nature of Christ is 
 the root-principle of salvation through Christ. How 
 he who has just been represented as liable to sin, and 
 needing intercession, should now be spoken of as not 
 
 rated from tlie rest of the world by the gift of the Divine Spirit. We 
 enjoy, if Ave please to live in the light of our new privileges, an immu- 
 nity from the influences which are fatal to mankind in general. For 
 when the evil one approaches, we can fly to Him in Whose life we live. 
 2. The world is in the poiver of the evil one. So our Lord calls the 
 evil one the prince of this world (John xii. 31, xiv. 30, xvi. 11). And 
 St. Paul calls him the god of this world (2 Cor. iv. 4). For when the 
 
4l6 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 sinning, and as guarded by a Divine power, is and must 
 remain to a certain extent a difficulty. Yet that difficulty 
 is lessened by the consideration that there are in Scripture 
 two ways of looking at the redeemed. The first regards 
 them as they are in themselves, imperfect, unsettled, the 
 dominion of the Divine Life over their thoughts and 
 appetites as yet incomplete. The next regards them 
 from the point of view of the Divine Life itself, and of 
 the goal to which it is leading them. As far as that 
 Divine life is concerned sin is an impossibility. If sin 
 be committed, it is the effect of the " corruption which 
 doth remain, yea, even in them which are regenerate," 
 and is in no sense the work of the Divine life itself. 
 And further, the presence of the Divine life renders it 
 impossible for the sinner to remain in his sin. Habitual, 
 nnrepented sin, and the Divine Life are incompatible, 
 and cannot at the same time inhabit the human heart. 
 But with regard to " sin not unto death," it is but a 
 temporary condition, and yields to the force of that power 
 which makes nnrepented sin an impossibility in the heart 
 in which that power is found. — and that wicked one 
 toucheth him not. Eather, as Eevised Version, " the evil 
 one." Toucheth him not should be layeth not hold of 
 him. So in John xx. 1 7. For o Trovtjpog see ii. 1 3. 
 The devil may assault, but he cannot prevail. His 
 suggestions may approach the soul, but they cannot find 
 a lodgment within. For a " stronger than he " is keeping 
 
 wickedness of the world increased God's Spirit ceased to strive Avitli 
 it (Gen. vi. 3). He left man to himself, until the " times of refreshing " 
 should come (Acts iii, 19). Then He separated to Himself a peculiar 
 people, but invited all who would to come and enjoy the salvation He 
 promised "without money and without price." There is no Phari- 
 saical satisfaction in the Apostle's survey of the world — only the 
 highest possible appreciation of the value of the deliverance, and the 
 most earnest hope that men may come forward and claim it, and thus 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 4 I 7 
 
 guard (Luke xi. 22). And while He keeps guard, the 
 goods intrusted to Him (2 Tim. i. 1 2) shall " be in peace." 
 Ver. 19. — And we know that we are of God. This is 
 the second point St. John desires to emphasise. See 
 ii. 29, iii. I, iv. 5, 6. — and the whole world lieth in 
 wickedness. Eather, with the Eevised Version and the 
 general consensus of modern scholars, in the evil one. 
 The Greek demands some notice. First, there is a slight 
 difference between 0A09 6 Kocrfxog in ch. ii. 2 and o 
 Koarjuo^ oXog here. The difference is pretty nearly the 
 same as between our " the whole world " and " the world 
 — the ivhole of it." The emphasis here is on 0X09. In 
 ch. ii. 2 it is on KocrjULog. But of course the world here 
 does not include those who have been separated from the 
 world by the new birth which comes from God. The^/ 
 are delivered from the dominion of evil by the fact that 
 their renewed being comes from God. The rest of man- 
 kind Kelrai ev tm irovrjpM. This expression, too, is re- 
 markable. It occurs only here. But it is paralleled by 
 such expressions as ev -^pia-Tw, ev tw aktjOivu) and the like. 
 It is not, however, so strong as e/c rou -TrovijpoO in ch. 
 iii. 1 2 (where see note). The force of KeiTat no doubt is 
 that while the believers in Christ are delivered from the 
 malign influences of the evil one, the rest of mankind 
 remain under the dominion of those influences — lie passive 
 under their shadow. Why the whole world should be 
 said to lie in the evil one, and yet Christ should be said 
 
 be delivered from the yoke under which men have so long groaned. 
 Who would not accept the offer so freely made to all to be "of God," 
 and to escape from the ' ' wickedness " which had made God's beautiful 
 world a desolation ? 
 
