THE
SCRIPTURAL EXPOSITIONS
OF
DR. AUGUSTUS NEANDER,
COMPLETE IN ONE VOL UME.
TRANSLATED FROM TIIE GERMIAN
BY  MRS. H. C. CONANT.
I. THE EPISTLE OF PAUIL TO THE PHILIPPIANS.
II. THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES.
III. THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF JOHN.
LEWIS  COLBY  ATND  COMPANY',
122 NASSAU STREET.
18.58.








THE
EPISTLE  OF  P AUL
TO THE'
PHIILIPPIANS,
PRACTICALLY EXPLAINED,
BY
DR. AUGUSTUS NEANDER.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN
BY
MRS. H. C. CONANT.
NEW YORK:
LEWIS COLBY & CO.,
122 NASSAU STREET.
1853.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852,
BY LEWIS COLBY,
In the Clerk?s Office of the Southern District of New York.




INTRODUCTION.
IN offering the following work of Neander to the
American public, some brief explanation of its character
seems to be necessary. Many, who have only heard of
the author as one of the most profound scholars and
thinkers of the age, might otherwise be deterred from
reading it, by the supposition that it was merely a work:
of learned criticism. Such, however, is far from being
the case. It was the beginning of a series of popular
practical commentaries, intended to embrace the more
important portions of the Bible. Next to the Epistle of
James, which was completed, and a translation of which
we expect shortly to present to the public, were to follow
the Epistles of John, then the Gospels, the Psalms, &c.,
as rapidly as the public duties of the author would allow.
The surpassing excellence of the beginning makes us
deeply lament the loss to the church, through the recent
death of the great and good Neander, of so rich an addition to its means of understanding the Scriptures, and
one so happily adapted to the wants of common Christians. This, however, does not impair the value of the
separate parts, each division being complete in itself;




iv                 INTRODUCTION.
and we cannot but rejoice that, as he was not permitted
fully to carry out his plan, he should have executed a
part so appropriate as the closing labor of his life. Had
he foreseen that these were to be his last words of counsel to his brethren in Christ, he could nowhere have
found freer scope for all he wished to say for their instruction, comforting, and edification, than in a commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians. One might almost believe, such a fulness of pious feeling pours through
its pages, that he had some such presage. Whether this
were so or not, doubtless He to whom all events are
known guided him in the selection; and we may receive
it as the dying legacy of one of the greatest Christian
teachers with which God has ever blessed his church.
May its instructions sink deep into the heart of the
church, and bring forth fruit to the honor and glory of
God!
In reading this commentary, one cannot but be forcibly strtick with the strong affinity between the character
of Paul and that of his expounder. Different as were
their outward circumstances and course of life, Neander
seems to have had, in his own nature and spiritual sympathies, a perfect key to those of the Apostle. Hence it
is that he has surpassed all others in giving the spirit of
this Epistle. The grandeur of Paul's spiritual conceptions, his personal aspirations, his inward conflicts, his
magnanimity, tenderness, and humility, his all-absorbing
love for Christ and for man, are delineated with a life




INTRODUCTION.                   V
and power which only a kindred soul in the writer could
have inspired. His very manner bears the same stamp
of resemblance. Impatient of the niceties of minute criticism, he breaks through the mere outward form, the
shell of words and phrases, into the very heart of the
Epistle; and develops its contents, not by a petty weighing of particles, but by one broad, extended view of the
whole scope of the Apostle's design and meaning. This
he illustrates from Paul's history and character, his present circumstances and those of the infant churches; and
the whole glows with the light and warmth of a deep
personal experience of the Gospel. Thus, though the
work is rich in the results of a learning as profound as it
was various, the earnest and intelligent, but unlearned
reader, can pursue his way unimpeded by any obtrusive
lumber of scholarship. It is indeed a beautiful illustration of what his friend and colleague, the evangelical
Strauss, says of him in his funeral discourse: " He did not
despise human knowledge; he sought for it with unweatied diligence; he was a master in it; but he laid all the
surprising treasures of his learning at the foot of the
cross." To edify the members of Christ's body was with
him a greater object, than to make a vain parade of his
own superiority; as to be one with Christ was to himself,
personally, an immeasurably greater object than all human learning or honor.
One characteristic of the work, which -adds greatly to
its practical value, has also a special interest as showing




VI                INTRODUCTION.
the author's character under a new aspect;-we mean
the comprehensive and accurate knowledge it exhibits of
men and their relations. It shows that he was no mere
recluse scholar, buried in the past, with no eyes nor ears
for the living world around him. It is indeed a problem, how a man who so seldom went beyond his study
and his lecture room, whose own relations to society were
so few, and his associations almost exclusively among the
learned, could have gained so much ac'quaintance with
human nature, and with the various forms and phases of
Christian experience. The sblution is to be found in the
fact, that Neander had a heart as well as intellect; a
heart gifted by nature with the largest human sympathies, and from early life penetrated by the spirit of Christian benevolence. Man his brother, man whom God had
created and for whom Christ had died, was to him an
object of unspeakable interest, and nothing was unimportant which affected his character and prospects.
Hence, from the little that he mingled with men he
learned -much of man; and he applies the inspired instructions with a discrimination and point, which show
that no generic differences in human character had escaped him. It is a matter of no little interest, to know
what views of man were received from this study by a
mind like Neander's. It is plain that he cherished no
high-wrought notions of the natural goodness and perfectibility of the race. Yet he did not turn from the
weak and erring being with philosophic contempt, or




INTRODUCTION.                   Vii
thank God that he was not as other men are. His was
the earnest, penetrating scrutiny of a Christian philanthropist, seeking to know his brother's wants in order
that Christian love might supply them. Though he was
no believer in inherent human goodness, he was a firm
believer in the efficacy of the great remedy for man's
moral diseases.  Hence the clearer perception of his ruined and lost state, only awoke more strongly the love
which yearned to bring relief. The spirit of Neander's
life and writings furnish sufficient proof, if proof were
still wanting, that the clear recognition of man's entire
moral perversion is the basis for all true love of humanity. His practical wisdom, as well as the tenderness of
his heart, are beautifully exhibited in his treatment of
the yet immature believer.  The germ  of divine life,
planted in a human heart, is an object which engages all
his interest.  The causes which may obstruct its free development, as found in the various forms of self-deception, in the power of early prejudice, and not less in the
over-hasty zeal or unchristian harshness of brethren, are
touched with admirable skill.  If his lessons of rigid selfscrutiny, trying as by fire every thought and motive of
our own hearts, and of a fraternal charity, quick to discern and acknowledge and tenderly to cherish the faintest signs of grace in others, were carried into practice by
every disciple of Christ, who can doubt the speedy increase of spiritual life, of unity, and of moral power in
the church!




V111               INTRODUCTION.
Another not less interesting point is the simply scriptural character of his theology, of the exhibition here
given of the essential doctrines of the Gospel. Christ,
the Crucified and the Risen, as the one foundation of the
church, the living root from whom proceeds all spiritual
life and growth; man as a sinful and lost being, depending for regeneration and sanctification on the influences
of the Holy Spirit; the utter insufficiency of human
works as the ground of salvation; a holy life as the
necessary fruit of holy love; these, no man since Paul
has more eloquently enforced than Neander. In developing Paul's theology, deep religious experience supplied
to him that light, for the lack of which so many have
misunderstood and perverted the meaning of the great
Apostle. The natural man, and the spiritual man, designate with him radical distinctions of character. The tendencies of the natural man, however beautiful his social
and even religious virtues to human view, are yet, as
springing from self and ending in self, radically wrong;
the tendencies of the spiritual man, as springing from
God and ending in God, are radically right. But the
spiritual man, and the perfect man, are not with him interchangeable terms. The Christian life is an unceasing
conflict with inward depravity; that we persevere in this
conflict to the end, the only reliable proof that we belong
to Christ. The Christian's standard of character is perfection, is Christ; his ever increasing sense of unlikeness
to this faultless model, the strongest evidence that he is




INTRODUCTION.                 ix
becoming more and- more assimilated to it. This sense
of unlikeness, while it humbles and stimulates, does not
disquiet the believer; for his confidence and his affections are placed on a nobler object than self, were it in a
state of absolute perfection. The incarnate Word, the
brightness of the Father's glory and the express image
of his person, once humbled in humanity, now reigning
in divine glory, is the centre of all his aspirations and
hopes, the life of his life, his all in all. An affecting
proof of Neander's personal consciousness of these truths,
was given on the evening of his last year's birth-day.
His pupils having, as is customary in German universities on such occasions, honored their beloved teacher
with a torch-light procession and a eulogistic address, he
replied by a pathetic confession of human weakness, and
spoke of himself as a sinner needing forgiveness through
the blood of Christ. The whole course of his inward and
outward religious life corresponded fully to this expression.  "As to be a Christian," says Strauss, "nothing but
a Christian saved by grace, was all his desire in his inward experience, so in his calling he desired only to be a
servant of Christ." The love of Christ to his people, as
developed in the past history of the church, was his most
interesting subject of contemplation. In his hands,
Church History became not a mere record of the mistakes of the human spirit, but primarily, a record of the
miracles of the love of Jesus. And often, says his friend,
his voice trembled and his whole heart gushed forth,
1*




X                  INTRODUCTION.
when narrating individual experiences of grace, exemplifying the love of Christ. What a beautiful illustration
of his own favorite maxim, "It is the heart that makes
the Theologian!"  The modesty of his Theology is not
less marked than its scriptural character. Our knowledge of God and divine things, though all-sufficient for
our present need, in his view is necessarily fragmentary
and imperfect; "to be cast aside when we are raised to
the full vision of the life above, as the conceptions of
childhood are cast aside, by the mature man."  IHow
habitually this conviction was present to his mind, is
pleasingly illustrated by the circumstance, that when
called on for an autograph to accompany his engraved
portrait, he wrote for the purpose the words: " Now we
see through a glass darkly, but then face to face."
The closing scenes in the life of this eminent servant
of Christ, seem like the reflection of that conflict which
he so admirably depicts in the heart of Paul, between the
longing to depart and be with Christ, and the desire still
to live that he may labor for the salvation of his brethren. To labor for Christ was, as with Paul, his life on
earth. Apart from this work, life had no value, no significance. While he lived he must labor; and even after
the hand of death had touched his long diseased body,
he still strove to compel its services in his appointed calling in God's kingdom. This calling was one which enlisted all the energies and affections of his soul. To be
the instructor of youth in the Holy Scriptures, and the




INTRODUCTION.                 Xi
historian of the Church, was a high destiny; and his devotion to it had all the ardor of a ruling passion. His
history he had now brought down to the period of the
Reformation; and with a mind unimpaired by age or disease, and glowing with his theme, he was about entering
on the development of that central epoch of modern
Christianity, when the summons came to lay aside the
earthly for the heavenly. HIow his heart clung to his
life-work, is affectingly shown in the sketch of his last
hours by his attached friend and pupil Rauh. We give
the substance of the account.
He was at his desk in his lecture room, on Monday,
when the attack came upon him. Infired to pain, and
accustomed to master it by his powerful will? he persevered in completing the exercise; though the broken
tones of his voice, at times almost inaudible from debility, forced upon his affectionate auditors the conviction expressed in the touching language of one of
their number: "This is the last lecture of our Neander 1" He reached home in a state of great exhaustion.
But after some slight refreshment, he immediately resumed his usual afternoon employments.  For three
successive hours, though often interrupted by increasing
weakness, he dictated on his Church History. Late in
the afternoon, the symptoms of dangerous illness becoming more and more marked, his anxious sister insisted
that he should give himself rest. But he could not be
persuaded to quit his work. "Nay, let me go on!" he




Xi'i               INTRODUCTION.
exclaimed: " can every day-laborer work as much as he
will, and would you deny it to me!" At length he was
obliged to yield, and allow himself to be conveyed to
bed. The next morning he was forced, by the increased
violence of his malady, to consent that his usual lecture
should be deferred; " but," as he expressly added, "' only
for to-day!" From this time it was an incessant struggle
for supremacy between the mind and the body. In the
afternoon, he called imperatively for his reader;* and
blamed his over-anxious friends for having sent him
away, and thus interrupted his progress in a work with
which he was engaged, Ritter's Palestine. He then listened to the reading of the newspaper by another pupil,
with earnest attention; selected what he wished to hear,
and commented on this and that of its contents, till at
length a heavy slumber overpowered him.  The next
day also, the daily paper being read to him as usual, the
mention of some occurrence in the Church drew from
him an exclamation of humorous contempt a~t the modish
spirit of the day; an expressive shrug indicated his dissatisfaction at another. This day he experienced a little
relief, from the refreshment of a more quiet night, which
encouraged his desponding friends. But on Friday evening the last ray of hope was extinguished. Paralysis,
the result of his exhausting disease, seized upon the kidneys. The fatal hiccough set in, and allowed not a mo* An affection' of the eyes, which had increased almost to blindness, had
for some two years rendered such assistance necessary.




INTRODUCTION.                Xiil
ment's sleep. This scene of distress continued four hours,
without mitigation. Groans were forced from him by
the extremity of his anguish; and he was heard praying
in a weak and plaintive tone, which drew tears from
every eye, " Oh God! that I might sleep!" But the energy of his spirit was not yet quenched. The next afternoon, though in an agony of pain, the longing to be again
at work in his great calling seemed to awaken in full
force. I He insisted that he would no longer be confined
in bed; and with a feverish impatience, never seen in
him before, ordered a servant to bring his clothes that he
might rise. A pupil who was at hand vainly tried to
soothe him. Even his sister's entreaties were of no avail,
till she said to him: " Remember, dear Augustus, your
own words to, me, when I resisted the physician's orders,
-' It is all from God, and we must yield cheerfully to his
will!' "  "True," he gently replied in an altered tone;
"it all comes from God, and we must thank him for it!"
Through all the variations of his sickness, his wonted
tender consideration for his friends did not forsake him,
He would not allow his pupils to neglect their duties in
order to attend upon him; watched lest his sister should
not take needful rest, and received every slight service
with the most touching gratitude. Even when scarcely
able to speak, from pain and weakness, he would make
the utmost effort to express his thankfulness. One little
characteristic trait deserves to be mentioned. His large
income, always devoted more to others than himself, was




XiV                  INTRODUCTION.
yet insufficient for his multiplied charities, so that he was
often perplexed and distressed when he found a new object of compassion which he had not the means of relieving. He practised the most rigid economy in his own
personal expenses, that he might have more for others.
Every luxury was in his view a robbery of the poor.  So
fixed were his -habits in this respect, that when a little
champagne was offered him during this last sickness, he
promptly refused it with the expression, "0 that is a
foolish indulgence!"
The final scene is one most characteristic of the man,
as well as one of the most striking ever witnessed in the
chamber of death. A wine bath had been prepared for
him, as a last resort. Refreshed and strengthened by it,
he was borne from the darkened room where he had lain
hitherto into his study, that cheerful little apartment
opening to the sun, which had been so long the workshop and the'paradise of the man of thought.  Here for
nearly twenty years' he had studied and written.  From
this spot had gone forth those great works which have
delighted and instructed  Christendom.  With thirsty
glances he drank in the full golden sunlight, of which he
was always so fond.*  A spoonful of choice wine being
offered him, he did not reject it,-" a significant omen,"
* In this also, "a child of the light," as he sportively called himself
(6oraaoS ro* wXiov) a few days before. "This I have,"-said he on that occasion,-" in common with the emperor Julian; but that," he added,
"Strauss must not know 1"




INTRODUCTION.                XV
says Rauh, "that the old order of things approached its
end." Ere long he murmured dreamily, as if at the close
of a long fatiguing walk with his sister, " I am weary;
let us now make ready to go home!" Just then the rich
sunset glow, pouring through the window, lighted up the
shelves from which looked down upon him the masters
of thought, with whom for so many years he had held
silent but high and endearing communion. Raising himself by a sudden effort from his pillow, he commenced a
regular lecture upon New Testament exegesis. Soon a
new image passed before his restless fancy. Imagining
himself at the weekly meeting of his beloved Seminc.riurn, surrounded by his fondly attached theological pupils, he called for the reading of a dissertation, shortly
before assigned, on the material and formal principle of
the Reformation. He then dictated the titles of the different courses of lectures to be delivered by him during
the next session; among them,:The Gospel of John,
from its true historical point of view." His last thoughts
amid the struggles of death, were, devoted to the great
labor of his life. Beginning at the very passage of his
Church History where sickness had arrested his progress,
he resumed the thread of thought, and in spite of interruptions, continued to dictate in regular periods for some
time. At the close of each sentence he paused, as if his
amanuensis were taking down his words, and asked,
"Are you. ready?" Having closed a division of his subject, he inquired the time. Being told that it was half



XVi               INTRODUCTION.
past nine, the patient sufferer repeated once more: "I
am weary; I will now go to sleep!" Having by the aid
of friendly hands' stretched himself in bed for his last
slumber, he whispered in a tone of inexpressible tenderness, which sent a strange thrill through every heart:
"Good night!" It was his last word. He immediately
fell into a sleep, which continued four hours; when his
great spirit, in the quiet of a Sabbath morning, passed
gently into the land of peace.-What a commentary on
his own exhortation so lately uttered; that "the Christian should ever remember that here all is fragmentary,
nothing reaches completion; that even service in the
cause of Christ on earth, is but the beginning of an activity destined for eternity; that we must therefore not
be so absorbed, even in labors consecrated to God, as to
be unprepared to obey, at anyr moment, the summons to
the higher life and service of- Heaven!" He was so prepared, that when his ear caught the summons, he could
drop the great labor of his life unfinished, lay himself
down quietly upon his bed, and with a child-like " Good
Night" to those whom he left behind, slumber over (as the
German beautifully expresses it) into that higher life of
heaven.
Before closing, the translator would beg of those con.
versant with the author's manner in the original, as favorable a judgment of her work as justice will allow. They
can best appreciate the difficulty of the task. It has been
her aim, not merely to give a faithful rendering of the




INTRODUCTION.                 xvi
author's ideas, in an easy English style, but to reproduce
them, so far as possible, in their original form and mould.
The elephantine march of his style suits, as no other
could, to the great burden of his thoughts; which, moreover, are so combined and massed together, that not only
would the manner be lost by much breaking up of his
sentences, but the connection and relation of the different parts be seriously impaired.
H. C. 0.
ROCHESTER, N. Y..Sept. 1851.








EPISTLE OF PAUL
TO
THE   PHILIPPIANS.
IF the Spirit of God has revealed to holy men of
old the word of truth, that they might proclaim it
for the salvation of mankind; if God has revealed
himself through their lives, their discourses, their
writings, as the depositaries of his Spirit; this is
not to be regarded merely as an isolated fact
belonging solely to the past. To us as living
members of the body of Christ, as partakers in
that fellowship of his Spirit, which unites the instant of the present with the whole progressive
development since the first outpouring of the same
Spirit by the glorified Son of man, to us, this
should be no external, no foreign thing. The past
must become to us the present. We need no
further revelations. On the contrary, it must be
to us as if the Lord had himself at this moment




20                PHAILIPPIANS.
spoken to us, inasmuch as he has given us the instruction required for all the higher necessities of
the present; as if he had himself said to us all
which it concerns us to know, in order to find consolation under present sufferings, the means of certain victory in all conflicts, the clue to guide us
out of all the perplexities of a distracted age safely
to our goal. For the attainment of this object,
we must carefully investigate the precise historical conditions and relations under which these
depositaries of the Divine Spirit'spoke and acted.
We must transfer ourselves into that past time, so
as to live, as it were, in the midst of the circumstances under which these holy men acted, and in
reference to which they spoke, The objects of
divine wisdom in its guidance of the Church, we
perceive in this, viz., that divine truth has been
revealed to us, not in a law of the letter, not in a
digested summary of specific articles of faith, but
in this historical embodiment, in this application to
individual cases, to specific historical circumstances
and social relations, imparted through the instrumentality of individual men, who lived as depositaries of divine truth among their fellow-men;
who, in the common intercourse of human life,




PHILIPPIANS.             21
testified of and revealed the divine, speaking and
acting as men, each in his own peculiar human
manner, though hallowed indeed by the Spirit of
God. Thus was divine truth to be brought humanly near to us. Thus to our own spiritual activity, under the guiding and quickening influence
of the Spirit of God, without whom nothing divine
can be received or understood, was to be left the
work of investigating the divine in its connection
with the human; from the particular to deduce
the universal; and again, by an application of this
to the peculiar circumstances of the age and society
in which we live, to reconvert it into the particular
for ourselves; to detect in that which was said or
done by the organs of Christ's Spirit, under the
peculiar circumstances of the past, whatever is applicable for our use to the circumstances and relations of the present. Whilst, therefore, an humble
dependence on that Divine Spirit, who alone leads
into all truth, and unlocks the depths of his word,
is an indispensable condition to the right understanding and application of the Divine Word in its
human embodiment; so also is a careful attention
to all the human relations.  The word of God
allows no slothful hearers; it demands all the




22              PHILIPPIANS.
powers of the mind and soul. Only thus can its
treasures be brought to' light. If we fail of discovering these treasures, and lament over the want
of light to illumine the darkness of the present
state, it is because we have not met the required
conditions. We have none to reproach but ourselves.  We may here apply those weighty words
of our Lord, adapted no less to stimulate and encourage diligent inquiry, than for warning and re'
buke: "He that hath, to him shall be given."
In an especial manner is this true of the Letters
of the Apostles. In these we should find far more
to instruct, edify, and guide us in all the relations
of life, if we thus weighed the import of every
word. May the Spirit of the Lord enlighten and
guide us, that we may in this manner understand,
and learn to apply, one of the noblest epistles of
the Apostle Paul, written as no other could write,
and presenting to our eyes the living image of the
Apostle to the Gentiles!
First, then, we must bring before our view the
peculiar circumstances and relations, under which
Paul wrote this epistle. Zeal for the salvation of
the heathen world had drawn, upon him the extremest persecution of the enraged Jews, who




PHILIPPIANS.             23
grudged to the Gentiles an equal participation and
equal privileges with themselves, in the kingdom
of God. To this was owing his apprehension at
Jerusalem, his long imprisonment in Cesarea Stratonis, and finally, through his appeal to Caesar, his
captivity at Rome. The issue of his fate was still
uncertain. In his imprisonment, he was far less
occupied with anxiety for his own life, than for the
welfare of the churches, scattered through various
regions, who through the dangers which beset their
Apostolic teacher might become unsettled in their
faith, deprived, as they were, of his personal guidance in this dark and troubled period. Through
his pupils and associates in the preaching of the
gospel, who now formed the living link between
him and these churches, and through his letters,
must the want be supplied. Among these churches
was that of Philippi in Macedonia. It was the first
church which Paul had founded in that country.
Its members had been witnesses of the ignominy
and suffering endured by Paul, on account of the
gospel, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.
They had witnessed the example he gave of boldness in the faith, of devotion to the Lord, of triumphant enthusiasm in his service, his joyfulness in




24               PHILIPPIANS.
suffering, and the wonderful deliverances wrought
for him by the Lord. This had served, in a special manner, to give greater depth and ardor to
their love for him, who was ready to sacrifice all
that he might bring them: the glad tidings of salvation. They followed the example of their faithful teacher. As yet, indeed, Christianity had not
drawn upon itself the attention of the Roman civil
power; nor had it become an object of persecution
through the state laws, as from its opposition to the
national religion must soon be the case, under a
civil constitution with which this was intimately interwoven. Accordingly no general persecution had
arisen, and the churches in most regions enjoyed
peace. In this respect, however, Macedonia formed an exception. Here, from the very first, the
malignant hatred of the Jews, who were scattered
in great numbers through the commercial cities,
had been excited against the preachers of the gospel, and all who embraced it; and they had not
wanted means for producing discord between the
believers and their fellow-citizens and associates
among the heathen. Although no civil laws as yet
existed against Christianity, still there were means
by which the heathen could, in many ways, dis



PIILIPPIANS.             25
quiet and injure its new converts, distinguished by
their life and conversation in so striking a manner
from themselves. In the history of modern missions the same thing is repeated, in the intercourse
between the new converts and their former heathen
associates.  The  church  at Philippi remained
steadfast under all these persecutions. Their faith
and love had been approved thereby. Neither
could they be unsettled in their faith, by the persecutions which had now befallen their Apostolic
teacher. They were conscious of that higher fellowship with him under all his conflicts and sufferings. His sufferings, and the dangers which hung
over him, but added new fuel to their love and sympathy. To manifest this to him they had sent one
of their own number, Epaphroditus, who might
also bring back to them more exact information of
his circumstances. We know that although the
right had been given to the Apostles, by the Lord,
to depend for their temporal necessities upon those
for whose spiritual welfare they labored, yet Paul
never availed himself of this privilege. As the
attracting and recovering grace of the Lord had
been exhibited towards him in so peculiar a manner; as it had transformed him from the bitterest
2




26               PHILIPPIANS.
persecutor into the preacher of the gospel; he felt
himself constrained to do more than others, called
by Christ in the ordinary way, and gradually fitted for his service, and to forbear the exercise of
a right to which he was equally entitled with them.
Thrust, as it were, by force into the work, he
would, by more abundant labor, endurance, privation, manifest his unconstrained love for his appointed calling.-(1 Cor. ix. 17-19.)  It is to be
accounted his gift, growing out of his peculiar nature sanctified by the Holy Spirit, that he was able
to number himself among those whom Christ pronounces blessed, for having forborne marriage for
the kingdom of God's sake. Not that he would
call them blessed on account of the state of celibacy, in and for itself; as if Paul could claim any
advantage over Peter, who in a marriage consecrated by the Lord, labored for the advancement of
the same cause; but on account of the spirit which
led them to abstain from marriage, that love which
would offer up all to the kingdom of God. It was
this which animated Paul, and impelled him to
contemplate as a duty whatever might, under his
special circumstances, serve for the advancement
of his work, and to undertake it with joyful zeal.