 III. The Knowledge that Jesus has come to guide us into 
 THE Truth. 
 
 I. We are delivered from false conceptions. The heathen systems 
 were false theologically, for they substituted a host of warring deities, 
 
 2 D 
 
41 8 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 in ch. ii, 2 to Toe a propitiation for all its sins, may be 
 explained by saying that Christ's propitiation is potential, 
 not actual, until appropriated by faith. The absence of 
 the article before IXaa-fxog ■ strengthens this view. Until 
 faith becomes active and operative, until it grasps the 
 life and strength which can be found in Christ alone, the 
 individuals who compose the world lie helpless under the 
 yoke of the evil one, unconscious, even, of the blessings 
 which lie within their reach. The passage cited by 
 Haupt and others from Soph. (Ed. Col. 258 supports 
 this view of helplessness which we have supposed to be 
 contained in Kelrai iv. 
 
 Ver. 20. — And we know that the Son of God is come, 
 Haupt observes that as the two former verses are inde- 
 pendent clauses, and that as this verse follows them 
 connected with what goes before by Se, we should expect 
 to find in it a link of connection with each of them. 
 And such, he adds, is the case. " The previous verses 
 alleged that we know in what relation our Divine sonship 
 places us to sin and to the world : here it is unfolded 
 that we are conscious of the ground of this relation to 
 both." Before His coming we were passive under the 
 power of the evil one. His coming placed us once more 
 in our true relation to Him from Whom we sprang. 
 And this relation involved the possibility of sinlessness, 
 first as a bare possibility only, and then passing through 
 every intermediate stage into the region of realised fact. 
 
 ■with Imnian passions, for the one tiue God. They ■were false philo- 
 sopliically, for tliey taught that ■svhat God made was evil, incapable of 
 being redeemed, and therefore to be avoided, instead of seeing how 
 man in his complex being could be purilied and sanctified.' They ■were 
 false morally, for they had destroyed the true basis of moi-als, and had 
 substituted for moral truth a chaos of uncertainties. Tlie very best 
 of the heathen systems ■was nothing more than refined selfishness. 
 None had guessed that the true basis of morals Avas love. 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 419 
 
 All this springs from the truth that the Son of God is 
 come into the world, — and hath given us an understanding. 
 An understanding, not tijv Sidvoiav, our understanding. 
 Siavoia is properly the process which the mind goes 
 through in order to come to a conclusion. Hence it 
 comes to mean that faculty of the mind which draws 
 conclusions, the power which directs the use of the 
 reason. Here, however, its sphere is limited by what 
 follows. The faculty we have received is that which 
 enables us to know Him Who is true. And this faculty 
 becomes ours by virtue of the Incarnation of the Son of 
 God. i]K6i and SeScoKe are precisely alike in their scope. 
 It is Christ's coming which has endowed us with the 
 faculty of perceiving the true one. — that we may know 
 him that is true. Here K A B read yivwaKOjj.ev, and we 
 have the unusual construction of "iva with the present 
 indicative. The same construction is apparently found 
 in John xvii. 3, i Cor. iv. 16, and in Gal. iv. 17, But 
 in John xvii. 3, Westcott and Hort and the Eevisers read 
 yivccKTKwcnu. And in the other two cases it has been 
 suggested that in verbs in -oco the indicative and sub- 
 junctive are alike in New Testament Greek. See the Notes 
 on Orthography in Westcott and Hort's Greek Testament, 
 p. 167. Possibly here, too, we have an example of 
 what is called ifacism — a mistake in copying occurring 
 from similarity of sound. If we read yivcoa-KOimev, we 
 must interpret in order that ive may hnoio, as in fact ive do. 
 
 2. We are translated into the region of eternal truths. Delivered from 
 this atmosphere of falsehood, we are not merely told the truth, but it 
 is inwrought into the very fibre and tissue of our being. We are 
 in Him that is true, by our reception through faith of the life of His 
 Son (cf. a\-r)divovTes ev dydirri. Epli. iv. 1 5). And with the vision 
 of truth thus clear before us, we need fear nothing from the delusions 
 around. We have ' ' known the truth, and the truth has made us free " 
 (John viii. 32). 
 