PHILIPPIANS.              27
It was for this also, that amidst the labors of
preaching, he sustained himself with his own hands
as a tent-maker. He experienced in himself the
truth of the Lord's words, " It is more blessed to
give than to receive." In order to avoid every
appearance of self-seeking, and to take from the
opposers among the Jews and Judaizing Christians
every occasion of suspicion, he himself assumed the
whole charge of his temporal support. Still the
church at Philippi were moved, by their heartfelt
love to him, to anticipate his wants; and knowing
how difficult he must often find it to earn a maintenance, they had several times sent sums of money
for his necessities. Paul, though he sought no gift,
yet, in view of the feeling which prompted it,
could not reject the free-will-offering of love. This
church had now once more manifested in this way
their active sympathy for Paul, by sending to him
Epaphroditus. This circumstance, and what he
learned through their messenger of the condition
of the Philippian church, occasioned the writing
of this epistle. Its object was to express to the
church at Philippi his gratitude and love; to relieve their anxiety respecting his own situation;
to give them a view of his Christian state and tern



28               PHILIPPIANS.
per in the midst of his conflicts and dangers; and
to bestow upon them the counsels and encouragements suited to their peculiar circumstances.
We must niow, therefore, direct our view to
Paul's situation in his imprisonment at Rome; to
his demeanor in his captivity, as the mirror of
the state of his soul, so far as we can learn it from
this letter; and to his counsels to the Philippian
church, in reference to their peculiar relations, as
furnishing suggestions applicable in numerous ways
to similar circumstances.
Looking first then at Paul's situation, we shall
perceive that this was adapted to produce great
variations of feeling. He had given his public
testimony for the Lord Jesus, and had made his
own defence. This defence had produced the gen-'eral impression, that it was not as a disturber of
the public peace that this imprisonment had befallen him, nor for any other crime; but only as
the preacher of a religion hated by the Jews.*
Against this new faith, as we have already remarked, there existed as yet no state law. If now
Paul could triumphantly establish his innocence
in this respect, it would seem that his safety was
* Chap. i. 13




PHILIPPIANS.             29
secured. But the Roman civil laws ever regarded
an individual as in some degree criminal, who
should seduce the citizens and subjects of the empire to apostasy from  the state religion; and
should attempt to make proselytes to a new faith,
which, if not condemned by an express law, was
yet in its nature opposed to the religion of the
state, and was not of the number recognized by
it as tolerated religions. Paul's case was, therefore,
by no means so simple a one. Many difficilt questions were involved in it. At times, the impression made by his public defence would awaken in
him the expectation of a happy deliverance, and
that he might be permitted to visit the churches
founded early in his ministry, and among these
the church at Philippi. Again, the prospect of
death was before his mind. What then? Do we
find his soul divided between.fear and hope, despondency and joy, dependent upon the external
impression of these changeful circumstances, as is
wont to be the case with others in like situations?
No; one deep undertone of cheerful tranquillity,
of surrender to the will of the Lord, pervades the
whole epistle. We see the man, whose confidence
rests on an immovable foundation unaffected by




30                PHILIPPIANS.
change of circumstances, a foundation which no
waves or storms can shake. He is certain that, in
one way or another, the Lord will conduct him
through these conflicts triumphantly to a glorious
end.* With joyful confidence, he approaches the
termination of a life singly consecrated to one
holy service. He is conscious of not having labored. in vain, as a faithful preacher of the truth,
which he sees bringing forth fruit in the churches.
These, as for instance the church at Philippi, are
the living memorial of his devoted labors for the
Lord, as he himself- expresses it in this epistle; the
witness that he has preached the word of the Lord
in purity; his glory before the Lord when, at the
day of judgment, that shall be by Him brought
to light which was here concealed; when much,
which here seemed to be somewhat, shall be exposed in its nothingness; and when much, that
was misjudged and condemned by the world, shall
be acknowledged by the Lord as his own. How
nobly does this spirit of Paul express itself in the
words of this epistle, where he exclaims:t "And
even if I be offeredt upon the sacrifice and priestly
service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you
* Chap. i. 19, 20.  f Chap. ii. 17, 18.  $ Literally, poured out.




PHILIPPIANS.              81
all; in like manner should ye also joy and rejoice with me." We must endeavor to make clear
the full import of these weighty words. —The
Lord Christ is the one Mediator, between God
and the sinful human race redeemed by him.
Through him all, who believe on him and enter
into fellowship with him, are taken out of the ungodly world and consecrated as a holy community
to God. Thus do they all become one priestly
generation. There is no longer the distinction of
Priests and Laity. All are become, through him
and in fellowship with him, what he himself is,Priests before the God of Jesus Christ who is also
their God, before his Father who is also their
Father. Their whole life is a priestly calling; as
Paul represents it, Rom. xii. 1, " a reasonable service," that is, a spiritual worship proceeding from
the rational nature, the soul. Herein the whole
spiritual life manifests itself as a God-devoted, to
God presented self-sacrifice; every inward and
outward act as done in fellowship with Christ, as
performed in his name, pervaded by hisfSpirit, enstamped with his image, a thank-offering and a
praise-offering of the redeemed, well pleasing in
the sight of God. This being true of all the acts




32                PHILIPPIANS.
of (each Christian in his proper vocation, Paul regards as his own priestly calling the Apostolic
work; as his own acceptable offering to God, the
faith planted by him among the Gentiles and the
Christian life of the converted heathen world. It
is in this sense he speaks, in these'words to his
Philippian brethren, of "'the sacrifice and priestly
service of their faith" as his offering to God. It
was customary, moreover, to pour out wine upon
the.altar, a so-called libation, as a seal of the offering. Paul, foreseeing that his own blood might be
poured out in his priestly office of proclaiming the
Gospel among the heathen, that he might be called
to testify to what he preached in the very. face of
death, and to put the seal of martyrdom upon his
life's work, here speaks of the outpouring of his
own blood as a libation,-an offering of himself
upon the sacrifice. Thus, with joyful confidence,
the Apostle advances towards so glorious a consummation of his work. Far from needing solace
from  others, he could call on the Philippians to
rejoice with him. Uncertain whether he was to
finish his captivity by the martyr's death, or
whether his life would be preserved to labor still
for the advancement of the kingdom of God upon




PHILIPPIANS.               33
the earth, he was prepared for both, submissive
in either case to the divine will. The will of the
Lord was his will. The result would show, in
what way it was the purpose of the Lord to make
his life most subservient to His own glory.  He
was in a strait betwixt two, — longing to depart,
out of the conflicts of the earthly life, into the
peace of the spirit's heavenly home; from where
the Lord is seen only by the eye of faith, to where
in blissful nearness he becomes an object of sight.
Although Paul was certain even in this his earthly
life of union with the Lord, he was far from feeling himself satisfied with what he already enjoyed. Not merely from external conflicts had he
learned, that this is not the land of peace promised to the Christian, and sought for by his longing spirit. To those internal conflicts, yet more
severe, which the life of faith must ever sustain,
he was no stranger. HIerein also had his Saviour
led the way; he who cried " My soul is exceeding
sorrowful even unto death!" and, " My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me!"  One of his
sore trials he calls "a thorn in the flesh;" comparing it to the anguish inflicted by a thorn fixed
and rankling in the flesh. It was the painful ex2*




84               PHILIPPIANS.
perience of his own human weakness, in contrast
with the revelation of the divine glory, which at
times was imparted to him. Thus was he taught
to distinguish what is divine and what is human,
what belongs to this life and what to the life beyond. Thus too was he to learn, that the land of
heavenly peace, after which the renewed spirit
sighs, is not to be found on earth. Although
Paul, as his life and his epistles testify, had made
great advances in personal sanctification, yet he
was far from wishing to separate himself from the
number of those, who as sinners seek in Christ for
justification; far from holding himself to be a sinless saint., He knew well that he had still to maintain the conflict with sin, and that he must persevere, in that conflict faithfully to the end, if he
would stand before the Lord. We need only to
hear his own professions, as when warning the Corinthians against a false security he writes (1 Cor. ix.
27): "But I keep under my body, and bring it
into subjection; lest, having preached to others, I
myself should be a cast-away."  By these words
he describes his unceasing conflict with himself,
lest after having brought others to salvation by
the preaching of the word, which through the in



PHILIPPIANS.              35
dwelling divine power works independently of
the preacher, and brings forth fruit to eternal life,
he should himself be overcome by temptation and
fall short of that goal to which he has conducted
others. The figure, of which Paul here makes use,
is taken from the boxing combats of the ancients.
The body is represented as the antagonist with
whom the boxer contends; implying a still continued resistance of the body, once the servant of
sin, against the divine life in the spirit. Paul describes himself as one, who by unremitting effort
makes his body, the organ of sanctification entrusted to him, serviceable to himself as the servant of Christ. This conflict with the body of
sin, inasmuch as the whole outward life of man
manifests itself in the body, designates in general
the entire conflict still to be waged by the spiritual against the fleshly man, by the new man
against the old; and this in the case even of.a
Paul. Thus Paul, instructed by his rigorous selfexamination, is far from supposing when he contemplates his own life, that he has already reached
the limit of heavenly perfection, or that he could
build his confidence thereon as if it were a life of
perfected sanctification. "Not as if I had already




36                PHILIPPIANS.
attained, or were already perfect," is his own
beautiful expression of his conviction, in a passage
of this epistle which we shall presently consider.
Paul, then, was conscious that the blessings pronounced by the Lord: "Blessed are they who
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled!" "Blessed are the pure in heart
for they shall see God!" were not as yet completely fulfilled in him, but were still, in a certain
sense, a promise looking into the future.  Moreover, although Paul had been elevated, in his perception of divine things, above others of his own
time and of all time; although he could claim
that single higher revelations, over and above that
which was to be the subject of general proclamation, had been vouchsafed to him; yet he well
knew that all this was but partial and fragmentary, far from that completeness of knowledge before whose light all which is called in this life
higher perception, prophecy, the gift of tongues,
shall vanish away. He reckons himself among
those, whose knowledge of divine things is like
objects obscurely reflected in a mirror, where much
still remains uncertain; a knowledge which, in relation to that of the eternal world, is'as the




PHILIPPIANS.              37
knowledge of the child, to that of the mature
man. He was fully conscious, that when he should
be raised to the full vision of the life above, that
which he knew of divine things in this life must
be cast aside by him, as the mature man casts
aside the conceptions of childhood. The twilight
of the earthly life of faith did not satisfy the aspirations of his soul, which thirsted after knowledge; and he longed to pass into that pure day
of heavenly clearness, where our knowledge of
God and divine things will be inward, immediate,
a direct perception of that which is present, a
knowing as we are known. We see then that, in
all these respects, Paul was penetrated with the
full consciousness that the hope which has reference to the future, not less than the present exercise of faith, constitutes the life of the Christian.
Apart from this undoubting prospect into the future, the whole Christian life seems to him  an
effort without aim, a chase after a phantom, a deceptive show; as he expresses it 1 Cor. xv. 19,
" If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we
are of all men most miserable."  For the life of
others is directed towards some aim, higher or
lower, of the sensual or spiritual life, which may




38                PHILIPPIANS.
actually be attained on earth. But the life of
the Christian, with all its conflicts, labors, and
privations, has reference to an object which has
no reality, if it be not found in the eternal life of
the future. It is from  this point of view that
Paul reproaches the proudly secure Corinthians,
with having lost the consciousness of this distinction between the present and the hereafter, between the conflict of the earthly and the triumph
of the eternal life. In their spirit and conduct
they seemed as if already in possession of all
riches, enjoying full satisfaction, the contentment
of all necessities, with no farther warfare from
within or from without. With this he contrasts the
wholly different image of the Apostle's life (1 Cor.
4: 8).  "Ye are," says he, "already become full,
ye are already become rich, ye reign without us."
They were in spirit and conduct, as if the kingdom
of Christ had with them already reached its consummation; and they, as partakers therein, had attained to all riches, to the satisfaction of all their
desires. And would this were so, says he; would
they had already attained to this participation in
the perfected kingdom of Christ; for then, assuredly, the Apostles would not have been excluded




PHILIPPIANS.                89
therefrom, nor would their circumstances be such
as they now are. Thus he holds up before them
his own life of conflict, in contrast with their false
security, their unauthorized and groundless exultation. (1 Cor. iv. 9-13.)
Thus there was reason sufcient even for Paul,
though rejoicing in conflicts for Christ's sake, and
finding therein his glory, still to long after that
perfect union with the Lord in the life to come.
In earlier years, indeed, we find him constantly referring to the contrast between the earthly life of
faith, and the consummation not to be enjoyed till
the resurrection. But at a later period, especially
from the date of his second, epistle to the Corinthians, we remark in him  an ever increasing consciousness, that, as a necessary result of the inseparable union of believers with their Lord, both in
his sufferings and his exaltation, they also shall on
their departure from the earthly existence enter at
once on a higher life of vision, into a higher, more
undisturbed fellowship with Him. Thus in the
fifth chapter of the second epistle to the Corinthians, he in this view represents the abiding in
the flesh as an absence from the Lord, that is, from
the immediate vision of Christ; while the state




40                PHILIPPIANS.
which follows, entered through death, through the
laying off of the earthly life, is a being at home
with the Lord —(2 Cor. v. 8). He expresses the
same conviction in this epistle to the Philippians.
Christ is his life.* He distingui~shes life in this sense
from his life in the flesh.t Christ is his true life;
he has no life except in him, none apart from him.
In him that which alone he calls life, has its being;
it has its root in union with Him. And as Christ,
having laid aside human infirmity, having risen
and ascended to Heaven, now reigns triumphant
in the Divine Life, living in the power of God a
life exalted above the reach of death; so also is
this true of the life of the believer, as being one
with His own, yea one with Himself. And hence
Paul concludes, that although even now, while
abiding in the flesh, he has Christ for his true life;
yet death is for him gain, inasmuch as through the
laying off of the earthly existence, this true life,
which has its being in Christ, shall be freed from
the checks, hindrances, and disturbances by which
it is still clogged, and shall attain to its complete
development.  He knows, that with his departure
from the earthly life, will commence his'" Being
* Chap. i. 21.              f Ver. 22.




PHILIPPIANS.              41
with Christ"* in that more perfect sense, his presence with Him as an object of immediate vision.
Hence this is the goal of his desires.
But there are two mistakes, against which the
example of the Apostle warns us, viz.: the declension, on -the one hand, of that longing after the
blessedness to come, which, as we have seen, is inseparable from the very nature and essence of the
Christian life; and on the other, Such a one-sided
morbid predominance of this desire, as to weaken
the exercise of patient submission to the will of the
Lord. As to the first, we remark, that it is not
alone in the enjoyment of earthly gratifications,
which we should ever remember are in their nature transitory and but a shadow and pledge of
those higher, eternal, heavenly joys, that the Christian may suffer the loss of this heavenward desire.
Even his activity, in a calling entrusted to him for
the promotion of the kingdom of God, may likewise so absorb him as to obscure the consciousness
that he has here no abiding home, that his native
country is in Heaven. He labors as if this work
upon earth, which is but the beginning of a higher
activity destined for eternity, were to be consum* Chap. i. 23.




42               PHILIPPIANS.
mated here, as if it were already the work of eternity. Hence the thought that here all remains
fragmentary, that nothing reaches completion,
nothing attains to its end, withdraws itself from
him; and death surprises him in the midst of his
labors, consecrated though they be to God, as an
unexpected unwelcome guest, who finds him unprepared. IHe is called away before he has finished
his account; and instead of following joyfully the
summons to a release from the sufferings of time,
his heart clings fast to that earthly scene of labor
which he too reluctantly quits, to those happy results of his labors on which he has set too high a
value. Here may be applied the admonition of
the Lord: " Rejoice not that the spirits are subject
unto you, but rather rejoice that your names are
written in Heaven."  This heavenward longing is
ever the salt of the Christian life, amidst all sorrows, all joys; in every season of repose, in every
labor. But on the other hand, this very desire, in
itself perfectly right, but needing to be restrained
by submission to the holy will of God, and by
fidelity to the calling appointed us in this earthly
life, becomes itself an error when it oversteps these
boundaries. Thus arises a one-sided direction of




PHILIPPIANS.             43
feeling, an impatient haste for the call, which
should be waited for with a steadfast unfaltering
patience. In this undue, all-engrossing longing after the eternal, the importance of the earthly life
and of its duties, connected as they are with the
eternal, is forgotten. Earthly joy, and earthly labor, lose the proper value assigned them in the
divine arrangement. That which the goodness of
God has given us for the moment, as an earnest
and a preparation for the higher joys of the future,
is impatiently and unthankfully contemned. The
consciousness is wanting, which should be ever present with the Christian, that for the redeemed united in fellowship with Christ, even here below, the
earthly of whatever name, whether it consist in receiving or in doing, whether it be enjoyment or
labor, is transformed into the heavenly. The temper of mind, which Paul's words exhibit, holds the
just medium between these two extremes., The
longing after the life of eternity, after the immediate society of the Lord, continues to be the
ground-tone of his soul, which no other can overpower. Through all the pressure of his labors in
the service of God, this longing after the heavenly
rest is not smothered, is not crowded from his




4:4               PHILIPPIANS.
heart. But he is far from an over-hasty impatience,
which cannot await the end of the earthly conflict;
far also from that more refined selfishness, which
cannot endure to strive and labor longer for the
salvation of others, and be still deprived of the
quiet enjoyment of heavenly blessedness. Though
to depart from the earthly life, and to be present
with the Lord in a perfect personal union, be the
goal of his desires; he is yet ready to deny this
desire, the offspring of what is noblest in man, in
order to labor still upon the earth and to strive
for the salvation of his brethren. If it may serve
for the advancement of the work entrusted to him
by,the Lord, he is willing yet longer to forego the
object of his wishes, and to be still a wanderer
upon the earth. Love to his brethren, who may
need him for their salvation, enables him to present
this offering willingly; and thus drawn hither and
thither by these two directions of his desires, he remains submissive in either event to the will of the
Lord. But one desire remains fixed and unwavering, to which all others must yield, viz.:- That
Christ may be glorified through him, be it by life
or by death. Let us hear his own noble words:" As I earnestly expect and hope, that in nothing




PHILIPPIANS.             45
I shall be put to shame; but that with all boldness, as at all other times so also now, Christ may
be glorified in my body, whether it be by life or
by death. For Christ is my life, and death is gain.
But if my life in the flesh is fruitful for my work,
-then' I know not which to choose. For I am in
a strait betwixt the two; desiring to depart and
to be with Christ, for this is far better.":* Still he
gives that the preference, which may most subserve the welfare of the churches which he has
founded; and hence he adds: " But to-abide in the
flesh is more needful for your sake." His love to
the churches inspires him, at this moment, with the
confident expectation (which indeed as he well knew
might prove illusive, but which as we have reason
to believe, was fulfilled by his release from his first
imprisonment at Rome) that God would again restore him to their society, for the strengthening of
their faith and the furtherance of their joy. "And
having this confidence, I know that I shall remain,
and shall continue with you all, for your furth'erance and joy in the faith; that your glorying on
my account may abound in Christ Jesus (i. e. the
exulting joy which Christ should bestow upon
X Chap. i. 20-28.




46                PHILIPPIANS.
them by the restoration of Paul to their society) —
through my coming again to you."
We here observe in Paul the example of submission to the divine will, both in doing and in
suffering, in self-sacrifice and self-preservation.
Surrendering his own will, he is ready for whatever God may appoint, be it life or death, as may
best promote the work committed to him. Filled
with longing after the home of heaven, he yet
seeks not death. For the good of the churches he
willingly remains on earth. Only in the faithful
performance of the duties of his calling is death to
him a divine gift, to be joyfully received from the.
hand of his Heavenly Father. Thus, in life and
in death, it is alike the same operation of self-denying love. This example of Paul has primary
and immediate reference to the martyr's death, the
genuine Christian martyrdom purified from all admixture of fanaticism. But is it not also applicable to death under all circumstances, and in the
ordinary course of nature? In that case too, there
may be either that spirit of selfish impatience,
which, though it ventures not presumptuously to
sever the thread of the earthly life, is not willing
to endure it longer; or that selfish love to the




PHILIPPIANS.               47
earthly life, which clings to this with its whole
strength, which cannot let it go when the call of
God requires. Thus, in both these respects, does
Paul's example of a love consecrated to God in
self-sacrifice and self-preservation, find an application here. Thus should each Christian become, in
respect to living and dying, one with him in spirit,
though his calling may not lead to the martyr's
death.
Furthermore, we here observe in Paul that
higher degree of self-renunciation, which manifests
itself not in the relinquishment of temporal earthly interests, which could have no attraction for a
Paul, but in the relinquishment of the higher interests of the immortal spirit.  It is a heavenly
aspiration, which enkindles the lofty soul of the
Apostle.  His desires reach beyond the narrow
limits and perplexities of the earthly existence after the immediate vision of Christ, in him to find
the full satisfaction of all the wants of the higher
life. This to his spirit would be the highest good.
Yet even this he foregoes. He is ready to relinquish what is dearest to himself, to forego the satisfaction of that heaven-born desire, to abide still
longer in the strange country, to labor still upon




48                 PHILIPPIANS.
earth, striving and suffering for the welfare of
others. What is'best for the churches, for the
furtherance of God's kingdom  upon the earth, is
more to him than what is best for himself.  Now
this example is not to be restricted to its merely
literal application to a precisely similar case, viz.:
when one who is penetrated with longing for the
heavenly father-land, is yet obliged to bear the
load of the earthly life for the welfare of others.
It may in its spirit be applied to every case, where
the Christian is called on to relinquish a course of
life most favorable to his own spiritual interests, a
life of tranquil and collected thought consecrated
to devotion; and to plunge into a whirl of business, toil, and conflict alien to the higher inclinations of his soul, but where he is appointed to labor because the salvation of others requires it.
In this respect also, Paul furnishes for our imitation an example of self-denying love, which shuns
no sacrifice for the good of others.- How often
have Christians, who should be the salt of the
earth, by withdrawing themselves from its corruption acted in Contrariety to this example.!
Let us present still another view in which all
Christians have an interest. While Paul stands




PHILIPPIANS.             49
thus between life and death, whereon is his confidence grounded? He, if any one, was a faithful
laborer in the work of the Lord. He was conscious of having labored more than all others in
the proclamation of the gospel. But he knew at
the same time that this was not his own work, but
the grace of God accomplishing all through him;
as he himself says: "I have labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of
God which was with me."  When higher considerations demanded his self-justification, against suspicions which might shake the confidence of the
churches in him, he could indeed recount what he
had done and suffered above others for the cause
of the Lord (2 Cor. xi. 22, 23). He could appeal
to the memorials of what he had endured in the
cause of Christ, in whose fellowship he suffered,
and whom he followed in his sufferings; to the
marks enstamped in his body by the Lord himself
(such as soldiers and servants were accustomed to
bear) as proofs that he was Christ's servant. (Gal.
vi. 7). Still, when looking towards the close of
his earthly course, he reviewed his life so abundant
in labors and sufferings for the Lord, as it now
spread out before him, he felt that he could not
3




50                PHILIPPIANS.
rest his confidence on what he had himself done.
All seemed marked with imperfection. IIe was
constrained to forget what he had already accomplished, and to fix his eye upon what still remained
for him to do. It was with him a law, to forget
what was already done, what lay behind, and to
press continually forward towards the prize of the
heavenly calling. It may, at first view, seem
strange, that Paul expresses himself so doubtfully
on the great point, whether he shall attain to the
victor's crown of life, shall share in the blessedness
of the resurrection.  It seems to be in conflict with
that divine confidence which breathes through the
whole epistle, and which he expresses elsewhere in
regard to the object of his hope; as e. g. in 2 Tim.
iv. 8: " I have fought a good fight, I have finished
the course, I have kept the faith."  But this conflict belongs to the nature of the Christian life, and
is ever recurring in the experience of the believer.
Does the Christian look away from himself to his
Redeemer, to the delivering grace assured to him,
the unchangeable word of promise; the goal towards which, all his efforts tend, seems then an object of perfect certainty.  Does he, on the other
hand, test his own life by the standard of perfect




PHILIPPIANS.             51
holiness; his confidence then finds no firm ground.
Defects and blemishes present themselves everywhere to his view; and this all the more the
farther he has advanced in holiness, the more his
sight has been sharpened by the power of the Holy
Spirit, to recognize the model of divine holiness in
its application to himself, to test by comparison
with this pattern his inner and outer life in its
nakedness and poverty, to penetrate into the hidden windings of his own heart. Hence Paul expresses himself so doubtfully in reference to what
he is in himself, and has himself accomplished.
What he has performed seems to him nothing, and
he only looks forward to that which remains to be
done. He is penetrated with the consciousness,
that he is yet far from having attained perfection.
But the ground of his confidence is this —that
Christ has taken him into fellowship with himself,
that Christ has apprehended him; and hence he
hopes, that as he has been apprehended of Christ,
he also shall apprehend the prize set before him
by Christ. He knows that Christ, by whom he
has been apprehended, will not leave unfinished
the work he has himself begun in him; but, if he
truly surrenders himself to his hands, will conduct




52               PHILIPPIANS.
it through all conflicts to a glorious completion.
Let us hear his own brief, expressive words: " Not
as though I had already attained, or were already
perfect; but I follow after, if I may apprehend
that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus."
So important does Paul deem it to set forth, in the
clearest light, this truth drawn from his own selfconsciousness and from his Christian experience,
and to bring it home to the Christian as a warning
against self-satisfaction, self-righteousness, and spiritual pride!  Hence he adds yet again: "My
brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.
But this one thing I do; forgetting the things
which are behind, and reaching forth unto the
things which are before, I press towards the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus."  Paul was conscious in himself of the utter
insufficiency of man's own righteousness, not merely of that to which the vital principle is yet wanting, that which precedes regeneration and exists independently of Christianity; but of that also which
possesses already in faith the true element of sanctification, without having as yet brought this to
complete development and realization. Hence, the
only immovable ground of his confidence is Christ,




PHILIPPIANS.              53
by whom he has been apprehended; and whom
he, surrendering himself wholly to his hands, seeks
ever more to apprehend and to appropriate as his
own. Looking away from himself to Christ, his
assurance is complete; looking back upon himself,
he must doubt and waver; and thus he is driven
to look away from himself, and to cling more and
more firmly to Christ, from whose love nothing can
separate him. It is the righteousness of God in
Christ which alone avails for him, and is all-sufficient for him; as expressed in the words of this
epistle, "The righteousness which is of God by
faith."  To him Christ is all. All centres in this
one point, that we enter into his fellowship and
make it more and more our own; that we follow
him by bearing the cross, thus following him as
crucified for us; that in fellowship with him we
die to sin, to self, and to the world; following him
in the entire renunciation of selfish and earthly interests, not shunning to partake in the fellowship
of his sufferings; and following him also as the
RISEN ONE, experiencing in ourselves the power
of his resurrection-the resurrection to an imperishable and divine life above sin, death, and nature, proceeding from him to us, inasmuch as he




64               PHILIPPIANS.
has apprehended us and we apprehend him. So
Paul expresses it, in a passage which we must more
particularly consider hereafter: " That I may know
him and the power of his resurrection and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of'the dead."  We have already explained how the Apostle could here express himself with so much apparent doubtfulness,
consistently with his divine assurance of faith.
It was the greatest joy of the Apostle, that his
imprisonment must necessarily serve for the furtherance of the Gospel; since it was becoming
more and more known, that no guilt of any kind
could be imputed. to him, that it was but his zeal
for the. faith which he preached that had drawn
upon him all his sufferings. A cause, to which a
man like Paul felt constrained to offer up everything, could not fail to command attention.. To
this was added the.imression neeessarily made
upon those, who were witnesses of the enthusiasm
with which he testified in behalf of the Gospel, of
his steadfastness, and of his whole course of life.
The knowledge of this had spread, as he intimates,
by means of the soldiers from the imperial guard




PHILIPPIANS.              55
(the cacsofis prcetori'ani) who held watch by turn
in his dwelling, among their comrades and from
these still more widely. Other Christians were
stimulated by Paul's example to preach the Gospel with similar zeal, and to bear their testimony
with like fearlessness. Thus increased the proclamation of the truth.
But Paul himself makes a great distinction
among these preachers of the Gospel. Thus, when
expressing his joy at the increasing promulgation
of the Gospel, he says, "Some indeed preach Christ
from envy and strife; but others also from goodwill: the one out of love, knowing that I am set
for the defence of the Gospel." The latter, he
means to say, connect with their love to the Gospel also love to himself. They know that they
can cause him no greater joy, than by laboring
that the Gospel may be promoted by his imprisonment; for they well know that this is the one object of his life, and that he himself regards it as
the divinely appointed end of all that he is to do
and to suffer in life. "But the others," he proceeds to say, "out of party spirit, not sincerely,
supposing to add affliction to my bonds." The
first is clear. But who are those who sought, by




50               PHILIPPIANS.
the preaching of the Gospel, to add affliction to
Paul's imprisonment, and whom he charges with
insincerity? We must here take into view what
he afterwards says in reference to this distinction,
viz. that by the one class Christ was preached in
truth, by the other only in appearance. Are we
to suppose that these men, without personal love
to the Gospel, without personal conviction of its
truth, preached Christ for no other reason than to
add, to the hardship of Paul's situation, and to
bring him into greater danger by the wider extension of the Gospel in Rome; thus rendering him,
as the origin of it all, more obnoxious to the Roman civil power?  It appears at once how unnatural, and intrinsically improbable, is such a supposition. If they could thus bring Paul into greater
peril, they would by so doing plunge themselves
into equal danger. Can it be imagined that one
would play so hazardous a game, simply from hatred to another? He who at that time did not
himself believe in the Gospel, must be enlisted
against it;, and would certainly not have given
himself up to the business of preaching it, merely
as the means to another end. We must seek, then,
another explanation of this difficulty. When it is




PHILIPPIANS.              57
said of an individual that he preaches the Gospel
only in appearance, this need not be understood
as necessarily meaning that he has no concern
whatever in regard to the subject of his preaching;
that he has no personal interest in it, no conviction of its truth, that he makes use of it only as a
means to another end.  It may mean that he
preaches it, not in its purity and completeness, but
mingled with foreign elements; that although an
interest in it cannot be denied him, yet this is not
perfect and unalloyed.  In this sense it might be
said of such an one, that he does not preach the
Gospel sincerely. Paul might therefore express
himself thus, in regard to persons who testified of
the Gospel of Christ from real conviction; yet
did not preach the whole, unmixed, pure Gospel
in its completeness, but an adulterated, mutilated
Gospel. And when, moreover, he says of such,
that they were actuated by party zeal and hatred
against him, desiring to add new affliction to his
sufferings; it is not necessary to understand by
this, that their witness for the Gospel was mere
pretence, a form of hypocrisy to which the circumstances of the time afforded no occasion and
no ground;  but that their ruling motive in
3*




58               PHILIPPIANS.
preaching was not pure love to the Lord. that it
was their aim, consciously or unconsciously to
themselves, by their manner of preaching to give
offence to Paul, and to raise up for themselves a
party against him.
If now we look farther into the history of the
development of Christianity in this its earliest period, and investigate more minutely, in the history
of the Apostolic church, the peculiar relations and
opposing influences under which Paul's labors
were prosecuted, we shall soon be in a position to
determine with greater exactness what we have
here remarked in general. We know that Paul
had to contend with opposers, to whom all that
has here been said is applicable. There were
those who did indeed acknowledge and preach
Jesus as the Messiah, but a Messiah in the Jewish
sense; who acknowledged him, not as that which
he has revealed himself to be, the only ground of
salvation for man; who in connection with the one
article of faith, that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, still adhered to the
Jewish legal position; who understood nothing
of the new creation of which Christ was the author, and to whom faith in Jesus as the Messiah




PHILIPPIANS.             59
was only a new patch upon the old garment of
Judaism. These were the opposers, with whom
we so often find Paul contending in his Epistles.
Of such he might justly say, that they preached
the Gospel not purely and sincerely, but only in
appearance; for they were indeed far more concerned for Judaism than for Christianity, and their
converts became rather Jews than Christians. Of
such he might also say, that they sought to form a
party against him, and to add affliction to his
bonds; for these persons everywhere seem chiefly
animated by jealousy of Paul, through whom the
Gospel was preached to the heathen world as freed
from all dependence upon Judaism, and standing
upon its own foundation. They oppose themselves to him on all occasions, contest his Apostolic dignity, seek to encroach on his sphere of
labor, to draw over the people from him to themselves, from that pure and complete Gospel to
their own mutilated one. And it need not surprise us to meet such even in Rome; for Paul's
Epistle to the church at Rome, written some years
previous to his imprisonment there, shows us in
this church, consisting chiefly of Gentile converts,
a small party of such judaizing Christians who




60                PHILIPPIANS.
were in conflict with the rest. It was a matter of
course, then, that when the pure Gospel in the
sense of Paul was preached by the one party,
the other, provoked to rivalry, should rise up in
opposition and seek to give currency to their own
corrupted form of the Gospel.
We must now endeavor to understand fully
Paul's position towards these opposers. Rightly
understood, it will furnish an important rule for
our own application in many cases. In the first
place, it is clear that these men were personal
enemies of Paul; and that in their efforts to promote the Gospel, their object was to frustrate the
labors of the Apostle, and to form  a party of
their own in opposition to him. What self-renunciation must it then have required, to enable Paul
to rise so entirely above this personal relation,
that forgetting the design against himself he can
rejoice with his whole heart that the One Christ,
whom it is his sole desire to glorify, is preached,
even though it be by his personal enemies! Thus
everything pertaining to self gives place to that
all-absorbing love to the Lord, and to those for
whom He gave his life. How rare are the examples of a love so heaven-like, so purified from all




PHILIPPIANS.             61
selfishness! One may even be animated by real
zeal for the cause of the Lord, and yet that zeal
be impaired by personal considerations. If others,
who from unfriendly designs against him personally labor to frustrate his efforts, are used as instruments for the promotion of the same holy
cause,-he cannot rejoice over it. That this is accomplished not through himself, but through
those who are acting against him, weighs more
with him  than the common interest of Christ's
cause; and instead of giving him joy, it becomes
a source of vexation, jealousy, and envy. He is not
concerned alone that Christ should be preached,
but that He should be preached through him; or
at least through his followers, through those who
in every respect harmonize with him, and acknowledge him as their teacher in Christianity.
Least of all can he endure it, when Christ is
preached by those who take a hostile attitude
towards himself; whose most zealous effort it is to
lessen his reputation, to throw suspicion on him as
a teacher, to draw men away from him. To this
course of conduct, which we so frequently observe
among men, the Apostle's self-denying zeal forms
the most striking contrast. He acted in accord



62                PHILIPPIANS.
ance with the principle which he himself lays
down in 1 Cor. iii. 21, showing in what light the
preachers of the Gospel should be regarded. "Let
no man," says he, "glory in men;" the highest,
the only concern is the honor of Christ, and the
salvation of believers.
Thus would the case be easily understood, and
thus might Paul's conduct serve as a pattern for
us, if it were merely a matter of personal variance
and not a strife respecting the nature of the doctrine itself. But, as we' have already seen, this
was by no means the case. It is a false form of
doctrine, placing itself in competition with the
preaching of Paul and in opposition to it, a mutilated and corrupted Gospel that is here spoken of.
Those opposers, it is true, acknowledged Jesus to
be the Christ, but not in the sense in which Paul
received him. It was not in his full character as
the sole ground of salvation, the central point of
the whole Christian life, as he was regarded by
Paul. Hence, we might naturally suppose, Paul
could not rejoice that Christ was preached through
them, since it was not in his pure complete character.  And indeed, we see Paul dealing elsewhere quite differently with such persons. How




PHILIPPIANS.               63
indignantly does he combat them in the Epistle to
the Galatians! lHe does not acknowledge them
as preachers of the same Gospel; he declares that
there is no other Gospel than that preached by
him; that they do but pervert the Gospel of
Christ. In opposition to those who would connect
with the Gospel the righteousness of the law, he
says: "If righteousness come by the Law, then
has Christ died in vain" (Gal. ii. 21). And in this
Epistle also he expresses himself, -as we shall see
hereafter, with equal severity in regard to this
false tendency. How then is Paul's manner of
speaking in this passage, to be reconciled with
what he says in those other cases? It is only necessary to discriminate carefully the different relations, presupposed by this diversity of judgment
and conduct. Paul manifests this warmth of displeasure, only in cases where the Gospel had already gained a foothold among the' Gentiles, and
where that judaizing tendency threatened to pervert it, by intermingling so much of Judaism as
wholly to obscure its peculiar nature. For it could
only cause him grief, that the blessing of which a
people were already in full possession, should be
marred and taken from them. But it was other



64               PHILIPPIANS.
wise here, where he speaks in relation to the
heathen who as yet knew nothing of Christianity.
Those preachers bore witness at least to the fact,
that Jesus had appeared to found the kingdom of
God in man; they testified of his history, the facts
of his life,-his resurrection, his ascension to heaven;
although they did not themselves comprehend,
nor were able to unfold to others, how much was
involved in all this. Now Paul could not but rejoice that the common foundation of the Gospel,
a knowledge of the person and history of Christ,
should be made known to those who as yet had
heard nothing of them. This was the first- thing;
the starting-point from which all the rest must
proceed. If this personage, these facts, became
once known and could be made objects of attention, here was a basis for still further labors. If
Christ, the crucified, the risen, the ascended Christ,
could but once be known and acknowledged,
those who'had gone thus far might, from this
starting-poinf, be led onward to find still more in
him; might be assisted to search deeper and
deeper into the inexhaustible riches which are in
Christ. Paul could therefore rejoice that Christ
was preached, even though it was in this defective




PHILIPPIANS.              65
manner; though the doctrine of Christ were not
presented in its purity and completeness. There
are, it must be remembered, different degrees in
the knowledge of Christ. More or less may be
found in him. We must therefore deal with no
one as an enemy, because he has at first but little;
but must help him on from this point that he may
gain more, that he may become conscious of those
greater treasures, which he needs but rightly to develop out of that which he has already received;
"till," as Paul expresses it in the fourth chapter
of the Epistle to the Ephesians, "we all come to
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
Paul's conduct, in this case, is in accordance with
the principle indicated by Christ himself. When
the disciples met with one, who attributed to
Christ's name a power whereby evil spirits might
be cast out, they refused to allow the use of that
name by one who had not as yet become his professed disciple, and who had not made common
cause with them by uniting himself to their company. But Christ rebuked them, in those memorable words: " He who is not against us, is on




66               PHILIPPIANS.
our part."  " Not to be against Christ" contained
in itself the germ,. from which the positive, " to be
for Christ," might yet be developed. Though he
did not as yet know Christ as the Apostles knew
him, though he was still ignorant of the true significance and power of this name, and connected
many errors with his belief in its efficacy; still it
was a germ of faith not to be despised, a germ from
which more might develope itself and. be developed.
It was a point of connection, from which one
who had gained so much could be led still farther.
It needed only that he should be brought to perceive what was implied in this, what must be presupposed in the strange efficacy of the invocation
of Christ's name. Who must HE be, from whose
name such power proceeds! In what relation
must He stand to the kingdom of evil, when his
name exercises such sway over evil spirits! It is
clear that he who had once acknowledged so much
was already in a position, from which, with patience and love, he might be conducted farther
and fa.rther in knowledge and faith. From him
who as yet was only not an opposer of Christ, who
knew and recognized Christ in some single point
of view, might be formed by building upon that




PHILIPPIANS.             67
which he had already attained, a positive disciple
of Christ. But he might also, if not thus dealt
with, if too much was required of him with his
present attainments, be wholly repelled. Not
only might he be hindered from farther progress
by such harshtreatment, but be unsettled in regard to what he had already gained; and thus the
germ of truth, in its yet imperfect development,
might be wholly destroyed.  Against such a
course we are warned by those words of Christ;
and with these Paul accords when he rejoices that
Christ was preached and acknowledged, even
though in an obscured and defective manner.
We have already, before we saw clearly the relation which these opposers held to Paul, and regarding them merely in general as his personal
enemies, felt ourselves constrained to acknowledge
him as a model of self-denying zeal for'the'cause
of Christ. We are now, after a more full and
careful development of this relation, called upon
to contemplate this great model under a new light.
It implies a love purified from selfishness far
above what is common, to be able to recognize and
with joy to acknowledge -the work of the Lord,
when performed through the agency of a personal




68              PHILIPPIANS.
enemy. But the power of this purified and exalted love reveals itself -under still another view,
when the truth lying at the basis of even an erroneous representation of the Gospel is recognized
and welcomed; when the seed of truth is not rejected- and spurned on account of the error, even
though this may oppose itself to a purer, more
complete, unmutilated conception of the Gospel as
preached by ourselves, but is welcomed as one
step towards the farther advancement of the Gospel. But how seldom do we find a like example!
One who is capable, it may be, of joyfully welcoming the work of the Lord when advanced by
means of a personal enemy, might yet not be able
so far to forget self as to accept with cordial love,
and to use for the common cause of the Lord, the
truth lying at the bottom of the errors promulgated by his opponent, especially when in direct
opposition to the pure truth which he is himself
conscious of preaching. How different would it
have been in the church, how many divisions
might have been avoided, how many who have labored only to oppose each other might have labored together for the spread of the Gospel;
how many who have hardened themselves in their




PHILIPPIANS.              69
errors, and have lost by degrees even so much of
divine truth as they had embraced, might from
that partial view have been led farther and farther
in the knowledge of the truth, and have been
gradually made free from the bondage of error;
if Christians, instead of demanding everything at
once, with the impatient zeal of a love not sufficiently purified from self, had been more observant of the various grades of faith and knowledge,
and had nurtured them with a forbearing charity!
The principle here expressed and acted on by
Paul admits of numerous applications. But to
what form of Christian labor is the immediate
reference here? To that which most exactly corresponds to Paul's peculiar vocation, that where
the first -concern is to establish the church upon
the one foundation, which is Christ; we mean the
missionary work. Here should all, after Paul's
example, fix their aim upon this single point, to
make CHRIST everywhere known, to testify only
of Him. Here, then, should the strife respecting
differences in the form of representation and differences of creed find no place; and amidst all
diversities on these points, there should be a union
of labor for the one object of proclaiming Christ.