420 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 implying that the knowledge is both present and future. 
 But in consideration of the immense number of cases 
 where this itacism occurs, we may accept the Eec. text, 
 in spite of its inferior MS. authority, rov aXt]0iv6u means 
 the True God as opposed to false gods. See ch. ii. 8, 
 and cf. John xvii. 3. What is implied is that as the 
 moral condition of the world is one of wickedness, so its 
 spiritual condition (cf Eph. iv. 18) is one of darkness. 
 The understanding {Siduoia) is darkened. The objects of 
 worship acknowledged by the world, the gods of the 
 heathen, the -^ons of the Gnostics, are vain things 
 (juLdTaia), figments of the imagination, unsatisfactory 
 deductions from facts imperfectly understood. Only 
 those who have clung to the Incarnate Son of God have 
 had their eyes directed to the only true and genuine 
 object of worship and of faith, the Creator and the Life 
 of all that is. — and we are in him that is true. Not, as 
 the Vulgate and other Latin authorities, thai toe may he 
 in Him that is true, which misses the meaning of the 
 Apostle. St. John has been striving to lead us far beyond 
 the idea of the mere hnoivledge of God. Such knowledge 
 when possessed is the result of something more glorious and 
 perfect still — union with Him. We not only know the 
 source of truth, and have risen beyond the delusions to 
 which other men are a prey, but we are actually ourselves 
 livinGf in Him who is alone genuine and true — in One who 
 exists, not subjectively in our imperfect conceptions, but 
 
 Ver. 21. — ^'Little children, keep yourselves from idols.'" 
 We may in these days dismiss the thought of worship of actual 
 images of wood and stone such as the heathen worship, and such as 
 the members of the Roman Catholic Church treat with a veneration 
 hardly to be distinguished from adoration. We however have idols 
 — false conceptions — of our own, which Lord Bacon has divided into 
 four classes. 
 
 I. The idols of the tribe. These are the things which society 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 42 1 
 
 objectively, above and beyond them. — in his Son Jesus 
 Christ. These words are explanatory of the former, and 
 teach the same truth as ch. ii. 23 and ver. 1 1. We are 
 in the True One only in and through our union with the 
 Flesh and Blood of His only-begotten Son. — This is the 
 true God and eternal life. A lively controversy has raged 
 over these words. It is certain that they are not so 
 clear that they can be controversially adduced against 
 those who do not believe in the Godhead of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. But their position in the sentence affords 
 a strong presumption in favour of the doctrine. It is 
 hardly possible that such incautious language would have 
 been used by one who believed that between the Father 
 and the Son an infinite interval existed. The real truth 
 is that we cannot distinguish between the Nature of the 
 Father and that of the Son. We cannot accept rash 
 statements such as that of Dean Alford, who, when he 
 endeavoured to show that outo^ must be understood of 
 the Father, and not of the Son, declares that the " latter 
 is indeed ^ ^co>/, but not rj X^orj alcovio^." For whatever 
 we predicate of the Father, we predicate also of the Son, 
 His Fatherhood alone excepted. The Son is the revela- 
 tion, the expression of the Father. He and His Father 
 are one (John x. 30). We cannot come to the Father 
 but by Him (John xiv. 6). Whosoever hath seen Him 
 hath seen the Father (John xiv. 9). To know Jesus 
 Christ whom He hath sent is to know the only true God 
 
 worships, rank, fame, wealth, genius, the arts of the demagogue, 
 plausibility, bold assertion, clap-trap, appeals to the passions or the 
 whims of the hour rather than the reason. 
 
 II. The idols of the cave. These are the false conceptions of 
 life a man forms for himself, the love of pleasure, of notoriety, of 
 gain ; the opinions hatched for the sake of fame or popularity, or even, 
 as is often the case, out of a man's prejudices and tempers, the creations 
 of the false and distorted medium through which we view the things 
 around us. 
 