70               PHILIPPIANS.
Thatever differences may exist on other points,
Lould all be made an offering to his cause. To
lch one it should be matter of rejoicing that
trough others also, and even such as in his view
wve a less perfect knowledge of Christ, He, the
reat centre of all, is made more and more widely
nown. We may apply this example of Paul in
still another view. There are times in which the
church, even where it is already firmly established, is called on to exercise anew a missionary
activity; times in which the ideas and tendencies
to which Christianity first gave being and currency, though still exerting their influence upon
society, yet deny their connection with Christianity, and even array themselves against it. Such
are times of- wide-wasting apostasy; when the
culture, which has grown up under the fostering
care of Christianity, rises up in opposition to it,an opposition which may, however, have been first
called forth by the impure mixture of human institutions with Christianity. Such periods occur
in the history of all religions, when reason, matured to self-dependence, disunites itself from the
faith under whose guardianship it has been nurtured.  Nor could Christianity escape this fate.




PHILIPPIANS.              71
It is subject to the same laws and conditions as all
things human; and distinguishes itself only in the
manner in which, by virtue of its divine nature
and character, it rises victorious from all such con-.
flicts. For whilst other religions find in such conficts their grave, to Christianity they prove but
the transition points to a resurrection, in increased
purity and glory, in the energy of a renewed
youth. In such times; as well as in periods of
missionary labor, does the principle "that CanIsT
alone be preached" find anew its application. The
sole concern then is, that Christ should first of all
be brought near to the souls estranged from him,
that he may draw them to himself and make them
subject to him. Here too, all cannot be achieved
at once; but gradually, from the common relation
to the one Christ, must the way be opened for a
union among souls reclaimed to him from the most
diverse forms of error. Here must Paul's example
of magnanimous denial of self be our guide. Here
every one, who is animated by the same spirit with
the Apostle, must rejoice if " in every way CHRIST
is preached," even when he cannot but feel that
the manner leaves much to be desired.
Still another trait of Paul's Christian character




72               PHILIPPIANS.
is presented to us, in his manner of accepting the
gifts sent to him by the Philippian church. There
is in the natural man a false striving after independence and self-reliance; a pride of self-will,
which not seldom decks itself with noble names,
the influence of which is to make one ashamed to
accept from others gifts of which he stands in
need, lest he should humble himself before them.
A still worse development of the same radical
fault of the natural man is seen, when the gifts
indeed are accepted and enjoyed, but there is a
disposition to forget them again, to shun the remembrance of them, to acknowledge no indebtedness to others through fear of seeming dependent,
of humbling one's self before them.  But the
Apostle is penetrated by the consciousness, that
all are related to each other as the members of
one body, and should abide in this mutual dependence upon one'another as members under one
head, Christ Jesus. He knows that the growth
of the whole body, from the one head which
guides animates and connects all the members,
can only then be truly promoted, when all the
single members are ready, as instruments of the
one head, mutually to sustain and forward each




PHILIPPIANS.             73
other in spiritual and in temporal things, to work
together in love and unity. This is beautifully
expressed by Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians
(iv. 15, 16): " That we grow up into him in all
things, which is the head, even Christ; from whom
the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure
of every part, maketh increase of the body unto
the edifying of itself in love."  Christ is here
presented as the one to whom the whole development must tend; the aim of all is to grow up
into true fellowship with him, to receive him
wholly into themselves, to become full of him.
He is equally the one, from whom the whole
growth up into him  can alone proceed; from
whom issue all the vital energies, the living juices;
from whom alone all the members can receive
life and direction. Christ so works upon the whole
body, that by means of the different members
through which his vitalizing influence flows, using
each in its appropriate manner, he works through
the whole. And hence the growth, proceeding
from him and tending up to him, can truly prosper
only when all the members alike yield themselves
4




74               PHILIPPIANS.
to him; and under his guidance, in mutual dependence and mutual influence upon each other,
abide together in closest union.  The Christian
should ever bear in mind, that our various necessities, and the means of supplying them, are distributed in varyingl modes and proportions through
the different members, in order to keep them in a
state of mutual dependence and reciprocal influence; so that no one may break loose from his
connection with the whole, thinking to maintain
an existence by himnself, and that mutual necessities may serve continually for the furtherance
of mutual love.  The Christian  will not be
ashamed, therefore, of a dependence upon others
springing from such a connection; but will recognize it as the law naturally arising from. the relation of the menlbers to one another. As he who
gives rejoices in having received from God means
which he may use for the aid of the other members; regarding it as a loan for this purpose from
their common Lord, as a medium for the manifestation of that love which. the Spirit of God has
poured into the hearts of believers, that being the
mark by which the disciples of the Lord, the
members of his body, are to be known: so he that




PHILIPPIANS.               75
receives rejoices far less in the brief temporal service of the gift, than in the heavenly temper expressed in the bestowal,-in the love, that vital
principle of the church, which manifests itself therein. He knows that it is for the highest good of the
giver himself; who thus, by deeds of love, sows
in the earthly life what he shall reap in life eternal; who thus manifests in his works the spirit
which makes him meet for life eternal. So Paul
represents the Christian relation, in his own manner of accepting the gifts of the Philippian
church, when he says: "I rejoiced in the Lord
greatly that now at length your care for me hath
flourished again,' -rejoiced, that now after longendured privation, they are placed once more in a
condition to fulfil the wish they had ever felt, to
care for his temporal wants;-" because ye have
ever cared for me, but ye lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak in respect of want."  And in
conclusion he says: " Not because I desire a gift,
but I desire fruit"-the fruit which springs for
them out of such manifestations of love —" which
may abound to your account"-may be laid up for
life eternal.
Again: Paul here gives us a model of the gen



76                    PHILIPPIANS.
uine Christian character, in  his demeanor in respect to  external things.  The  Christian, in  the
power of the Lord through which he is able to
do all things, proves  his  independence of the
world, and his supremacy over it, by his ability
to endure joyfully all the privations which the
Lord  lays upon  him, in the circumstances of his
lot, in what is required of him  by his calling. His
soul, filled with the divine life, cannot be bowed
down by earthly want.  Subjected  to  privation,
he so much the more feels and proves his inward
mastery of the world. But the Christian is far
also  fiom  that self-imposed mortification  of the
flesh, in an imaginary spirituality, which nevertheless only serves for the satisfaction of the fleshly
mind; for in the Holy Scriptures, all which does
not proceed  friom   the  divine  Spirit, all which
comes from  our own will, therefore every form  of
vanity and spiritual pride is ascribed to the flesh.
(Coloss. ii. 23.*) He is far from imposing upon
himself privations, in order thereby to merit any* This passage, incorrectly translated by Luther, stands thus in the original: " which (namely, the principles spoken of in vss. 21 and 22) have
indeed a show of wisdom in self-chosen spirituality and humility and mortification of the body, but have no worth, serving only for the satisfying
of the flesh." Ex. MSS.




PHILIPPIANS.             77
thing before God or man, though submitting joyfully to those which God lays upon him; but
accepts with humble gratitude whatever God may
bestow upon. him above what is required for his
absolute wants. The Christian's greatness is ever
built upon humility.  His independence of the
world, his supremacy over it, consists in just this,
that in every condition of want or abundance he
is the same, neither depressed by want nor seduced
by prosperity into worldliness and vain-glory; that
he uses both alike in order to make known that
divine life by which he is raised above the world.
This is the spirit which Paul here exhibits when
he says, that though he needs not the Philippians'
gifts of love, he still rejoices in that love which
prompted them; and when to this he adds the
testimony, that he has accustomed himself to all
changes of condition; that he knows how to adapt
himself equally to all circumstances, whether of
want or abundance, through the power of Him
who animates him. "I have learned," says he,
"in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased, and I know how
to abound; in every respect and in all things I
am fully instructed, both to be full and to be




78                 PHILIPPIANS.
hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can
do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me."  Such is true Christian fortitude and greatness of soul, whose basis is humility.




SECTION SECOND.
ArFTRn having thus carefully considered Paul in
his then existing circumstances and temper of mind,
let us now turn our attention to the state of the
Philippian church, and to what Paul has to say in
reference to this, by way of warning and counsel
for the future.
We will first take a general view, and from this
pass to particulars.
It is customary with Paul to commence his
letters, with a recognition of whatever is praiseworthy in the church to which he is writing.
In this appears his wisdom as a spiritual guide.
The confidence of men is far more easily won,
and a hearing secured for whatever one has to say
in the way of admonition and rebuke, if it appears
that he nowise overlooks or undervalues what is
good in them, that he does not willingly find fault,
but is ready to acknowledge every real excellence
with cordial approbation. Good and bad, more



80               PHILIPPIANS.
over, stand frecjuently in close connection with each
other. The good lies at the foundation; but the
evil mingles its disturbing influence with the good,
and hence it is through the latter that we can best
reach and remedy the former. It is in the clear
perception of this relation, and in the skilful use of it
for the correction of error, that Paul manifests his
wisdom. Of this a striking example is furnished in
the first epistle to the Corinthians. Thus Paul regards whatever of real value he finds already existing in the churches, not as something produced
in them from themselves and by their own agency,
but wrought in them by the Spirit of God, that
Spirit which has begun to transform  them  into
new men. Hence he feels himself constrained to
thank God for that which He has wrought in their
hearts and in their lives by his grace, before he offers to Him the prayer, that what He has already
wrought in them HIe will more and more purify,
carry it forward, and bring it to perfection. Upon
the good which already exists in them he builds the
hope, that they will ever continue to advance in
goodness, even unto perfection. Not indeed upon
the good as a work of man can he rest such a hope.
He knows too well the weakness of man, too well




PHILIPPIANS.                 81
how  subject is everything  human to  constant,
clhange. But this is the ground of his hope, that
in this hbeginlning of the Christian life he sees not
the work of -man 1but the work of God.  Ile thus
builds hi:s hope upon the truth and faithlfulness of
God, who will certainly carry forward -,what I-He
has begun,'through all conflicts and trials, safely
to its consulilmmation. It is not God's way to do
things by halves.  Thus too does Paul begiin his
letter to the'Phiippiaias; thallking (>od for their
living fellowship in the gospel from t-le beglinning
-up to thule present hour; and then expressing' the
confidence, that -lie who has begun in theni the
good worik w.xill al/so carry it on to its collipletion.
In this it is indeeod al —ways presupposed by Paull,
that they li-kevwise wvill do what belongs to them,
by yielding theimselves to the power of God which
works nothiang' without man albeit man  without it
can workl nothing; as in the eleventh chapter of
the epistle to thle iRomans (v. 22), hle represents
the contin-aued manifiestation of God's goodness in
men as conditioned on their continuing in His
goodness, and thus susceptible of the grace of God.
by truly yielding themselves up to its influence.
It is on -this connection between the divine and the
4*




82               PHILIPPIANS.
human he founds the exhortation, " to work out
their salvation with fear and trembling; for," he
adds, "it is God who worketh in you both the
willing and the doing, of his own good pleasure." It
is here assumed that the salvation of man is conditioned upon his own conduct. He is himself to
work out his salvation. And yet Paul always
represents the salvation of man as something which
can be accomplished only through the grace of
God, as the work of God in man. But he adds, in
this passage, a more exact designation of the temper of heart with which they should work out
their salvation, viz., " with fear and trembling."
This would not be appropriate if he were speaking
of what lay merely in the hand of man, in which
case all would depend upon his own strength. It
is because Paul is conscious of the weakness and
insufficiency of all human strength, because he presupposes that man can do nothing without God,
and must constantly watch  over himself, lest
through his own fault he lose the aid of divine
grace, without which all human efforts are in vain;
it is for this reason that he designates this temper
of mind as one of fear and trembling, as the feeling of personal accountability and helplessness, of




PHILIPPIANS.              83
insecurity and instability in ourselves, by which
we may be ever admonished to continual watchfulness, and to ever-renewed waiting upon God as
the fountain of all our strength. Hence, as the
ground of such an admonition, he appeals to this
consciousness that we can of ourselves do nothing,
that it is God who alone bestows upon us the
power to will and to perform what is needful to
our salvation; that all, indeed, depends upon his
sovereign will. This feeling of dependence, the
ground-tone of the Christian life, is ever to be
maintained. It is this which must combat the presumption of a vain human self-reliance, which, finding itself deceived in the result, so easily gives place
to dejection and despair.
All the admonitions which Paul gives the Philippians in reference to the Christian walk, are
comprehended in this one; that they should " walk
in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ."
And what is required of them in their position, in
the midst of a corrupt world, he points out in
chapter ii. 15-16. Inasmuch, he says, as they are
called to live as children of God in the midst of a
corrupt world, they are called to maintain unsullied, amidst all the defilements of surrounding




84               PHILIPPIANS.
pollution, that divine life of which, as children of
God, they have become participants, and to show
forth its glory in contrast with the perverse generation in which they live. The terms "crooked
and perverse," in which Paul describes this wicked
generation, have reference to the perversion of the
original godlike nature, which can be restored only
through the new creation. So also, as children of
God, they are to shine as lights, as radiant luminaries in the world of darkness. Whilst all around
them is darkness, here alone shall all be light. So
indeed does Christ say to those who belong to his
kingdom, that they are to be the lights of the
world, just as Ite is the Sun who sends his light
into this dark world, its light in the highest and
only true sense. Thus what He is, is communicated to those who enter into fellowship with him,
and they too through him become the light of the
world. This light shines in the holy walk of
Christians, and thereby do they testify of Him
who is light itself, and in whom is no darkness;
thereby do they glorify him and lead others to acknowledge and honor him; as Christ himself has
said, "Let your light so shine before men, that
they seeing your good works may glorify your




PHILIPPIANS.                85
Father which is in Heaven." They are to testify
of that which is life, to show forth the true life in
this world of death.* Everything which men, in
accordance with the revelation of the law written
in their consciences through the impulses of their
moral nature, are accustomed to account moral and
virtuous, belongs also to the peculiar stamp of this
new divine life, in which the children of God manifest themselves as such.  All must find its fulfilment here; only that is done away which proceeds
from the disturbing influence of sin; as Christ says,
that he " came not to destroy but to fulfil."  Hence
it is the conclusion of Paul's exhortation,t that
their minds be directed only to "what is true"(true and good being in the biblical sense one and
the same, the truth here appears as that which
penetrates and gives direction to the whole life;
all has its root in the truth, the true is the divine)
— to "' what is becoming, what is upright, what is
chaste, what is lovely, what is of good report, whatever is virtue and whatever is praise." Thus it is
implied by Paul, that the divine life must manifest
itself in an amiable form before men; and he ap* As in some MSS. " holding forth the true life."
J Chap. iv. 8.




86                PHILIPPIANS.
peals to what they had learned from his instructions, and had witnessed in the example of his own
life. Although, as we have seen above, he was far
from holding his life to be entirely pure and perfect, yet he could with confidence assume the essential correspondence between his life and teachings,
and that his conduct did not give the lie to his instructions. And thus he was able, without untruth or self-exaltation, to hold up to the Philippians the example of his own course among them
as an admonition to them.  Self-exaltation is the
less to be attributed to him here, as he was himself fully conscious, that whatever in his own conduct he proposed as their example was only the
work of grace, the fruit of the new creation in him.
So may the Christian when made aware, by a comparison of his earlier and later life, of having gained
the victory over the old nature in any of its sinful
tendencies, be fully conscious of this and freely rejoice over it; for this is no self-exaltation. He
knows that it is not to his own nature or his own
strength that he is indebted for it; that the Spirit
of God, the Spirit of Christ has wrought this in
him; and therefore the consciousness of his victory
only impels him to praise and to thank Him, through




PHILIPPIANS.                87
whose power he has attained it.  And at the same
time, he feels himself constrained to acknowledge
how much still remains for himl to contend with.
and  with the Apostle, whose words we have
quoted, to forget what is behind and press continu
ally forward.
The church at Philippi, as we have already remarked, had been called to endure many forms of
persecution.  It was necessary that Paul should
exhort them  to steadfastness under these trials.
How then does he express hiimself?  It is impor.
taut for us to bring this out clearly, for it is appli.cable to all the conflicts which Christianity 1has tc
encounter in all times.  They should in no wise
suffer themselves to be terrified by their adversaries;' " whichl to them is an evident token of per.
dition, but to you of salvation and that of God.
For to you it is given, for the sal;e of Christ —not
only to believe on him-but for his sake to suffer
also."  AWhat is the full import of these words?
This is best shown by contrast.  Had the opposers
of the gospel succeeded in terrifying the Philippians, it would thereby have been made manifest
how much these opposers could effect, what power
* Chap. i. 28, 29.




88               PHILIPPIANS.
they possessed; the weakness of the Philippians
would have appeared, and the cause which they
served might have seemed an impotent one. Or it
might have seemed merely a contest between man
and man, their opponents being the stronger and
they the weaker party. Their demeanor would
have been a testimony, how much was still wanting
to them of that divine power which was to manifest
its efficacy in believers; how much, therefore, they
still lacked of the genuine life of faith. But while
they did not suffer themselves to be terrified by
those who warred with weapons of the flesh, this
was a proof that they were in the service of a divine
cause, victorious over all human opposition; that
a power of God wrought in them against which no
human force could avail. The conflict with their
adversaries served but to test and to approve their
faith, and their power through faith. It was a
proof of the vanity of their opposers' efforts; even
as Christ reckons it as one of the works of the
Holy Spirit, to lead men to the conviction that the
Prince of this world has been judged, and hence
can accomplish nothing farther through his instruments (Jno. xvi. 11). Thus through theml is this
power of the Holy Spirit manifested. So far, it




PHILIPPIANS.               89
was an evidence of the condemnation drawn upon
themselves by those who warred in the service of
the Prince of this world. But for the Philippians,
it was for that very reason a certain proof, a pledge,
of their salvation; for the faith which remains
steadfast in conflict is indeed assured of salvation. It was the pledge that the power of God,
through which they were able to hold themselves
unterrified by their adversaries, would also lead
them through all conflicts to final salvation; as in
the works of God one thing answers to another, one
guaranties the other. And thus Paul gives special prominence to the thought, that this is not of
man; that it is no illusive human proof, but a factual proof given by God himself. It is one part
of this proof, that to them it was given of God to
suffer for Christ's sake.  For whoever follows
Christ in his sufferings, must needs follow him also
in his glorification.  Paul had said, "for Christ's
sake;" intending at first only to say, "for Christ's
sake to suffer."  But he would bring out the full
meaning of this with a stronger emphasis.  He
therefore interrupts himself, and says, " not merely
to believe on him, but for his sake to suffer also."
He who believes in Christ is, so far as his faith ap



90                 PHILIPPIANS.
proves itself to be genuine, certain of the blessedness of heaven. But it is also requisite that this
faith approve itself to be genuine, by assuring its
possessors against all fear of their adversaries; and
by giving them the power to follow Christ in his
sufferings, as in general its office is, in all things, to
bring them  into fellowship with Christ.  And
therefore, although with faith in Christ, as the root
of all else pertaining to the Christian life, all else
is given so far as regards the principle whence it
springs, the germinating power which produces it;
yet to suffer for Christ is more than merely to believe on him, inasmuch as through these sufferings
the power of faith makes itself manifest, approves
itself to be genuine. For one might suppose himself the possessor of that genuine faith, and yet the
result, when he was found to shun a participation
in the sufferings of Christ, would prove the contrary. In another view, indeed, suffering is of less
account than faith. For there might be a suffering
too, which was not true Christian suffering, as not
proceeding from the life of faith, that faith which
works by love. As Paul says in 1 Cor. xiii. 3;
"And though I give my body to be burned, and
have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."  The




PHILIPPIANS.                91
same is true, in general, of the relation of faith to
the entire course of Christian life in its outward
manifestation, of the relation of faith to good works.
It everywhere finds an application, in a greater or
less degree, in respect to the relation of the inward
to the outward, of the internal feeling to its manifestation in action.
The Christian life is no instinctive, unconscious
one.  It follows not feeling alone; but demands,
everywhere and in all things an intelligent discrimination between what is of God and what is
not, in respect to all the relations of life; between
what accords to the will of the Lord, to the spirit
and nature of Christianity, and what is in contrariety thereto.  It cannot subsist, cannot fulfil its
mission, without a considerate conscious process of
scrutiny and discrimination.  As flesh and spirit
are still coexisting in the Christian, and are ever in
conflict with each other; so the power of discriminating what proceeds from the one or the other,
what is in accordance with the one or the other, is
continually needed, in order that the Christian
may not yield to the suggestions of the flesh, when
he thinks he is acting according to the impulses of
the spirit.  Of such a testing and discriminating




92               PHILIPPIANS.
process there was especial need, in churches established in the midst of the Pagcan or Jewish world;
since there, Christianity, contending with existing
customs relations and views of life which were the
product of another spirit and principle, was now
first to bring into existence a new creation, in which
Christ should be all in all.  Here of course the
question must often arise: What does Christianity
require?  In what respects d(oes the heathen or
Jewish point of view stand opposed to it? Wherein may the Christian conform himself to the world,
wherein may he not 2 For this reason Paul, in his
practical admonitions to this church, desires for
them especially increase in lknowledge,4~ in the faculty of perception; that they might test things
which differ, the good and the bad, the true and
the false, that thus they might avoid the one and
choose the other.  Paul assumes that, for this work,
the diligent exercise of the faculty of perception is
necessary; that such a power of discernment is the
fruit of unremitting exercise of the Christian judgment.  In like manner in the epistle to the Hebrews (v. 14), it is accounted one of the attributes
of the state of Christian maturity, that, through
* Chap. i. 9.




PHILIPPIANS.              93
the exercise of the organs of spiritual perception,
a readiness had been attained for distinguishing
good and evil. But if, on the one hand, there are
objects of knowledge and judgment where all depends on the exercise of the understanding, where
he who is most practised in thinking possesses also
the best judgment, and is most fully guarded
against error; yet in regard to the objects which
the Apostle has in mind, those pertaining to moral
duties, this is by no means the case. In general,
wme shall often find how much the judgment is here
biassed by the direction of the will. The mistakes
which lie at the basis of action, and errors in conduct, arise not so much from defect in the thin2king
faculty, as from selfish inclinations rwhich sway the
judgment.  And this is particularly the case with
Christianity, which assigns wholly new objects as
the aim of life. To know what is in harmony with
it, LOVE must be the controlling and directing principle of the rwhole life. The more entirely one is
animated by love, the more will his moral judgment be in harmony with Christianity.  A soul,
however well practised in thinking, will miss the
right, if not thus quickened and the eye of the
spirit made single by love. To this -we must add,




94               PHILIPPIANS.
that Christianity is no mere law of the letter,
which establishes only single general rules of duty,
according to which all single cases of conduct are
to be determined; but it is a law of the Spirit,
which makes known to each individual his peculiar
mission in life, that very one which the Lord has
appointed him to fulfil, and what is needed for its
fulfilment. No one can prescribe to another, what
from his standpoint, under his appointed relations,
it is his duty to do; but it is LovE, that spirit
common to all, which makes known to each in
particular what is duty for him, and in reference
to this leads him to make the necessary discrimination. To love, therefore, Paul here gives the first
place, and ascribes to its quickening presence the
knowledge and capacity required for distinguishing
the good and the bad, the true and the false; as
he himself expresses it, " that your love may more
and more abound in all knowledge;" meaning,
that th/eein its effect is seen, —that increase of
knowledge in the fruit of more abundant love.
But as here the theoretical proceeds firom the
practical, the new direction of the judgment from
the new direction of the will, of the moral disposition; so is the theoretical in like manner to react




PHILIPPIANS.               95
upon the practical, the enlightened judgment upon
the conduct. Hence Paul adds, as the object to be
thus attained, that they should continue " pure and
irreproachable" in their Christian walk, until all
shall appear before the Lord; " being filled with
the fruit of righteousness, which is by Jesus Christ,
to the glory and praise of God." Thus Paul here
designates righteousness, not as something to be
gradually acquired; but on the contrary, it is presupposed as something inherent in their fellowship
with Christ, flowing out to them from him, as produced in them by his Spirit. He contemplates the
entire Christian life as the fruit of this righteousness; not speaking, as in other passages, of single
fruits in single works, but of the whole Christian
course in its connected unity as one fruit, and that
the fruit which is produced by Jesus Christ. That
from him all proceeds, that through hilm all is accomplished, is the very thing which gives to such
a life its peculiar stamp. This it is which is truly
well-pleasing unto God, and by which God is truly
glorified, even as the whole life of Christ was a
glorifying of God in our nature. But it is also
clear from what has been said, that though, as a
whole, the Christian life is thus represented as a




96               PHILIPPIANS.
fruit of righteousness produced by Jesus Christ,
yet with this are presupposed many different stages
of development, many separate results of the reciprocal working of the practical and theoretical, of
the moral disposition and the judgment, as necessary to the production of this sum total; just as
the fruit of the tree, to follow the image chosen by
Paul, does not attain to its full form and maturity
at once, but through many preparatory stages in
the natural process of development and growth.
We have already observed Paul's manner of
contemplating the church as a whole consisting
of various members, whose growth is dependent
on the harmonious co-operation of all. But many
hindrances stood opposed to this harmonious action; and these could only be overcome gradually by the subduing power of the Christian spirit.
Only by degrees, and through the power of that
spirit, could this higher unity be formed out of
the conflicting elements existing in the church.
Some of these originated in national differences, in
the modes of thought peculiar to those of Jewish
or of pagan parentage. From these arose those
opposite leading tendencies, of which we shall
speak more particularly hereafter. There was also




PHILIPPIANS.                97
the difference of rank and wealth, which threatened to impair the spirit of oneness and equality
in the Christian body.  And, finally, there were
differences arising from  peculiarities in constitution and mental endowments, all which had been
brought by Christianity into its service.  Hence
the diversities in the operations of the Holy Spirit,
animating these different natural gifts; and hence
too the diversity of spiritual gifts, and of offices
connected with them, in the church.  From  all
these diversities collisions might arise, disturbing
the unity and harmony of the church; each might
wish to magnify what was peculiar to himself, and
thus self-exaltation and disunion follow, occasioning strife amonlg the members.  Here then, in
Qrder to secure.that unity in the church which belongs to its nature, all must be harmonized by the
victorious spirit of love.  It is clear how important and necessary, under these relations, were
Paul's reproofs and  admonitions, his warnings
against self-exaltation and disunion, his exhortations to humility and harmony.  Let us examine
this point more particularly. If they would make
his joy complete,* they must be of the same mind,
* Chap. ii. 2, 3.
5




98                PHILIPPIANS.
having the same love, being of one accord, of one
mind; nothing must be done through party spirit
or vain ambition, but in humility each must esteem others better than himself.  But how are we
to understand this?  One's judgment of another
is not within the control of his own will. How
can he esteem his brother higher than himself, if
this is not in accordance with the truth; if he cannot but perceive in himself excellencies which are
ranting to the other, and defects in the other from
which he is himself free? How can it be required
of him to do violence to his judgment? Is he to
practise deception upon himself?  Is humility to
be grounded upon falsehood? Mlost certainly not.
If one should endeavor to work himself into such
a judgment of others in comparison with himself,
or should express such a judgment without really thinking so, this would be mere hypocrisy in
a grosser or more refined form. But there is here
pre-supposed, as resulting from the full developmlent of the Christian life, a pervading temper of
heart, of which such a judgment of one's self in
comparison with others is but the necessary and
natural expression. The Christian's love will lead
him first of all to discern what is good in another,




PHILIPPIANS.               99
to discover even in his blemishes his peculiar gifts,
that in which he is really superior to himself;
while, on the other hand, through a self-scrutiny
sharpened by the Spirit which quickens him, he
detects with rigorous exactness his own faults.
And this self-rigor, united with love, will give
leniency to his judgment of whatever may obscure
the divine life in others. Thus a readiness to take
such a position, in respect to others, as is here represented, will not be a mere casual thing with
the Christian, something produced in him  from
without by external influence; but is the spontaneous result of the internal process of Christian
development.  And this manner of viewing one's
self, in relation to others, will appear likewise in
his whole conduct in regard to them. The idea is
of course excluded that one should make himself
the centre of all, referring everything to himself,
and thus regarding all others as existing but for
him.  It is clear how greatly others will in this
way rise in his estimation. This spirit of love and
humility will manifest itself in his deportment
towards others; and hence it is added: "Look not
each one upon his own things, but also on the
things of others."  Let each one be ready to sub



100                PHILIPPIANS.
ordinate his own interest to that of others, to deny
himself for the welfare of others.  Paul says,' also," although the form of the first clause would
not lead us to expect such a limitation.  But he
adds this " also" because it is not his aim wholly
to exclude the care for our own interests, but only
to oppose the tendency to make this predominant,
to allow it to swallow up all else.  Of course he
here speaks only of human, worldly interests,
which one is bound to sacrifice for the best good
of others; for in regard to that which is the highest and properly real interest of each one personally, his own soul's welfare, the cultivation of the
inner man for the life of eternity, no such contrariety can exist, no such requirement of self-denial
can be made.  But does this seem to conflict with
what we have previously remarked of self-denial
in reference even to the higher interests of the
spirit?  By no means.  The true, the highest interest of the spirit, that it should be ever growing in self-denying love, in purification from  all
selfishness, thereby becoming ever more meet for
the kingdom of God and eternal life, this must always be promoted by such sacrifices, even in reference to what we call the higher interests of the




PHILIPPIANS.             101
soul, which yet are not its highest interest. In
reference to such a temper and course of conduct,
Paul now presents, as the type and pattern, Him
after whom the whole Christian life in its spirit
and conduct should be maoulded, CIRIST HIMSELF.
"Let the same mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, did
not eagerly claim  equality with God;* (so, we
think the Greek is more truly expressed than in
Luther's version;) but emptied himself, taking
the form of a servant, being made in the likeness
of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Therefore also hath
God exalted him over all, and hath given him a
name which is above every name, that in the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, of beings in
heaven and upon the earth and underneath the
earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
That we may rightly understand the use here
made of the example of Christ, as the model after
which the Christian life is to be formed, we must
* In his appearance on earth, as understood by Neander; see page
103, line 3. —Ta.




102              PHILIPPIANS.
first endeavor to bring the model itself clearly and
distinctly before our minds. Before the eye of
the Apostle stands the image of THE WHOLE
CHRIST, the Son of God appearing in the flesh,
manifesting himself in human nature. From the
human manifestation he rises to the Eternal Word
(as John expresses it), that Word which was, before the appearance of the Son of God in time,
yea, before the worlds were made; in whom before all time God beheld and imaged hinself; as
Paul in the Epistle to the Colossians calls him, in
this view, the image of the invisible, i. e. of the
incomprehensible God. Then, after this upward
glance of his spiritual eye, he descends again into
the depths of the human life, in which the Eternal
Word appears as man. He expresses this in the
language of immediate perception, beholding the
divine and human as one; not in the form of abstract truth, attained by a mental analysis of the
direct object of thought. Thus he contemplates
the entrance of the Son of God into the form of
humanity as a self-abasement, a self-renunciation,
for the salvation of those whose low estate he
stooped to share. He whose state of being was
divine, who was exalted above all the wants and




PHILIPPIANS.             103
limitations of the finite and earthly existence, did
not eagerly claim this equality with God which he
possessed; but, on the contrary, he concealed and
disowned it in human abasement, and in the forms
of human dependence.  And as the whole human
life of Christ proceeded from such an act of selfrenunciation and self-abasement, so did his whole
earthly life correspond to this one act even to his
death; the consciousness on the one hand of divine
dignity which it was in his power to claim, and on
the other the concealment, the renunciation of
this, in every form of humiliation and dependence
belonging to the earthly life of man. The crowning point appears in his death, —the ignominious
and agonizing death of the cross. Paul now proceeds to show what Christ attained by such selfrenunciation, thus carried to the utmost limit, by
such submissive obedience in the form of a servant; the reward which he received in return,
the dignity which was conferred upon him.
Here too is presented the universal law, laid
down by Christ himself, that whoso humbles himself, and in proportion as he humbles himself, shall
be exalted.  Now it is of itself apparent that He
who, according to Paul's teaching, was in his own




104               PHILIPPIANS.
nature elevated above all, the first-born over the
whole creation, He through whom and in whom
all was created, could not as such be exalted.
But, as already intimated, it is the image of the
One Christ uniting in himself the divine and human, which is here before the mind of Paul.  Of
this Christ in humanity it might be predicated,
that lie is as man exalted above all, —the glorified
Son of man. And this his exaltation subserves no
selfish interest.  IIe finds his exaltation in the salvation of fallen beings. This was its end, in this
indeed it should consist, that by the universal acknowledgment of Him as Lord and Saviour and
subjection to Him as such, God might be glorified
in -Iim and through HIim; glorified in the triumphant establishment of his kingdom. What application then is to be made of this example, in the
connection in which the Apostle introduces it?
As Christ aimed only to subserve the salvation of
men, so should Christians be ready to labor thus
for the salvation of their brethren.  As Christ offered up all for the salvation of men, so should
Christians also be ready to offer up all for the salvation of their brethren; to give up everything
for others, in order to secure their highest welfare;




PHILIPPIANS.             105
thus in self-humiliation and self-renunciation following their Lord. So shall the life of the Christian too, from its first spiritual beginning, from the
first act of faith, be a continuous self-abasement and
self-renunciation.  And this being the ground and
condition of Christ's exaltation as the Son of man,
so shall the same be, for believers who thus follow
Christ, the ground and condition of their exaltation, till they come to share the full glory of Him
whom they follow. We may compare this with a
similar development of the same thought by Paul
in 2 Cor. viii. 9, where he says of Christ: " Though
he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor."
To the'" being rich" corresponds the " being in divine form," the "being equal with God," in the
passage before us; to the "becoming poor," the
self-renunciation and self-abasement in the human
servant-form, in its full extent as exhibited above.
In the passage just quoted, this is used as an exhortation to that benevolence which sacrifices its
own, subjects itself to privations, in order to relieve the necessities of others.  It is based on the
general thought, arising from a contemplation of
the life of Christ, that each one should be ready to
give up and to renounce all that he has for the
5*




106               PHILIPPIANS.
highest good of others; the beneficent and condescending spilit of self-denying Christian love, which
pervades the whole Christian life in all its acts.
And in this general form is the thought conceived
in the passage before us.  It is this which  characterizes Paul as a moral teacher; that with him the
specific is in all cases carried back to the highest,
deepest, most comprehensive; that his special admonitions, in regard to the Christian life and character, have for their basis the general fundamental
ideas of the Awhole Christian life, all centering in
the example of Christ.
The church at Philippi needed the Apostle's admonitions and warnings, especially in reference to
the obstacles with which Christianity, in its process of development, then had chiefly to contend.
This process has in every age its peculiar obstacles
to overcome; and it would be easy to show a certain affinity between these opposing influences, although  different periods give rise to different
forms.  But here an important distinction is to be
made.  There may be spiritual tendencies and
teachings, which come into direct conflict with the
peculiar essence of Christianity; a case where no
reconciliation is possible, but the choice must be




PHILIPPIANS.              107
for the one or for the other; and where the decision for the pure Christian tendency, must manifest
itself in firm adherence to the one and steadfast
rejection of the other.  Somewhat different is it
with those tendencies, which unite with the sincere
acknowledgment of Christian truth only a slight
remaining influence of former views, and which
form in their successive stages the gradual transition to pure Christian truth.  This is especially
true of the obstacles, with which Christianity had
then to contend in its process of development. As
it was from  Judaism  the transition was made to
Christianity, so did the first important obstacle to
its process of development, arise from the intermixture of views brought from the Jewish standpoint. It is to these views that the distinction
above stated must be applied.
Such a predominance of the Jewish spirit did exist, through which the consciousness of the peculiar
nature of Christianity was essentially repressed and
stifled.  Jesus was indeed outwardly acknowledged
as the Messiah; but there was wanting the true
import and power of such a conviction.  He was
made, after the Jewish conception, a carnal Messiah with carnal hopes. As Christ, after the mir



108              PHILIPPIANS.
acle of the loaves, said to those who followed him
with false views (John vi. 26), that it was not because they had seen the miraculous signs,-tokens
of the manifestation of the divine in the world
of sense, intended to point to a nature in itself
divine made known through these tokens,-that
not for these did they seek him, but because they
had eaten of the loaves and were filled, that
only sensual want attached them to him; so in
these Jews of whom we are now speaking, there
was the same lack of the divine sense, of the feeling of higher, inward, spiritual need. With them
too it was only a mere sensual want, which led
them to believe on Jesus. And though they differed fiom the Jews to whom Christ spoke in this
respect, that they were not led by this similar
fleshly tendency to open opposition against Jesus
as the 3Messiah, but sought on the contrary to be
outwardly united to him, yet no important advantage was thus gained. For while the former would
not believe on a Jesus, who did not satisfy their
physical necessities; the latter, believing in Jesus
as the Mlessiah, yet made him nearly such an one
as those had desired, and such as Jesus refused to
be. With this one article, of faith in Jesus as the




PHILIPPIANS.             109
Messiah in the sense here given, they united, as we
have already seen, a strict adherence to the entire
legal position. Not Jesus the Messiah was to them
the sole ground of salvation; but in the observance
of the whole Law, and in circumcision, they sought
for righteousness and salvation. Not the righteousness which comes from within, from faith, was the
object of their desire; but a righteousness which
comes to man from without.
It is clear that where an opposition of this kind
existed, there could be no agreement, no reconciliation. The true Christian spirit alone could make
the decision, between a carnal or a spiritual Messiah; between a righteousness grounded on faith
in the Redeemer alone, or in the Law and its
works; between the transformation effected by the
divine life, working from within the reformation
of the whole man, or a mere external change in
outward conduct; between God's work or man's
work, humble acceptance of divine gifts, humble
surrender to Jesus as the Saviour, or a carnal Messiah with the admission of the desert of one's own
works. It was because the question for the new
churches was of just such an unconditional opposition, between what was Christian and what was




110               PHILIPPIANS.
unchristian, that Paul felt himself obliged to present the case so strongly, and to testify so earnestly
against those erroneous views.  " Beware of dogs"
(the term in the original expressing the shameless
effrontery of these opposers of the truth); "'beware of evil workers" (those who would supplant
the Christian by the Jewish stand-point); "beware of the concision."  But how is it that Paul
here speaks of circumcision, which he nevertheless
regarded as a divine ordinance for a specific period,
in so contemptuous a manner?  Circumcision was
in his estimation a divine seal, by which the theocratic people were separated, as the divinely consecratedl race, from the nations abandoned to idolatry and its attendant abominations, for the purpose of conducting to that fellowship with God
which should one day embrace all humankind.
To him it was, as he says in the Epistle to the Romans, an outward symbol of the new relation to
God, into which Abraham entered by virtue of his
faith (Rom. iv. 11); and emblematical of that inward spiritual circumcision, the circumcision of
the heart in the spirit, of purification from the excrescences of sin, which alone constitutes a true
people of God, through which alone the conception




PHILIPPIANS.              111
of a people of God can find its realization. But
if now, as was the case with those Judaizers, justification and salvation were sought in this outward circumcision, as such; if indeed to faith in
Jesus as the Messiah, who in his true character
was the author of all righteousness, circumcision
was to be added as something highel, as the real
source of true righteousness; then was Paul bound
to expose, in the most emphatic manner, the utter
worthlessness of such an external act in reference
to the object to be attained. kNro words could
seem to him too strong to represent the perverseness of such a view as this; which could ascribe
that to the external and sensuous, which can only
be produced from  within, by virtue of what is
wrought within upon the spirit, through the imparting of a divine life. Hence he calls circumcision, in opposition to such an over-estimation of
it, a concision, a self-mutilation; and in the Epistle
to the Galatians, with a similar contemptuous allusion to the abuse of this abrogated rite, he expresses the wish that those who made so much
account of circumcision would practise it to what
extent they pleased on themselves, provided they
would but leave other Christians in peace. Cer



112               PHILIPPIANS.
tainly that which seems to Paul as something so
unchristian and perverse, and excites in him so
much indignation, must have reference not merely
to circumcision, that single peculiarity of Judaism,
but to everything external and sensuous regarded
as a ground of justification, of sanctification, of
salvation; for, as such, it stands in direct opposition to that worship of God in spirit and in
truth, which springs solely from the inward act of
faith. This contrariety to the true Christian principle is expressed in the succeeding words, " For
we are the circumcision." That is, they are not
the truly circumcised, but their miscalled circumcision is a mere excision, a self-mutilation.  We
are those who really deserve this name; we Christians are the truly circumcised; "we," he adds in
proof of the assertion, "'who serve God in the
spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."  We must endeavor to develop the meaning of these weighty words. "To
serve God in the spirit," forms the direct opposite
to a worship of God connected with sensible, external, earthly things, and dependent thereon; a
worship which has not its spring in the spirit
within; as when one supposes that he can honor




PHILIPPIANS.             113
God by receiving circumcision or by any external
legal works, be they religious or moral, by any
single acts whatever of external worship.
The true worship of God, on the contrary, Paul
describes as one which proceeds fromr the spirit;
meaning by this only such as can proceed from the
renewing and sanctifying of the human spirit, by
nature estranged from  God, through the Holy
Spirit which Christ alone imparts. Only thus can
the spirit of man, being led baeck to fellowship
with God and made a temple of God, become the
sanctuary where God is worshipped aright; and
then the whole life and conduct of the spirit is
one act of divine worship. But as the redemption
attained through Christ is here presupposed, as
faith in the Redeemer and fellowship with him is
the root and fountain of all, Paul therefore connects therewith the'" glorying in the Lord;" i. e.
glorying in such a manner as excludes all pride of
human glory; a glorying in self-abasement; a
glorying, to wit, only in Christ and in that which
we are in hlim, which has its ground in him, for
which we are indebted to him, and hence (what
is but the counterpart of this) not placing  our
confidence in anything human. Paul presents his




114               PHILIPPIANS.
own case as an example in this respect to his Philippian brethren,-a proof of the sincerity of his
teachings and admonitions. lie appeals to the
fact that he himself, as a born Jew brought up in
the strictest Pharisaism, had lived in the exactest
observance of the Law and yet had become convinced that all this could contribute nothing towards his cleansing from  sin, his justification,
sanctification and salvation; on which account he
had renounced all this, in order to find all in
Christ alone. He says that as respects the righteousness of the Law, he was blameless. This is
said not merely of the requirements of the ceremonial law, but also of moral action so far as it
meets the eye of man; both being comprehended
under the term law. In all this Paul had been
blameless. In the sight of men he was without
blemish. What he says applies not less to what
is called rectitude among men, than to a piety
which consists in particular religious acts.  Although Paul satisfied the claims which men could
rightfully make on him, yet it availed him nothing.
When, through the light of the Spirit, the true
nature of the divine law and true self-knowledge
dawned upon his mind, he seemed to himself, with




PHILIPPIANS.             115
all this blamelessness before men, not less a sinner
on that account, wanting that true divine righteousness in which all flows out from God, and all
has reference to Him. HE is the true end and
aim of the whole life; while all that men call rectitude does not rise above the world. Hence he
says, implying the insufficiency of all this: "But
what things were gain to me, those I counted loss
for Christ. Yea, and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but dregs that I
may win Christ." He would say here, that everything which formerly was in his view a distinction,-as descent from the theocratic nation, legal
piety, blamelessness in a legal view, —all this now
appears to him a disadvantage, so far as he should
rest his confidence thereon and be thereby drawn
away from Christ. Christ having now become all
to him, all else must give place to Christ. All else,
high as it may be in itself, must appear loss if it
occasion the loss of Christ, whom none can gain but
those who seek and desire Him alone; for that very
knowledge of Christ, itself sufficing for all, in itself
comprehending all, outshines and eclipses all beside.




116                PHILIPPIANS.
And hence Paul says, that for the sake of Christ he
has willingly suffered the loss of all; that he casts
all else away as worthless in order that he may win
Christ, who supplies to him the place of all. It is
his whole concern to be found in Christ,* to stand
in fellowship with him.  And he thus contrasts
that divine rig'hteousness, founded in this relation
and proceeding' fiolm inward faith, with a righteousness which comles from  without, proceeding
froml tle works of the lawt, a merely human attainment secured by human eflforts.  In his view,
all here depends o-N IxNOAwING  CIIIST.  This
klnonwledge is, in the Pauline sense, not somethingc
merely intellectual, not a nmere matter of speculation, not certain specific articles of faith respecting
Christ as they are speculatively  developed and
handed doi1wn; but, on the contrary, as shown in
the followving Nwordcls, it is a knowledge which takes
root in the life, a imatter of personal experience,
the believer's inward perception of Christ as the
Son of God and his Redeemer.  Paul then brinigs
forward into special pronminence the power of his
resurrection, which of course presupposes the announcement of himl as the Crucified,  his sufferings
*t Verse 9.




PHILIPPIANS.              117
for the redemption of man from sin. This prominence he gives to the power of Christ's resurrection, as being the factual proof of the redemption
effected by him; —as furnishing the evidence, in a
glorified personality, of that imperishable divine
life imparted to humanity, by virtue of the redemption from sin and consequent death; a life
passing over from him  to all who through faith
stand in fellowship with him,-the beginning in
them of a new divine life, to penetrate more and
more their entire being, till they shall become
wholly assimilated to it in soul and body. And
hence he adds, " to know the fellowship of his sufferings;"-that is, how we are to follow him in
sufferings, in order that we may more and more
become partakers of the divine life in fellowship
with the Risen One. He then sums up all in this,
" to be made like unto him in his death;" to apply
to one's self the image of his death, in order to
attain to the fellowship of his resurrection. We
must here refer back to what we have already said
on this point, in another connection.*  Thus we
have here, in one view, all which pertains to the
Christian life, all which constitutes the righteous* See p. 90.