42 2 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 and to receive life eternal (John xvii. 3). And so we 
 are led to the only sound and secure basis for faith, 
 conduct, life, as distinguished from the uncertainties and 
 falsehoods abroad in the world, the true God, revealed in 
 His Son Jesus Christ. The close connection of thought 
 between these last words of the Apostle and our Lord's 
 last prayer before His Passion, as recorded by the same 
 Apostle, cannot fail to strike every one who studies the 
 two in the original. They afford a spiritual coincidence 
 of the most remarkable kind. It is to the convictions 
 so deeply impressed on himself under circumstances so 
 extraordinary that the Apostle desires to lead his disciples. 
 It is on those truths, above all others, that he desires 
 their minds to repose. If we ask why aXijOivo^ 6e6^ has 
 the article, the answer would seem to be sufficiently 
 obvious. a\t]6iv6g is what is true, as opposed to what is 
 false. It is to Him, not as an abstract conception, but as 
 a concrete reality, not as what He is in Himself, but as 
 what He is to us, that the Apostle would lead all men 
 by his words here. And this is brought out by the 
 emphatic warning with which he concludes the Epistle, 
 testifying as it does to the terrible perils with which 
 Christians were and are environed — perils which make it 
 necessary that our faith should be no languid acquiescence 
 in facts which have no interest for us, but robust and 
 energetic, as becomes those who are battling with the 
 temptations of a world which is still in the grasp of the 
 powers of evil. 
 
 III. The idols of the market-place. Never were these more 
 numerous or more hideous thau to-day. The fever for speculation, 
 the desire to be rich without trouble, the gambling of the Stock Ex- 
 change, the adulteration of goods, the shameless puffery, the delibe- 
 rate manufacture of worthless articles, the amassing of a fortune through 
 the schemes of "bubble" companies, the readiness to make profit 
 by unlawful means, to treat our fellow -men as counters wherewith to 
 play the game of life — the tone, in short, of commercial morality of 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE EPISTLE. 423 
 
 Ver. 2 1. — Little children, keap yourselves from idols. 
 
 Eather, " from the idols," ei^wXa, figments of the imagina- 
 tion, the false conceptions of Divinity abroad in the 
 world, which confuse men's minds and lead them from 
 what is good to what is evil. These conceptions of the 
 mind, presented in visible shape, became what later times 
 have known as idols. Eor Tenvia, see ch. ii. i. (pvXdcra-o) 
 implies more careful guardianship than Trjpew. ■ The latter 
 has rather the result in view, the effect of careful pro- 
 tection of oneself, namely, safety, while (pvXdcrcrw rather 
 gives the idea of danger to be guarded against. And 
 this is precisely the Apostle's point, and the reason he 
 concludes, not with the glorious truth of the last verse, 
 with which he might well have brought his teaching to 
 an end, but with words of solemn warning suited to the 
 dangerous position in which the persons he addressed 
 were placed. Snatched from the perils of a world lying 
 in darkness, endowed with the priceless gift of eternal 
 life, yet with that gift at present undeveloped and un- 
 assimilated, and with those perils encompassing them on 
 all sides, they stood in need of all their energy, courage, 
 and watchfulness lest they should lose the blessings with 
 which they had been endowed. The idols were to be 
 found wherever they went. The idol temples rose in 
 multitudes in every city and every country throughout 
 the world. The household gods of the heathen faced 
 them in every house. The rites of heathendom forced 
 
 the day, stamps the idols of the market-place as more destructive in 
 these times than any other of the Christian life. 
 
 IV. The idols of the theatke. Such are the conceptions of 
 the so-called philosophy of the day, questioning as it does the existence 
 of a Personal God, suhstituting a mysterious nonentitj^ or the ideal 
 of Hunuxnity, or an unsolvable riddle, or an unchangeable and imper- 
 sonal order for the God of the Bible, and endeavouring to foster every 
 doubt and every ditiiculty which may serve to hinder men's belief in 
 Him. The truth is in the world, and it can make us free. But there 
 