118             PHILIPPIANS.
ness of the Christian, in opposition to the requirements of legal piety or mere human rectitude.
The same class of persons is probably meant
when, in a subsequent passagej after having proposed his own conduct as an example to the Philippians, he warns them with deep sorrow against
many who walk far otherwise, and whom he designates as enemies of the cross of Christ. Here,
however, the reference to this class of persons
cannot be proved with equal certainty.  The
words "enemies of the cross of Christ" may be
applied to many classes of persons. They may be
understood of such as, indeed, acknowledge Jesus
the Crucified as their Saviour; but who still show
by their manner of thinking and acting, even
though themselves unconscious of it, that they are
enemies of the cross of Christ. It might be of
such as take their stand, consciously, as open enemies of the cross of Christ. This might at that
period proceed from two different points of view,
which indeed are found recurring in every age;
viz. fromn the position of the  wnisdom-seeking
Greeks, of whom Paul says that Jesus the Crucified
was to them foolishness, and from that of the sign* Verse 18.




PHILIPPIANS.              119
seeking Jews, of whom he says that to them Jesus
the Crucified was an offence.  It may be the unbelief which comes from  the pride of wisdom,
from the pride of reason, firom the pride of culture,
or the unbelief of the earthly sensual man.  But
this open and conscious opposition cannot, as appears from the connection, be the one here meant.
It is inconsistent with the manner in which Paul
contrasts these enemies of the cross of Christ with
himself.  Against such open opposers it was not
necessary thus to warn his brethren.  The class
first mentioned must therefore be the one intended.  Still the words admit of several applications.
This not open but rather Unconscious enmity to
the cross of Christ, may be conceived as taking
either a practical or more theoretical form; as
manifesting itself only in action, or in doctrine as
well as in action. As respects the first, this again
may be understood in a two-fold manner. It may
mean such as are wanting in that humility, which
must spring from the belief that we owe all to the
cross of Christ, to Jesus who was crucified for us;
in whose life the conceit of self-righteousness, by
which the cross of Christ is disowned and disallowed, predominates even though this may not




120               PHILIPPIANS.
betray itself in the doctrines which they preach.
But it may also mean those who are far from
taking upon them their cross, and thus following
Jesus the Crucified; whose life, still devoted to
flesh and sin, stands in direct contradiction with the
cross of Christ, with faith in that Jesus who for
this cause was crucified that he might free humanity from sin, so that all who attach themselves to
him should now be crucified to sin, to the world,
to themselves.  The whole carnal, sinful life of
such persons, who, as far as in them lay, made void
the very object for which  Jesus was crucified,
might be called enmity to the cross of Christ. We
grant that what follows might also be understood,
as directed against men of this carnal course of
life.  Still we are led by the connection, when
compared iwith the preceding context, to refer it
rather to an opposition manifesting itself in the
doctrines taught as well as in the life, to that very
class of Judaizing adversaries  indeed, against
whom Paul has previously spoken. These he calls
enemies of the cross of Christ, because their standpoint is one to which Christ the Crucified is an offence, a stone of stumblling-though in them this
manifests itself not openly and consciously, but




PHILIPPIANS.             121
rather in an unconscious and covert manner; because nothing was more offensive to them than
that preaching which required them  to ascribe
salvation to the Crucified Jesus alone as their Saviour,-to ascribe all to Him alone; because they
held to a legal self-righteousness in opposition to
the cross of Christ. It follows from what has already been said, that the views and conduct of
such persons were in direct contrast to the worship of God in the spirit; their religious service
consisting only in external things, their tendency
being wholly to the earthly and sensual. Such a
religion brought with it no moral transformation,
might co-exist with sin, nay, might form a union
with it, giving to the service of sin a false security; as often, in the history of Christianity, we
have seen these same tendencies gain a footing
under cover of its name. He describes them as
those whose god is their belly, those who in all
things act merely from earthly impulses, to satisfy
their sensual wants; a reproach which Paul often
casts upon the judaizing proselytists, that they
turned their preaching into a means of gain, seeking to extort by it what might serve for their own
advantage. He describes them as earthly-minded,
62




122               PHILIPPIANS.
which is explained by the foregoing; and all their
hopes were such as corresponded to this earthly
disposition. They expected in the future world,
as they did in the thousand years' reign promised
by them, not that divine life of which the true
Christian even here partakes under the veil of the
earthly; but, on the contrary, they dreamed of an
increased enjoyment of mere earthly pleasures.
" Whose glory," he says, " is in their shame," i. e.,who seek their honor in that which redounds
rather to their shame; as indeed everything,
whiclh  might seem  to distinguish them  above
others, was in fact a derogation of the Christian
life, a renunciation of true Christian excellence.
In contrast with these, Paul now presents the
wholly heavenward mind of the genuine Christian, his wholly heavenward hope purified from
every stain of sense.  This divine life, already
freed from earth, forms in its aim and tendency
the opposite of that world-ensnared religiosity,
cleaving wholly to the earthly. This earthly
mind, Paul would say, must be far from us who
are  Christians;  "for  our conversation  is in
Heaven."  His meaning is, that Christians, as to
their life, their walk, belong even now to Heaven;




PHILIPPIANS.              123
in the whole direction of their life existing there
already. This he deduces from their relation to
Christ, their fellowship with him to whom they are
inseparably united, so that where he is there are
they also. While here, they are sustained by the
consciousness that Christ now lives in Heaven,
manifested to believers, though hidden from the
world. Thither is their gaze directed, as their longings rise towards a Saviour, who will come again
from thence to make them wholly like himself, to
fashion them wholly after his own glorious pattern, to transform them wholly into the heavenly.
Hence Paul says: " From whence also we look for
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body, according to the working
whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself."  There is not presented here a resurrection, as a restoration merely of the same earthly
body in the same earthly form; but, on the contrary,
a glorious transformation, proceeding from  the
divine, the all-subduing power of Christ; so that
believers, free from all the defects of the earthly existence, released from all its barriers, may reflect the
full image of the heavenly Christ in their whole glo



124              PHILIPPIANS.
rifled personality, in the soul pervaded by the divine life and its now perfectly assimilated glorified
organ. This heavenly form of the Christian hope,
the fruit of faith in the risen and ascended Jesus,
stands opposed not only to that comfortless unbelief, which makes man a perishable creature like
to the brutes, and cuts off all hope of what is beyond the earth; but also, as intended in this
passage, to that mere carnal hope which transfers
the formns of earthly existence into the future life.
Both are scions from one root, the tendency of the
natural man; who, whether in the form of sensual
grossness or of refined culture, can never escape
beyond the narrow limits of time and sense; who
has no organ whereby to perceive and comprehend the divine and heavenly. It matters not,
therefore, in which of these two forms this tendency of the natural man develops itself; whether
it entirely denies and rejects what it cannot perceive and comprehend, denies all personal duration
beyond the earthly state, because able itself to
conceive nothing beyond this earthly form of personality; or whether it degrades to its own sensual standard what it is either unable or indisposed to deny, and wholly carnalizes the hope which




PHILIPPIANS.               125
it does not reject.  In every form  of superstition
there is something of unbelief, since that upward
impulse of the spirit is wanting by which alone it
is possible to rise to the superhuman and divine;
hence the divine, as such, is in reality denied and
the earthly set in its place.  And in all the forms
of unbelief there is something of superstition.
Every form of unbelief has its idols.  It seeks in
the powers and outward phenomena of the world,
what canll only be found in God and in powers
which are of God.  What Paul says of the idolizing of worldly objects is true also of this, that
it makes itself subject to the elements of the
world.  It clings with all the greater force to the
earthly, because it is an utter strantger to all which
can give true satisfaction to the spirit formued in
the imnage of God. It strives all the more eagerly
for earthly interests, because it has renounced the
higher interests pertaining to the spirit, which are
connected with its true  home; and  hence the
earthly interest has swallowed up all other love,
and all other desire, by which the God-related
spirit is impelled. Christ, risen from the dead and
ascended to heaven, whose life is hid in God and
with whoml in God our life is hidden (Col. iii. 3),




126                PHILIPPIANS.
to whom as our life we shall be like in glory when
He, now hidden from the world, shall reveal himself in glory,-this, the bel:ever's hope, stands in
contrast with both these tendencies of the natural mnan.
AWe have spoken of the judaistic tendency existing at this stage of the development of Christianity, so far as this stood directly opposed to the
pure Gospel and excluded all reconciliation.  But
there were also in the churches, such as were in a
process of progressive development from Judaism,
or some kindred stand-point, to the pure Gospel.
These, far from  being enemies of the cross of
Christ, w ere filled with love to the Crucified Jesus
as their Saviour; but they were still subject to
many weaknesses in their faith, not being able to
release themselves as yet from much which still
clunlg to them  of their former, not wholly extirpated Jewish vie-ws. Such persons, whoml Paul is
accustomed to contrast as "the weak" with the
strong mature Christian, are often mentioned in
his Epistles; those who still had scrupulous fears
about partaking of meats offered to idols, and who,
in regard to food and to the observance of certain
days as holy, were still in bondage to the Jewish




PHILIPPIANS.           127
ritual. In these points they were unable to break
loose at once from the yoke of Judaism. But did
these persons then stand in the same relation as
those first-mentioned? Should such as had come
over to Christianity from another stand-point, the
pagan; and who, though exposed to other dangers, could from that point make their way more
easily to Christian freedom; or such as had advanced farther in the development of faith, had
more nearly reached the maturity of manhood in
Christ; should such withdraw fellowship from, and
harshly repel these weaker, in many points less
enlightened brethren? This would have been
contrary to what Paul requires of Christian love,
which bears patiently the infirmities of brethren.
It would be to set bounds with impatient presumption to the operations of the Holy Spirit, who
is able to lead on farther and farther those in
whom He has begun to work; to sever at once
the thread of development ordained by the wisdom of God, and alone conducting to Christ as
from him it proceeded. How we are to regard
and treat these subordinate stages of development, these minor differences, is taught by Paul
in this epistle,-in few words indeed, but full of




128               PHILIPPIANS.
instruction.  We must now endeavor to obtain a
clear conception of their import.
After having, in a passage already explained,
presented as the standard for all, that stage of
Christian attainment which forgets everything
hitherto  accomplished; which, beginning with
Christian faith, in entire devotedness to Christ
strives ever towards the mark of the heavenly
calling; he adds, "As many of us now as are perfect, let us be thus minded."  This is the stage of
the mature believer who has attained to full Christian fieedom, who presses forward without hindrance in an ever-progressive development. "And
if in anything ye are otherwise minded,"-otherwise, i. e. not in harmony with this principle," God will reveal also this unto you;" will also in
that, wherein ye still think otherwise, reveal to
you the right, and thus lead you to unity in adherence to this principle and in its application.
Paul refers therefore to the great truth, that the
Spirit of God which has revealed to them the light
of the Gospel, will also carry on and complete this
his revelation in them, even to that point of Christian maturity; that Hie will continually advance
them in Christian knowledge; and where they are




PHILIPPIANS.            129
still in error and divided in opinion, there too will
He yet make known to them the one true way.
They should therefore not contend with overhasty
zeal; as by this course one is easily estranged
more and more widely from another, easily hardened in opposing views through obstinate adherence to what has been once adopted. Still less
should they mutually condemn one another, but
rather seek to preserve that unity of the Christian
spirit which is above all these minor differences;
while all submitting to the common guide, the
Holy Spirit, should entrust themselves and one
another mutually to Him, the best Teacher, to be
led on continually under his guidance. As this
work has in all the same divinely laid foundation,
so should the farther development and the progressive purification of the divine work in each,
be left to the operation of the Holy Spirit by
whom it is first begun in each. There should be
no attempt to do violence, by any external influence, to the peculiar development of another,
which must follow its own laws grounded in his
peculiar personality; or to substitute something
forced on him from without, for the free development proceeding from within. This would be
6*




130              PHILIPPIANS.
nothing else than attempting, by human arts of
persuasion, (which yet have no power to penetrate
to the inmost spirit, unless they find a point of
connection in the existing attainments of the individual man) to accomplish that which can be
wrought only by the Holy Spirit, that inward
Teacher, whom all follow without constraint and
in perfect harmony with their own freedom. It is
only the action of the same leaven of divine truth,
that can produce the same results in all; of that
leaven which by degrees shall penetrate the whole
spiritual life, purifying it from every foreign element. And if there is reference here to a REVELATION by the Holy Spirit, through which the
believer is advanced in knowledge, it is based on
the truth everywhere expressed or pre-supposed
in the Holy Scriptures, that all divine things can
become known only in the light of the Holy
Spirit: as Paul elsewhere says, "No man can say
that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
But the idea of revelation in this passage nowise
excludes the activity of human thought, which
still farther develops and works out, according to
the laws of human reason, what has been received
by divine illumination. This activity of the human




PHILIPPIANS.             131
spirit is, however, pre-supposed to be one animated
and guided by the Holy Spirit, who is the vital
principle in the whole spiritual life; and hence all
is here referred back to the Holy Spirit as the
primary source, inasmuch as all is here the fruit of
its illuminating, guiding and quickening influence;
and all progressive Christian insight, whether ilmmediately or mediately proceeding from the Holy
Spirit, is comprehended in the idea of revelation.
We must now more particularly consider that
which Paul makes the necessary condition of this
result, viz. that all should yield themselves to the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, and thus be led on
by him in progressive Christian knowledge. But
here it is necessary to inquire into the original
form of Paul's words. The passage has been corrupted, by introducing into the text marginal explanations erroneously supposed to be the words
of Paul. Divine Wisdom has not seen fit to guard
against such corruptions in the course of ages, by
a series of miracles, or by the authority of a
visible church enjoying infallible guidance. But
while free course was here given to natural causes,
and thus such corruptions might occur through
misapprehension, this was to become the stimu



132               PHILIPPIANS.
1us to an independent spirit of inquiry, and to
the cultivation also of all those mental faculties
whereby we test and discriminate.  By such exercise, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, by
the culture and application of that capacity to
which we give the name of CRITICISMi, and which is
one of the natural endowments of the human
mind, we were to learn to distinguish the true
from the false, and by comparison to ascertain the
original form of the Apostolic words. Even criticism, under the guiding and quickening influence
of the Holy Spirit, belonggs to the spiritual gifts
of the church. By it we shall be able here to
restore the true form of Paul's words; as by continued investigations, under the guidance of the
HIoly Spirit, a harmony of views in this respect
may at length be attained througlhout the church.
If like Luther we follow the later reading, we
shall translate with him, —" At least so far as we
walk after one rule whereto we have attained, and
are like-minded." According to this, unity is here
pointed out as that condition of which we have
just spoken; it is an exhortation to unity.  Such
a thought, however, is quite remote from this
connection. Unity is not the condition which the




PHILIPPIANS.            133
connection would lead us to expect; but, on the
contrary, is that which results from the course of
conduct required of the church by Paul. When
all conduct, in reference to minor differences, as
Paul according to our explanation has directed,
unity will be maintained unimpaired in the church.
Moreover, what is said of " the one rule" and of
"the walking together in accordance therewith,"
of " being like-minded,"  does not suit well with
the words "whereto we have attained."  All had
not as yet attained to the same grade of spiritual
discernment. We find here, therefore, a combination of words unsuited to each other; and it is
easy to perceive, how from false glosses appended
in explanation of the obscure words (obscure when
not rightly apprehended in their connection) " if
we do but walk after that whereto we have
attained" falsely regarded as an exhortation to
unity, all the rest may have originated. We shall,
therefore, following the oldest manuscripts that
have come down to us, regard these as the genuine
words of Paul: "if we but walk according to that
whereunto we have attained;" i. e. if each one
but faithfully applies to his own life the measure
of spiritual discernment bestowed upon him. This




134              PHILIPPIANS.
then is Paul's meaning: the Holy Spirit will reveal to all whatever is still wanting to them in true
Christian knowledge, and thus continually promote the union of their spirits, by purging away
whatever foreign elements may still impair it; will
from  still existing differences develop a higher
unity, if first of all that Christian fellowship, which
rests upon the one common ground of faith, is
firmly adhered to, and each one is careful to put
in practice with strict fidelity his own measure
of Christian knowledge, without contending with
others about matters wherein they differ from
himself. All progressive revelation of the Spirit,
all new light of which man is made partaker, presupposes a faithful application of what has previously been given. Here too apply the words of
the Lord, "He that hath, to him shall be given."
How many schisms might have been avoided in
the church, how many differences might, much for
its interest, have been overcome and adjusted, if
all had felt the obligation rightly to understand
and apply the principle here laid down by Paul!
In Paul's Epistles, as everywhere in the Holy
Scriptures, precepts, exhortations, and promises go
hand in hand. This must be so, from the peculiar




PHILIPPIANS.            135
nature of the Gospel as distinguished from the
Law.  For as all promises are connected with
some condition without which they cannot be fulfilled, and this leads to precepts and admonitions;
so would these be of no avail were not the
promise to the believer presupposed, that promise which ensures the power to fulfil what is
required of him. Thus Paul begins with the
words, " Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I
say rejoice." He, the prisoner of the Lord, looking it may be to a near approaching death, finds
reason to promise and to require an ever-abiding
joy in the consciousness of fellowship with the
Lord; to make joy indeed the ground-tone of the
Christian life, to make the whole Christian life a
jubilee of redemption. But with this connects
itself the requisition for a Christian walk; since
that joy in the Lord cannot exist, if the life of
the Christian does not correspond to the law of
the Lord, does not testify of fellowship with him.
And since the Philippians, as we have already
seen,* were placed in circumstances in which they
might most easily be tempted to anger and retaliation, if the natural man were not held in check
* See p. 24.




136                  PHILIPPIANS.
by a higher power, Paul especially urges the admonition, "'Let your moderation be known unto
all men;" and  adds, "The Lord  is at haind," appealing to the consciousness that I-He is ever near.'
This consciousness furnishes the  motive to such
gentleness under provocation.  They walk in the
sight of the Lord, and dare not give way to passion in the near presence of Him, who endured
every wrong with heavenly patience and long-sufferitng.  This consciousness that the Lord is near,
will also restrain them  firom  wishing to anticipate
his justice, to take the worlk  of retribution into
their own hands. -But these words also form  the
transition to what follows, —to  the  requirement
" Be careful for nothing."  Here too we must take
into account the miserable state of the oppressed
Christians; and yet they were to be careful for
nothing, in the consciousness that the Lord is near.
_Not all human care is forbidden  by Paul, who
himself, as -we have  already  seen,t  in  this very
Epistle lays claim  to earnest human efforts.  But
* This might indeed be understood as referring to time, viz. the nearness of his coming, towards which the Apostles and the apostolic age,
overlooking all that intervened, directed their longing desire. But this
idea, though appropriate in some points of view, is obviously less suited
to the whole connection than the one which we have exhibited in the text.
J See p. 77.




PHILIPPIANS.            137
such entanglement in cares as stands in contradiction with that requirement, "to rejoice always in
the Lord,"-this is forbidden by him, from this
should the conscious nearness of the Lord restrain
the believer. Instead of indulging such care, he
directs them rather to raise the soul to God, and
all shall become light. The true meaning of these
words appears from the contrast which follows:
" But, in all things, make your requests known to
God in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving." There is a carefulness which is inconsistent
with confiding prayer to God, which excludes the
spirit of filial supplication. Such a carefulness
Paul forbids. As he had made the whole Christian life a joy in the Lord, so now he makes it
also a perpetual prayer. The two stand in intimate connection. Neither can exist without the
other. He does not require the suppression of
those wants, the sense of which begets anxiety,
but that the sense of want should take the form
of prayer. Thus will the burdened spirit become
lightened, and care of itself will fall away. Yet,
although the Christian has wants to spread out
before God in prayer, and much to ask of Him for
the future, he still finds in every situation enough




138              PHILIPPIANS.
that calls for thankfulness to God, since all things
work together for good to those who love Him.
Paul had already enjoined on the Philippians, afflicted as they were, to rejoice always in the Lord;
and in this it is assumed that there is nothing unreasonable in the requirement, that they should
give thanks to God. The whole Christian life
should be a prayer, the prayer of thanksgiving
and of supplication, in the consciousness of grace
received and the conscious need of renewed grace.
Assuming that the Philippians followed these directions, he could impart to them  the precious
promise which assured their safety in all conflicts:
"And the peace of God which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus."-What does Paul here
say? WVhat is the sense, so far as we can indicate
it in brief, of his deep and sublime words? If the
Philippians so conduct, then will that peace with
God, which they have received from Christ, remain with them; that peace which is the fountain
of all other peace; which can exist in the midst
of conflict with the world, and can be disturbed
by no other power; that peace of which Jesus
spake (John xiv. 27), "Peace I leave with you,




PHILIPPIANS.            139
my peace I give unto you; not as the world
giveth give I unto you." And hence he adds, for
those whom he left behind amidst the conflicts of
the world, the consoling promise, " Let not your
heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid." This
peace, as it has God for its author, Paul accordingly describes as a peace which is above all
human conception. He who has this peace has
more than he himself knows, more than he is able
to set forth in thoughts and words. It is an overflowing heavenly repose, with which nothing
earthly can be compared; which fills the spirit of
him, who, having been reclaimed from disunion
with the Infinite and the Holy One, is now conscious of being in harmony with Him. The power
of this peace, says Paul, will conduct the souls that
live in fellowship with Christ, safe and unharmed
through all conflicts and assaults from within and
firom without. From this proceeds the groundtone of their thoughts and feelings, this is their
protection, which avails against all human care.
With this may be compared the words of Paul in
the Epistle to the Colossians: "And the peace
of God rule in your hearts!" The peace with God
* Chap. ii. 15.




140                PHILIPPIANS.
procured to the believer through Christ, the peace
which has its life in God, of which they are assured in union with him,-that peace, amid all
fluctuation, is the controlling, the determining element in the Christian life.




THE
EPISTLE OF JAMES,
PRACTICALLY EXPLAINED,
BY
DR. AUGUSTUS NEANDER.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN
BY
IMRS. H. C. CONANT.
"WVhy call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"
NEWV YORK:
LEWIS COLBY & CO.,
122 NASSAU STREET.
1 853.,




Entered, according  to  Act of Congress, in  the year 1855,
BY LEWIS COLBY,
In  the Clerk's Office of the Southern  District of New  York.
_ ~ _......................... -




IT is with great pleasure that the translator offers to the Christian public, the second number of Neander's Practical Expositions,
believing that it will be found no less interesting than the preceding volume on the Epistle to the Philippians. It is characterized
by the same masterly power of development, the same depth and
fulness of Christian experience. Seed-thoughts crowd every page;
and many single passages, in sublimity of moral sentiment and
beauty of illustration, equal anything which Neander has written.
As being more strictly practical in its character, and elucidating a
portion of the Divine word less understood, it may be even more
generally acceptable and useful than the former Exposition. It
restores to us, so to speak, one of the lost treasures of the church;
for no part of the New Testament has been more misunderstood
and perverted, or suffered more general neglect, than this Epistle.
Luther rejected it without ceremony, calling it "an epistle of
straw;" and many more timid minds have been greatly perplexed
by its apparent contrariety to the doctrines of grace. The discussion of its character and claims, hitherto confined to scholars, is
here presented in a form intelligible and practically useful to common Christians.
By the light of Neander's comprehensive mind, we see in James
not the opponent of Paul, or of the great doctrine of justification




4
by faith alone; but the earnest expounder of that "Law of Liberty," of which justification by faith is the chief corner-stone.
Paul develops the principle; James depicts its results in the life.
Paul unfolds the great love of God towards us; James points out
the tests, whether this love has been received into our hearts and
become there the vitalizing, reigning principle. It is the tree
known by its firuit, the enkindled light by the light which it imparts, the life within by the outward signs of life.  In the personality of James, and the character of the churches whom he addressed, we find the true key to this Epistle.  Placed side by side
with the Sermon on the Mount, it is seen to be a faithful reflection
of that divine original; its whole essence and intent being comprised in those words of our Saviour, which we have prefixed to
this volume as its most appropriate motto: "WNhy call ye me
Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say!"
One opinion advanced in the author's introductory remarks, viz.,
that James was not an Apostle, may not gain the assent of all his
readers.  Neander himself formerly held,* with many other distinguished critics, that this epistle was written by the Apostle
James, the son of Alpheus and of Mary the sister of our Lord's
mother; who, as being the near kinsman of the Lord, was in accordance with Jewish usage called his brother. The writer may
be permitted to suggest that the practical inferences, here so skilfully traced, might be drawn, though not indeed with equal force,
from the author's earlier view.  James, as the Lord's own brother,
or as a near kinsman, must in either case have been subject to
very similar influences, arising from near earthly relationship to
Christ. In the exposition itself, there is nothing at variance with
* Paulus und Jacobus, 1822.




5
either supposition. Nor does either view affect what Neander so
truthfilly says of the relations of the mother of Jesus, and of the
contrast between the earthly and the spiritual; since there were,
as we have every reason to believe, " brothers of the Lord" in the
strictest sense.
To facilitate the use of the translation, the first part has been
divided into sections with a brief statement of the contents of
each, for which the translator is responsible.  The quotations from
the Epistle are given in the words of the English'version, with the
author's variations in brackets wherever they are made the basis
of his view.
The third and last number of this series, the Exposition of the
First Epistle of John, was prepared for the press by the author,
and has been given to the public since his decease.  A translation
of it will follow as soon as practicable.
H. C. C.
RoCHESTER, N. Y., Jan. 1852.








THE EPISTLE OF JAMES.
INTRODUCTION.
~ 1. Diversities in modes of religious development, and in the
consequent forms of faith.
IT is the remark of one of the early Church Fathers, that what Paul says of himself,-viz. that he
became all things to all men, that he might win all
to the Gospel,-is true in a still higher degree
of Him who was in this the Apostle's pattern, of
Christ himself. We see it in that manifold variety
of manner, adapted to all the varieties in human
character and relations, by which, both in his personal labors on earth, and in his spiritual revelations among all nations since his ascension, he has
drawn men to a saving knowledge of himself. His
manner, while laboring upon earth, is indeed an
image of that invisible divine agency extending
through all times, in which he evermore reveals




8
himself as tile same yesterdary, to-clday, and forever.
This diversity Christ himself indicates, in those
parables in which  he descrilbes how the kingcdom.
of God is found; showiang at the same time the
one thing, in nwhich all must finally aglee who
would 1become partakelrs of the kinlgdom  of God,
and the varieties of way and manner in vwhich they
are conducted thither.  Only those attain. to the
kingcdom  of God -who enter it by violence. Only
those find the treasure hidden in the field, \who are
readcy to sell all thea\y 1hanve thlat they may lbecome
possessors of that fielid.  OInly those scnure possession of that precious pear'l, outshining in lbeauty and
splendor all. beside, lwho pi'ize it ablove all else, and(
shun no pains, no cost to Ain it for themlselves,esteemincg all other good as nothing, for the sake
of that one higfhest good, the king'dom of God.
But in ordler to bring 1imen to this decision of
purpose, wnithout wnhich none caln enter the hingdom  of God, they must tbe acted on in various
iways suited to their -various characters and ciricumstances.  Some are like the merlchant, who
having spared no pains or cost to find precious
pearls, at length, througll this earnest andl laborious search, secures pIossession of that richest




9
of all jewels. Such are those, who, impelled by
longing after some satisfying good, already have
sought it long in vain. They have found many
things which satisfy in part; but in the end have
learned, that of all these not one can give the spirit full and lasting satisfaction.  Thus they are
ever beginning the search anew, till at length,
through this ever-renewed effort they attain to
that one highest good, and find in it the full satisfaction which their souls require.  Others again,
seeking no treasure, come unawares upon the field
containing it, and find it as it were by accident.
Such are those, in whom  the longing after the
highest good, the kingcldom of God, has not yet
been awakened; who are surprised by an unsought
gift, which imparts to their souls a satisfaction
never imagined and never sought. The one class,
by a gradual progressive development out of a life,
in which preparative grace had from the first given
tokens of its active presence, quickening  and unfolding by various means the life-germ  in the
higher nature,-had thus been finally drawn into
full fellowship with the Lord..  The other, willing slaves of passions that long withstood the
divine call, had been drawn at length, as by a




10
power that constrained their resisting will, to him
whose love seeks the deliverance of all.
Since now the mode of development is so different in the two cases, so also will be the form
which faith assumes in each. To the one, the new
state to which he has attained will seem but as the
aim and completion of that earlier one, which by
many progressive steps conducted to and ended in
it; and that earlier form of life, out of which he
passed into this new state, will always remain to
him a dear and familiar one. To the view of the
other, the new state will present itself as in direct
opposition to the old. These two forms of conception are both founded in truth; each will, in its
peculiar manner, contribute to the glo:-y and furtherance of Christianity. The first is especially
adapted to show, how all that preceded this new
state was designed to prepare the way for it; and
here the change will manifest itself in a less striking form. The second is certainly the more thorough and profound, —presenting a more complete
development of the new life in its essential nature,
in which it is exalted above all else.
This diversity and variety, observable in the
whole process of development through which




11
Christianity has passed, in the entire history of the
Church, appears also in the earliest stage of that
process belonging to the apostolic age. But in its
later history, we often find these differences,which, as already indicated, should be mutually supplemental, serving each to complete the other,separating the one from the other, and assuming the
attitude of irreconcilable antagonism. The perception of the higher unity is wanting; although
he who can recognize the One Christ in all his
manifestations, partial as they may be and obscured by human narrowness of view, will be able
even from this antagonism to deduce that higher
unity. From this source have sprung those controversies, which have done so much to destroy
rather than to edify. On the contrary, the relation
of the great Teachers of the New Testament to one
another, as exhibited to us in their lives and writings, enables us to view these manifold forms of
conception as mutually completive; not excluding
one another, but belonging together as parts of
the same whole,-the One Christ in the broken
rays of his manifold revelation through various
organs.
It is in this light we are to regard James, the




12
brother of the Lord, as forming the counterpart to
the great Apostle of the Gentiles. That we may be
able rightly to understand and apply his Epistle,
according to the plan adopted in our explanation
of Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, we must first
endeavor to form a distinct idea of his whole PrnSONALITY, as exhibited in the circumstances of his
personal development and in his labors, as well
as in this Epistle.
~ 2. Personal relations and religious development of James.
In reference to the personality of James, the
fact is an important one that he did not belong to
the number of the Apostles.  The Apostles were
formed out of those disciples, who had attached
themselves to the Redeemer with minds still undeveloped, and yielding with childlike susceptibility wholly to his influence.  They had not been
previously formed in another school, before coming
into connection with him. Their whole development they had received in intercourse with him;
and hence they were fitted, in a peculiar manner,
to become vessels of his all-transforming grace, to
receive in themselves a faithful impress of his
image, and to serve as instruments for the diffusion




13
of his word and his spirit through all ages. With
Paul it was far otherwise. He had, indeed, this
in common with the rest of the Apostles, viz. that
he could bear testimony as an eye-witness to the
Risen Christ, and had received an immediate, personal impression of him. But he had come to
Christ, with a well-defined system  formed in a
wholly different school; and hence, in his case, the
new man in Christ must present in its development the strongest possible contrast with his earlier character.
Unlike to both of these cases was that of James.
He was a brother of the Lord according to the
flesh. All those passages of the Gospels in which
" brothers of the Lord" are mentioned, together
with MAatt. i. 2a5, are most naturally explained on
the supposition, that after the birth of Jesus Mary
bore still other sons. These were the " brothers
of the Lord," of whom James was one. Inasmuch
as marriage and the production of offspring, like
everything belonging to our nature, was to be
sanctified through Christ, there is nothing in such
a supposition which is at all questionable, nothing
derogatory to the dignity of the mother of Christ,
or to his own. If anything offensive is found in it,




14
it is owing solely to a mistaken veneration of {Mary,
and to that false ascetic tendency, whose views of
the unholiness of the married state, and of the
superiority of celibacy, are entirely at variance
with the spirit of Christianity. On the contrary,
it is only when thus seen in contrast with the usual
course of nature, that the birth of Jesus, as effected by supernatural agency, appears in its true light
and its true significance.  Christ, as the miraculously begotten son of Mary, then appears in contrast with the offspring of Mary according to the
laws of natural descent; the contrast between
the natural and the supernatural (as Paul desigrnates it, Gal. iv. 23 and 29), between him  that is
born after the spirit and him that is born after
the flesh; the contrast which pervades the whole
process of development in the kingdom of God.
James was therefore, in his religious development, distinguished from the other preachers of
the Gospel, in that it neither proceeded so entirely
and from its first beginnings from Christ himself
as was the case with the other Apostles,-nor
formed itself out of such a contrast between the
earlier and the later, as appears in the case of Paul.
His path of development, originating elsewhere,




15
moved on for a time independently beside that
circle of influences, which had formed itself from
and around Christ, and not till a later period became wholly united with it.
Now it might seem, indeed, that one so closely
connected with the Lord as his own brother, the
daily witness of his life and actions, was the one
fitted above all others to become his disciple; that
one so pre-eminently favored from the first, must
have been in many respects in advance of the
Apostles themselves. On this view was founded
the judgment of the common Jewish Christians,
that they were bound to exalt James above all
other preachers of the Gospel, and to pay special
respect to his authority.
In the estimation thus formed of him, by the
standard of the merely external natural relation to
Christ, we perceive the intermingling of the Jewish spirit in the conception of Christianity,-its
opposite constituting the true Christian standpoint; as, in general, the disposition to the outward and formal in religious things is Jewish,
while the tendency to the inward and spiritual
belongs to the nature of Christianity. The internal and external stand not seldom in inverse pro



16
portion to each other. He who stood in the nearest external relations to the revelation of the kinrgdom of God, to the manifestation of the divine in
humanity, to the appearance of the Son of God, —
might inwardly be farthest from it, and so remain
if he stopped at the external manifestation, if he
accustomed himself to see only with the bodily
eye, and through this habit was hindered fiom
penetrating with the eye of the spirit to that
which was within. This we see in the whole relation of the Jews to the kingdom of God, and to
the Messiah who proceeded from the midst of this
people, destined to prepare the way for his manlifestation.  Christ himself testifies, in opposition to
this outward Jewish tendency, that the external
natural relation is of no account; that all depends
rather on the inward relation, formed by the direction of the mindc and heart; that not natural
relationship, but submission of the soul, can alone
bring one into union with lhim. So on one occasion, when he was occupied with his life-work, the
preaching of the Gospel, among those who listened
to his words with eager and receptive hearts; he
repelled those who would interrupt him  on the
plea that his nearest kindred, his mother and breth



ren, desired to see him. Pointing to the circle
of disciples, in whom the seed of the divine word
was received into the good soil of receptive and
retentive hearts, he saidl: "3y mother and my
brethren are TIIESE, who hear the word of God and
do it."  (Luke viii. 21, ~Mark iii. 34, 35.) Thus the
essential point is not, how one is related to him by
natural descent, but how he is in spirit related to
the divine will revealed by him. HIere also belongs the incident related Luke xi. 27, 28. A
woman, powerfully affected by the divine impression of his words, cried out from the midst of the
listening multitude: "Blessed is the womb that
bare thee, and the breasts which thou hast sucked!" "Yea rather," he replied, implying the vanity of this supposed advantage, " blessed are they'who hear the word of God and keep it!"  Prophetic warnings! Not only against that externalizing tendency, as shown in the admixture of the
old Jewish spirit with Christianity,-but against
that same spirit as it has often, in later times and
under other forms, reappeared in the Christian
Church!
Thus the very thing, which might seem  most
favorable to the religious development of James,




18
turned to his disadvantage. The saying which
Christ used in reference to his fellow-townsmen
among whom the greater part of his life had been
spent, and who had been eye-witnesses of his progressive development from childhood, —" A prophet is of no honor in his own country,"-applies
with equal force to the case of James and his brothers. For the very reason, that they had from
the first been eye-witnesses of the human earthly
development of the Son of Man, they were not
able to penetrate beyond the outward human veil.
It became to them a stone of stumbling. True
they afterwards witnessed the revelation of the
Son of God, both in the inward power of the divine
life perceptible only to the inwardly awakened
sense for the divine, and in those proofs of power
exhibited in his miracles. Still the faith, thus at
times awakened, gave way continually to that
skepticism proceeding from the prejudices of the
natural man, who judges only after the flesh and
by the outward appearance; and thus, during the
whole earthly life of Christ, they remained in this
state of vacillation, wavering between faith and
unbelief. But when that stone of stumbling was
taken out of their way, and the Son of God no




19
longer stood before their eyes in the earthly veil
of the Son of Man; when He, who was believed
dead, showed himself victorious over death and
living in divine power, to those whose weak faith
required such confirmation; it was then, that the
decisive and final direction was given to the development of the religious life of James (1 Cor. xv. 7).
From this time forward we see in him the decided,
unwavering, zealous witness of the faith in that
Jesus, as his Messiah, Lord and Saviour, who had
been his own brother according to the flesh. (James
i. 1.)
~ 3. Stand-point of James as an inspired teacher, and his relation
to Paul.
The manner, however, in which he testified of
Christ, took its character from his previous training and course of life.  He, above all others, stood
on the ground of Jewish piety in the Old Testament forms; and had already completely developed himself within this sphere, when he was led
to that decisive faith in Jesus, as the Messiah
promised in the Old Testament.  From this new
point of view, his previous Judaism unfolded itself
in its true and full import. Christianity now ap



20
pears to hira as the true Judaism. The spirit
which proceeds from Christ explains the forms of
the Old Testament, and leads them to their proper
fulfilment. The position of James is precisely that
taken by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount;
which contains the germ of all that is peculiar to
the Gospel, without expressly declaring the abrogation of the Law; where all is presented under
the idea of the kingdom of God, and the reference
of each particular to the person of Christ, though
everywhere implied and forming the central
point of all, is nowhere asserted in words. Hence
in the development of the divine kingdom, —where
as in all the works of God, the works of grace as
well as of nature, no chasms are allowed but all
proceeds by progressive steps,-James forms a
very important transition-point from the Old to
the New Testament. Something would be wanting to us, if we had not James in the New Testament. And that narrowness of view, which disdains to follow patiently this gradual development,-demanding everywhere and at once the
perfected form,-nay find its punishment in the
consequent incompleteness of its own Christian
knowledge. As a means of leading pious Jews to




21
faith in the Gospel, this position of James was of
special use. Just in proportion as it would have
been detrimental to a Paul, whose mission was the
conversion of the heathen nations, was it advantageous to James in the sphere of labor assigned to
him in Palestine, and particularly in Jerusalem
among unmixed Jews. Thus divine wisdom manifests itself in assigning to each his sphere, his peculiar mission in the development of the kingdom of
God, adapted to his peculiar qualifications. The
sole concern is that each rightly fulfil his appointed mission, understand and faithfully adhere to his
prescribed limits; while at the same time he recognizes the divine call in him also, to whom as the
possessor of other gifts another sphere of labor has
been assigned,-and is willing to regard their several spheres as each the complement of the other.
Such was the relation of James to Paul.
James did indeed know, from the first, what the
voice of prophecy had indicated, of the coming extension of Jehovah's worship among the heathen
nations, and of their participation in the blessings
of the divine kingdom,-a glory which belonged
to Messianic times,-and also that this was to be
fulfilled through Christ as the Messiah. But the




22
possibility of a worship of Jehovah except in the
old legal forms, or of a participation in the kingdom. of God in any other way, remained hidden
from him at first, even after he had attained to a
settled faith in Jesus as the Messiah. The intiations in the discourses of Christ that his word
should become the leaven, which, by an indwellinc power alone and independently of all else,
should penetrate the life of humanity; in Jews
and Gentiles alike leavening all and forming it
anew; that the new spirit of Christianity should
burst asunder and break through the forms of
legal Judaism; these intimations he did not yet
understand. This belonged to those things of
which Christ said, in his parting words to his disciples, that what they could not yet comprehend
should afterwards be revealed to them  by the
HolyT Spirit.  But this revelation of the Holy
Spirit was not imparted to all at the same time,
nor in the same way. This too was determined
by the different stand-points from which they had
attained to faith in the Gospel. Accordingly,
more or less of preparation might be required for
leading them to that more perfect knowledge; it
might be effected more by a process of thought




23
inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, and thus
enabled to develop and apprehend the whole sum
of revealed truth, —or it might be more the effect
of immediate illumination by the Divine Spirit.
In the history of the church, we meet with many
melancholy examples of opposition and estrangement, when the spiritual insight attained by one
is still withheld from another, and the one thus becomes free from the narrow limits in which the
other is still confined.  Even in the apostolic
church, this was the source of much disunion and
division.
But James was far from that narrow obstinacy
of temper, which would not allow any stand-point
but his own; would permit no opposing facts to
influence his convictions,-promptly rejecting the
truth revealed to others because it was not imparted through him, and thus setting bounds to
the farther development of the kingdom of God.
When, at the apostolic conference (Acts xv.), the
controverted point respecting the observance of
the 3Mosaic law was for the first time discussed,
and Peter and Paul bore testimony to the effects
of the Gospel among believing Gentiles, who had
not submitted to circumcision, nor in any other




24
respect to the observance of the Law; these undeniable facts were proof enough for James, that
throughll faith in the Saviour, the same divine
results were produced  among the heathen as
among believing Jews.  In this he saw a fulfilment of the Old Testament predictions; and he
now learned their true aim and import, as he had
never understood it before. The mild conciliating
spirit of James is shownT, lby the manner in whikch
he sought to reconcile the differences between
the Jewish and Gentile Christians.  I-e could do
justice to a stand-point wholly different from his
own. Believing Gentiles, on the ground of their
faith merely, were to be admitted to eqluality with;
believing Jews in the fellowship of the divine
kingdom; only, for the furtherance of harmony
with believers from amlong the Jews, they were to
conform in certain external points, which rnighbt also
serve to withhold them from particilpation in everything connected with heathen worship. But while
James recognized the equalityS of churches consisting of uncircumlcised Gentiles, and allowed to the
preaching of the Gosplel,among the Gentiles its
own rights as an independent cal     lie at the
same time remained true to his own peculiar stand-.




25
point, according to which the old forms were to be
continued as depositories of the new spirit, and the
Jews were to retain their religious nationality unchanged. Still, as we see firom the Acts of the
Apostles, he was ever the mediator between Paul
and the zealots among the Jewish Christians, who
were prejudiced against him. Here too he always
conducted in the same spirit of mildness and conciliation.
~ 4. Character and condition of the Churches to whom the
Epistle was addressed, and nature of the errors against which
it was directed.
In order now to understand and rightly apply
the Epistle of James, we must endeavor to form a
distinct conception of those to whom  it was addressed, and whose peculiar circumstances he had
especially in view.
We can, indeed, say nothing definite in regard
to the region where these churches are to be
sought.  The Epistle itself furnishes only general
information, sufficient, however, for the practical
purposes we have now in view.  The essential
points are these: There were churches consisting
exclusively of Christians of Je wish origin, in which
all the practical errors of Judaism were associated
2




26
with. faith in Jesus as the Messiah; and in which
there were many, who gave little or no evidence
of the new creation which is the necessary product of that faith.
That wholly earthly direction of mind, which
was often connected with false zeal for the honor
of God; the insatiable love of gain, and consequent
divisions from the clashing of selfish interests;
these were the faults which they had brought
with them  from their earlier Jewish state, into
their new Christian relation.  The aristocracy of
wealth held in check the pervading spirit of Christian love, whose office it is to repress and triumph
over all earthly distinctions.  Instead of being obliterated by that spirit of love, the distinctions
caused by the unequal distribution of wealth, were
recognized and maintained at the expense of that
fraternal relation, which should characterize a community of Christians. Furthermore, it belonged to
the defects of this false Jewish spirit, that, instead
of regarding piety as a whole, proceeding from the
inward temper of the heart and embracing the entire life; it held only to particular observances of
the outward life, in which piety should manifest
itself, —that tendency to the external in religion of




27
which we have spoken. This manifested itself in
the great value attached to external descent from
the theocratic people, to circumcision and the
works of the Law, making justification dependent
thereon. This same spirit now passed over to the
Jewish Christians; and became especially prominent, wherever they had the ascendency in opposition to Gentiles and Gentile Christians.
This tendency was one which, from its very nature, belongs exclusively to no age; it rwas no
mere thing of the past, extinguished with Judaism
once for all, and never to reappear in the Christian
church. The declaration of the preacher of wisdom
is applicable here,-that " what has been will be,
and there is nothing new under the sun."  What
we here term the Jewish spirit, had not its origin
in anything inherent in Judaism as a divine institution; but is to be referred rather to the nature
of the unrenewed man, drawing down  the divine
to his own level, and seeking to appropriate it to
himself without renouncing his own peculiar nature.
Now as the nature of the unrenewed man remains
ever the same, there must at all times proceed
from it this same erroneous tendency, which we
may characterize as in its spirit and nature Jewish.