424 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 themselves on them at every public or private gathering, 
 on every occasion of business or pleasure. With those 
 rites were entwined the principles from which they had 
 been delivered ; behind them stood the force of habit, the 
 ties of family and social affection. It was no easy matter 
 in those days for Christians to stand firm. They needed 
 constant reminding of " Him that is true," and of the 
 close relation in which they stood to Him, if they were to 
 resist influences at once so all-pervading and so subtle. 
 And what the Apostle said to them he says still to us. 
 His words have been interpreted of the dangers of to-day. 
 And justly so. For they contain a principle applicable 
 to all time. Every age has its own dangers, its false- 
 hoods masquerading in the garb of truth, its delusions, 
 striving to substitute the love of the visible, convenience 
 and profit, doctrines that save trouble, and observances 
 that dispense with the surrender of self, for " Him that 
 is True," in whom we " live and move and have our 
 being " in Jesus Christ, and to Whom we are bound to 
 offer every desire and every thought, to be saturated with 
 His Spirit of love. Still does the spirit of self interpose 
 to prevent the sacrifice of self to God. The vain delusions 
 of a decaying world claim the homage we owe to Him 
 alone. And still, therefore, do Christians need that the 
 echo of perhaps the last words ever penned by Apostle 
 of Christ should resound through the ages ; — Little 
 children, guard yourselves from the idols. 
 
 needs now, as ever, the conscious surrender of ourselves to its influence, 
 the deliberate rejection of the falsehoods around, which would poison 
 the springs of our life. Yes, now, and as then, and until evil is 
 crushed for ever, will the Apostle's warning need to be repeated, 
 " Little children, guard yourselves from the idols." 
 
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 3 
 
New Series of Text-Books for Bible 
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 4 
 
WORKS BY THE REV. G. S. BOWES. 
 I. 
 
 CONVEESATION : Why Jon't we do more Good by it? Crown 
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 London : J. NISBET & CO., 21 BERNEES STREET. 
 
 5 
 
BOOKS EECENTLY PUBLISHED BY 
 
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 6 
 
BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED- Continued. 
 
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 7 
 
THE HOMILETIC MAGAZINE. 
 
 Papers on the following subjects will appear during the year 1887 : — 
 
 EARLY SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION AND BIBLICAL 
 THEOLOGY. By Rasmus B. Anderson, Minister of the United 
 States to the Court of Denmark. 
 
 POSITIVISM AS A RELIGION. By Rev. J. Radford 
 Thomson, M.A. 
 
 PAULINE THEOLOGY. By Rev. J. Oswald Dykes, D.D. 
 
 ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. By Rev. 
 James Morison, D.D. 
 
 ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. By Rev. 
 A. F. MuiR, M.A. 
 
 UNCONSCIOUS PROPHECIES. By Rev. A. Mackennal. 
 
 Rev. David Davies on the WELSH HWYL, &c. &c. 
 
 SPECIAL PAPERS ON PREACHERS AND PREACH- 
 
 ING. Sermonic Outlines for the Church's Year. 
 Also a 
 NEW SYMPOSIUM on "THE REUNION OF CHRISTEN- 
 DOM: IS IT DESIRABLE? IS IT POSSIBLE?" Articles 
 promised by H. E. Cardinal Manning, Ven. Archdeacon Farrab, 
 D.D., Rev. Henry Allon, D.D., and others. 
 
 Published Monthly, Price One Shilling, 
 
 THE HOMILETIC MAGAZINE. 
 
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 "The Homiletic Magazine is a very cheap publication, and in its new form will no 
 doubt obtain a more extended circulation." — Christian World. 
 
 "The Homiletic Magazine ia a. n>ieiu\ and serviceable periodical. . . . The present 
 and past Numbers of this Quarterly must be admitted to supply an abundant fund of 
 all that is best and freshest in the religious thought of the present day. . . . The 
 names of the principal contributors — names vfell known and highly appreciated in 
 theological circles more or less wide — afford a sufficient guarantee for the general 
 excellence and quality of the several articles." — Scotsman. 
 
 " It suggests texts, affords hints for their treatment, illustrates the art of pulpit 
 division and arrangement, and throws light of an interesting kind on many themes, 
 old and new. It devotes a large proportion of its space to exposition proper — the 
 ' Expository Section' being, in our judgment, the strongest feature of the Mai;azine. 
 In the Numbers befoi'e us we have excellent papers by a host of the ablest and best- 
 known scholars of the time. . . . It is a rich collection of papers on Biblical subjects." 
 Gtasgovj Herald. 
 
 The Magazine is published in America on the same day as in England. 
 
 Annual Subscription, 12s., payable in advance. 
 
 London : J. NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET. 
 
 8 
 
BS2805 .L693 
 
 The First epistle of St. John : with 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00067 1802