28
This Jewish spirit shows itself equally, when the
unrenewed nature of man mingles its disturbing influence with the conception of Christianity. It is
seen in the disposition to value one's self on the
ground of descent from a Christian people, or from
some particular nation distinguished in earlier
times for its piety, and on this account assigned a
more conspicuous place in the history of God's
kingdom; without considering that if his own
life does not correspond to the peculiar character
and position of such a people, this connection,
instead of being his glory, will become his condemnation.  So is it also with pretensions based
on a father's pious deeds, without any effort to
imitate his example.  So is it when connection
with a particular church is made one's only boast,
his sole ground of hope, and no importance is
attached to the practice of genuine Christianity;
when, in short, in the outward organization of the
church, the essence of Christianity itself is forgotten.  In each and all of these cases, we perceive
the same practical error of the Jewish spirit.  So
if we base our confidence on a zealous devotion to
the external observances of Christian worship, attendance upon divine service, the celebration of




29
the sacraments, without going beyond the outward
form; this is in spirit precisely the same, as that
Jewish reliance upon circumcision and the works
of the Law. The name alone is changed; the
thing itself remains the same. Hence all the
arguments and warnings against such a tendency,
which we find in Paul's Epistles, may be applied
with equal propriety to these same practical errors
in every age of the church, although the particular
forms of it with which he contended may exist no
longer.
It does not appear ifidied, in the Epistle of
James, that he combats this tendency in precisely
these forms, as is the case in Paul's writings. Yet
is the root, the essential tendency, the same. He
is obliged to instruct his readers in the nature of
true religion,-wherein that form of religion, of
which they made so much account, must therefore
have been deficient. It is only a different form of
development which is here treated of; the same
radical tendency is too obvious to be mistaken.
There were two leading forms of this tendency.
One of these consisted in an undue estimation of
outward works of the Law. The other exalted
the mere knowledge of the Law, of the true God




30
and of what pertains to his worship, into the principal thing; and on the ground of knowledge
merely, —of the mere profession of belief, of faith
simply as an act of the understanding,-claimed
superiority over the Gentiles, although the course
of life by no means corresponded to this knowledge
and outward profession. Paul likewise combats,
in the second chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, this false reliance on mere knowledge of the
Law. Of the same character was that dead learning in the Scriptures, such as Christ condemned in
the Pharisees, who thought that in them they had
eternal life, and yet would not be directed by them
to him who alone could bestow eternal life. The
consequence was, that each one was anxious to gain
currency for his own religious views, to set himself
up as a teacher for others, without first taking care
to mould his own character in conformity with divine truth. Hence arose the contests between these
would-be teachers; another form of that bias to
the external and the literal, but springing from
the same root as those before described,-no less
capable of co-existing with an ungodly life, and of
serving as a support for it.
The question now arises,-does the false idea of




31
faith and the over-estimation of mere faith, which
James opposes in this Epistle, belong also to this
same radical tendency; or are we to regard it as
something different, and derived from  another
source? Do we find here so clear a reference to
the Pauline idea of faith, as to make the conclusion
necessary, that the doctrine of justification by faith,
as taught by Paul, had been misunderstood and
misapplied in these churches? Some might have
imagined, that they could glory in justification
solely by faith in the Redeemer, while they continued to live in the practice of sin. Against such
misunderstanding and perversion, Paul himself
seeks to guard his doctrine, in many passages of
the Epistle to the tRomans. In later times,-when
the doctrine which Paul made it his especial object
to maintain in opposition to Judaism and judaizing
teachers, had been re-established in its rights by
Luther, in opposition to a Jewish spirit which had
once more crept into the church; there then followed a new service of the letter, a new phase of
this tendency to outward forms, and again the
connection between faith and life was rent asunder.
Much which James says of this tendency in his




32
day, might be applied to this case with equal propriety.
This question, whether James is here contending
agoainst a misapprehension of the Pauline doctrine,
or has no reference whatever to it, —is by no
means necessarily connected with the question of
the relation of Paul's teaching to that of James.
James might have intended to oppose a misunderstanding of Paul's doctrine,-nay, even the doctrine
itself, if he had first met with it in this erroneous
form, without previous understanding with Paul
in regard to his object; and yet a perfect harmony
might be slhown to exist between the two methods
of exhibiting truth, each serving as the complement of the other. For it may easily happen,
when one man has formed,-in accordance with
his peculiar course of training, and the bearing of
the counter-view which is before his mind,-his
own peculiar mode of conceiving and stating a
truth; that the very opposition made to it by
another, conceiving the same truth from a different
point of view, may show their essential agreement,-what was intended to counteract serving
only to explain and complete. Thus a representation of Christian truths, even if called forth by op



33
position to the peculiarly Pauline form of doctrine,
mirght have found place as a completinl  link, in
that collection of writings containingo tlhe original
pure revelation of Christian truth.  Both  these
forms of conception and teaching  lihllt constitute
parts of the same whole, as beingr mutually comlpletive, in the one revelation of -the Holy Spirit
throiugh different humnan organs inspired by hiln.
Their relation to each other must therefore be especially considered hereafter."
Now although it is possible that such a form of
externalizing, as the one we have mentioned, might
attach itself to the Pauline doctrine, and though,
as we harve seen, this was afterwards actually the
case; the question still remains, whether wve are
justified in assuming this in regard1 to the particular churches brought to our know-ledge in this
Epistle.  It was in chlurches like these, for.med
among, Jews and exclusively of Jewish converts,
that a perversionl of the _Pauline doctrine nwas most
unlikely to arise; inmasmulch as thle Pauline standpoint was one with which they hadc  nothing in
c.omlmon.  The Pauline vieiw of faith plresupposes
the strongly marked distinction between Law and
* Page 36.
2*




34
Gospel, a doctrinal position opposed to legal righteousness, to the merit of one's own works.  Opposition to the Jewish tendency to externals was the
precise ground on which it planted itself; and
where that tendency prevailed, a perverted form
of this view could as little gain admission as the
view itself.
But to resume our question: may not this particular error,-the false idea of faith and over-estimation of mere faith, —which James opposes, be
also traced back to the same radical tendency?
Let us only compare what precedes and what follows the discussion of this topic in the second
chapter. It is preceded (chap. i.) by a rebuke
of those who founded an imaginary claim on the
mere hearing of the word, on the mere knowledge
of it, without holding themselves bound to practise
it; to which is added the rebuke of a mere fancied and seeming service of God. What now is
this but that very same spirit of reliance on the
external, which manifests itself in a mere adherence to certain articles of faith,-faith in the
one true God, the MAessiah,-and on this ground
alone claims to be righteous, without recognizing
the demands of this faith upon the life?  As




35
knowledge and practice are at war with each
other, so are faith and life. A merely theoretical
faith corresponds exactly to a merely theoretical
knowledge. The same man, who satisfies himself
with being able to discourse much of the law
without obeying it, is also the one who makes a
boast of his faith, without holding himself bound
to the practice of that which faith requires. The
same man who finds the essence of religion in certain external works, and claims to be a true worshiper of God merely on the ground of professing
the true religion, is the one also who claims to be
accounted righteous through a faith which produces no works. If we turn now to what follows
(chap. iii.), we find that James is here rebuking
those who were ever ready to exalt themselves
into teachers of others; but who, by teaching
what they did not practise, made themselves the
more liable to condemnation. What then is this
but that same radical tendency over again? And
on what ground should we be justified in rending
the intermediate passage from its connection, and
making it refer to something else, the explanation
of which must be sought elsewhere than in this
one radical tendency?




36
It is true, that in the manner of meeting these
errors, which we will now further consider, James
is distinguished in a peculiar way from Paul.  It
is the more practical man in contrast with the more
systematic; the man to whose wholly Jewish development, faith in Christ was superadded as the
crown and completion,-in  contrast with him,
whose faith in Christ took the form of direct opposition to his earlier Jewish views, as the centre
of a wholly new creation. IIence with James,
opposition to error takes more the form of single
propositions and exhortations; with Paul it is a
connected view, in which all proceeds from  one
central point. With James the reference to Christ
appears only as one particular among others, a
peculiarity especially objected to this Epistle, as
if Christ were not to be found in it; while with
Paul, on the contrary, the chief object is to exalt
Christ, who is everywhere placed foremost, and is
everywhere represented as the centre of the whole
life, from whom  all is derived, to whom all is referred.  But yet, in these single propositions and
admonitions of James,  we are able to trace the
higher unity lying at the basis; and can show that
all have reference to Christ as the living centre,




37
even though he is not expressly named. There
may be a form of moral development, which receives its true light and its true significance through
reference to Him as its centre and source, although
he is not expressly recognized by name; and his
name may be often on the lips, while yet the
whole inward character has formed itself without
reference to Him. In this light we must now endeavor to understand the controversial and admonitory passages of this Epistle.
The churches to whom it was addressed consisted of rich and poor; and undoubtedly the
latter were the more numerous class among the
Christians. We know that the Gospel everywhere,
and especially among the Jews, found freer entrance
with the poor and lowly than among the rich and
powerful. Not that riches in themselves exclude
from the kingdom of God, or necessarily form a
hindrance to faith in the Gospel. When Christ
says, that it is easier for a camel to go through a
needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of God, he means such as he who gave
occasion to these words; those to whom,-though
perhaps unconsciously,-the earthly is the highest
good; whose treasure being on earth cannot, there



38
fore, be in heaven; whose heart belongs to the
earth where their treasure is, and is therefore far
from that direction towards heaven, without which
no one can ever share in its blessedness.  Indeed
he himself adds in the samue connection, that although the salvation of a rich man is impossible
with men, i. e. by mere human means, yet with
God all is possible.  He would say by this, that
divine help is needful, in order that riches may not
prove a hindrance to the attainment of the kingdom  of God. This then is the import of the
words; not that riches in themselves are a hindrance to this object, but that misdirection of the
affections into which the rich man more than
others is liable to fall. The rich should be awakened to a consciousness of this, and should be incited by a sense of the difficulties inherent in his
case, to apply to God for the strength which he
needs; that even while in possession of all earthly
riches, he may still keep his treasure in heaven
andcl his heart directed thither. In this Epistle
itself we learn what is necessary to the rich for
this purpose. Yet though riches are not, in themselves, a hindrance to participation in the kingdom
of God, still it was often the case among the Jews,




39
that the rich and mighty forgot in worldly enjoyments the higher wants of the inner man; lost the
fixed consciousness of dependence on Him, whose
power confers and disposes all; imagining that they
possessed all things, they had no room left for the
feeling of want and of the necessity of deliverance
from it. Thus too in the Old Testament, the rich,
the proud, and the ungodly are often ranked together as of one class.
But every external situation may become, according to one's temper of mind, either a help or
a hindrance to salvation; and nothing can here
injure or promote his interests independently of
his own will. Thus may poverty also, —that physical want which depresses the spiritual nature,
which prevents the inner man from awaking to
self-consciousness, and to the feeling of his higher
spiritual wants, —prove an obstacle to the attainment of the kingdom of God. Poverty, too, has
its peculiar dangers, and this is not overlooked in
this Epistle. In general, however, it was the poor
and lownly, pining under the oppressions of the
rich and powerful, and under the pressure of physical want, who most readily felt the need of deliverance from spiritual want, from inward poverty




40
of soul. On this feeling of physical need, could
more easily be engrafted that consciousness of the
soul's necessities, throutgh which they might be
conducted to the Saviour.  As in their case, there
was nothing to deceive the soul into a seeming
satisfaction of its wants, they could the more easily
be drawn to that which furnished the true satisfaction for all its higher necessities.  Moreover,
the poor in this world coulcd more readily than
the rich attain to that poverty of spirit, to which,
as Christ says, belongs the kingodom  of Heaven.
Thus the Gospel found, among the Jews, a readier
reception fiom the poor than from  the rich; and
on this account, Christians were reproachfully
called The Poor.  We do not mean by this, that
all these poor who received the Gospel, had been
led to it by true poverty of spirit, and had thus
been prepared to receive, as poor and needy, the
true riches of the Gospel.  Among them  too was
to be found the influence of that carnal mind
which prevailed among the Jews, —-begetting, not
the true hope of the heavenward directed spirit,
but rather the expectation of a recompense for
bodily privations in the imagined carnal enjoyments of the kingdom  of Christ. Now the faith




41
of such, if we choose to call it by that name, had
its source in the carnal mind of the natural man;
and hence, the earlier form of this natural man
was transferred with them out of Judaism into a
professed Christianity,-where it was, as we shall
see, opposed and rebuked by James.
As the poorer and lower class, the Christians
had, as we have intimated, much to suffer from the
persecution and oppression of the powerful and
rich; partly on account of their religion, partly for
the promotion of selfish interests, their religion
serving as the pretext. The rich who called themselves Christians without being so,in truth, were
infected with the common vice of the rich among
the Jews, and failed in the exercise of love and
even justice towards their poorer brethren in the
faith. Accordingly, we find in this Epistle words
of consolation and encouragement for the oppressed
and suffering, and of rebuke for the rich both
within and without the church.








EXPOSITION
OF THE EPISTLE.
ITs opening words are addressed to the Suffering, —exhorting them to steadfastness and
submission. "My brethren, count it all joy
when ye fall into divers temptations." The idea of
temptation is a comprehensive one in the Scriptures.
By it is designated, whatever may become an obstacle or impediment to Christian faith and Christian virtue,-prosperity and adversity, the world
without and the world within; everything which,
though it may indeed occasion the overthrow of
faith and virtue in the conflict, thus puts them to
the test, and may therefore serve also to confirm
and strengthen them.. In this more general sense
it might, in itself considered, be understood here.
But it is evident from the connection that here, as
in many other passages, are meant the sufferings by




44
which the Christian life is tried.  Now to those
who sigh under sufferings such as we have described, he addresses not merely the exhortation,
to bear them patiently in the prospect of future
glory. Far more than this. The feeling of suffering should lose itself in joy. They should do
nothing but rejoice. I-ow could James say this?
It was because with him all has reference to what
is noblest in luan, what constitutes his true being,
the imperishable, the inner man as it is termed by
Paul. And knowing that these temptations, rightly used, must serve for the improvement of the
inner man, and for this purpose were ordained of
God; he therefore calls upon Christians not to be
disquieted, but to rejoice in these sufferings, bearing in mind the end which they must promote for
the children of God. The right improvement of
suffering, on Christian grounds, is therefore presupposed, as indicated by James in the succeeding
words: " Knowing that the trial of your faith
worketh patience." It is here implied, that faith
has its appointed process of development and purification in this life, —a process consisting in an unceasing conflict. Faith is in his view something
radically different from, and elevated above, every




45
other governing principle in man; something endued with an inward divine power; which must,
however, approve itself in conflict with this opposing power, with all which proceeds from the
flesh, from  the natural man. There are indeed
manifold trials of faith, and to all these the words
of James apply. But it is the conflict with external circumstances, which is here especially meant.
Here then is it to be tested, whether the faith is
genuine, deep-rooted in the inner life; such an one
as, through indwelling divine power, is able to
overcome the world. The opposite case is presented by Christ, in what he says of the stony
ground; where indeed the seed of the word springs
up quickly, but soon withers because it has no sap
(Luke viii. 6); a conviction which is not a firm
and deeply rooted one, and in time of temptation
vanishes away (v. 13). But so long as faith approves itself in this warfare, holds out in the conflict with the world, it demonstrates thereby its
divine power. The test becomes an attestation.
From the victorious contest faith comes forth with
a confirmed constancy, and constancy manifests
itself as a fruit of faith. It is by this means that
the Christian first learns what he himself possesses.




46
But James well understood the character of the
churches whom he addressed; and that
Ch. i. 4, 5.]
among them the idea of faith was liable
to the perversion of which we have spoken. It is
everywhere his aim to counteract this one-sided
tendency to the particular and the external. Hence
he adds, that even if faith had thus approved itself as steadfast, in these outward conflicts with
the world, yet this one thing alone would not constitute the Christian life. In manifold directions,
must faith pervade the entire life, and manifest its
power. " Let steadfastness," he adds (or as Luther
translates it, patience),'" have its perfect work."
Luther understood this of time; it was to approve
itself as perfect by persevering even to the end.
But from the connection with what follows, and
from the whole connection and course of thought
in the Epistle, we should rather understand it thus:
To the faith which has approved itself as steadfast,
must correspond all the works pertaining to faith,
the entire sum of the acts in which faith expresses
its inward character. But James, in reference to
the unity of the whole Christian life, designates the
entire Christian course, all Christian action, as one
perfect work,-as must be the case in order to




47
correspond to true faith. Thus we can rightly
understand what he immediately adds: " that ye
may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing;" implying that with persevering faith connects itself
the whole sum of the true Christian walk. By
completeness is not meant an absolute perfection,
nowhere to be found in the Christian life on earth;
but, as often elsewhere in the Scriptures, all which
belongs to Christian maturity, to what Paul terms
Christian manhood, —as by wholeness (" entire")
is meant the exclusion of whatever would mar the
Christian life. When he desires that they may be
wanting in nothing, he has in mind the aggregate
of all qualities, powers, and capacities which Christianity develops, when its efficacy is fully proved
as a leaven for the entire nature of man. Hence
he subjoins a direction, intended to encourage
them under the consciousness of any deficiency in
this respect. He shows them what they must
themselves do, if they would attain to that also,
in which they are still deficient. What he might
have expressed in wholly general terms, applicable
to everything in which they might be conscious
of deficiency, he applies (with his usual preference
for the specific over the general idea) to that




48
point especially wherein these particular churches
might feel, or ought to feel, their need. Above
all things was needed true wisdom, to give to the
whole life its proper reference to the kingdom of
God. Wisdom, or prudence (for which in the
original the same word is used,-the prudence
grounded in wisdom and subservient to it, the
prudence of wisdom, of Christian love, being alone
regarded as genuine) is by our Lord himself often
held up as the chief object of attainment. But, as
already remarked, there prevailed in these churches,
as a fruit of the Jewish spirit, a proneness to a
vain show of wisdom, to the over-estimation of
mere knowledge, the conceit of knowledge and
wisdom. So much the more did. they need to be
admonished, that true wisdom is based upon humility; that it is not to be learned in the schools
from Doctors of the Law; that it can be obtained
only from the fountain of eternal light. Hence
James adds to what he has already said, "If any
of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally [with simplicity], and upbraideth not: and it shall be given him." Thus he
counsels them, when they feel the consciousness of
their deficiencies, to turn to God in prayer. God is




49
designated as he who gives with simplicity, i. e.
out of pure love, for the mere sake of giving,simplicity being here contrasted with a liberality
apportioned and limited by self-interest.  He is
represented as he who reproaches no one with his
benefits, but who is ever ready still to give, if there
only exists a susceptibility for his gifts.  They
should not turn then to such teachers as hold back
fi'om them  a part of the truth, impart to them
grudgingly, and reproach them with their indebtedness; but to the love of a Heavenly Father, who
gives without measure and is ever ready to give.
It is prayer, therefore, which James represents
as the condition required of the believer, in order
that he may share in the communication fiom that
heavenly fountain. This is the necessary relation
between impacting and receiving in divine things.
God alone being the Creator and Bestow er, the
human spirit can here only hold the attitude of a
recipient. And this direction of the spirit, in order
to receive what God is ready to impart, consists in
prayer. The direction of the soul towards God in
the feeling of personal need, and in the conviction
that God alone can and will satisfy it, the longing
towards God of the spirit hungering and thirsting
3'2




50
after visdom, this is prayer.  To seek the truth
from  God, and to pray, are one and the sa'me
thinlg.  TLhe whole life of the spirit, filled with
this longing and impelled by it towards God, is
prayer.  So in those wnords of Christ,-to seek, to
knock, in order to find the hid treasure, and to pray,
are all classed together: 6 Ask  and'it shall be
given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it
shall be opened unto you." (Mlatt. vii. 7.)
But in addressing churches so ensnared by tendencies to the outward in religiorn, it was
Oh. i. 6-8.]
all the more necessary to  warn  them
against this in respect to prayer  w1vhich only then
deserves the name, when it is tile voice of the spirit
itself, breathed from  its inmost depths; lest they
should snppose prayer in words, without that direction of the soul to God, to be all that was required.
This -warningc is contained in the following wotrds:;"But let him  ask in faith, nothing  waverinc'."
Trust in God is here represented as that direction
of the spirit, from  which prayer must proceed.
To the eye of faith God must be present, as IHe
to whom  the prayer is directed.  There must be
the assurance, that he can  and will supply the
wants uttered before him, in order that it may be




51
true prayer, prayer of the heart and not merely of
the lips.  The reason is immediately added, why
prayer of the opposite character will not be heard.
"For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea,
driven with the wind and tossed." Thus the steadfast direction of the soul to God is essential to
prayer. But where there is doubt, there this
ruling bias of the soul towards God is wanting.
When, on the one side, the soul feels itself drawn
towards God, and trust in Him begins to awaken;
then on the other, the worldly tendency asserts
itself, and strives to check the budding emotions
of faith and trust.  Hence the man, who is drawn
hither and thither by conflicting inclinations, is
compared to the wave, driven to and fro by storm
and flood.  James represents such a man as one
who is at variance with himself, one in whom
there exist, as it were, two souls;' who is unstable
in all his ways, fickle-minded, unreliable in all his
actions.  Such is the character of his whole life,
and his prayer answers to his life. In this it is
implied, therefore, that prayer must be in consonance with the steadfast direction of the whole
* Eng. version, double-minded. —Ta,




52
life towards God; all must originate in one and
the same temper of heart.
But here the question may be asked: How is
this faith which is essential to prayer, to be obtainedc?  Is one to abstain from prayer, because
he lacks this measure of faith?  But as in the
words of our Lord above quoted, it is the necessary condition on which every gift of God is bestowed, that we knock, that we seek, that we ask
of God; most surely faith is to be included, which
is the gift of Godl, and always represented as something divinely wrought in lman.  He who is conscious of his lack of faith, who desires to believe
more, to become stronger in faith, must in this
also seek of God that wherein he is wanting.  As
that unhappy father in the Gospel narrative, of
whom believing confidence was required in order
to the healing of his son, cried out under a sense
of the weakness of his faith, " Lord, help my unbelief!"; so will the feeling of that want of which
we are speaking, of that lack of faith which stands
opposed to true prayer, itself impel to prayer for
strength to believe. He who is assaulted by doubts
will turn his back upon doubt,-upon the world
which threatens to ensnare his soul in unbelief,




and will look to God; turning away from  doubt,
he will give hinself to prayer.  Thus through
prayer will faith increase, and the strengthened
faith will in its turn lend new power, new wings
to prayer.
Thus have we seen how James, beginning with
the exhortation to steadfastness under suf[Oh. i. 9-11.
ferings, was led on from one suggestion to
another. Turning now his thoughts to the poor,
who constituted a majority of these Christians, and
who had much to suffer froml the oppression of the
rich, he addresses to them  the consoling words:
"Let the brother of low degree rejoice [glory] in
that he is exalted."  Instead of being cast downT
by the sense of his poverty, his low estate in respect to earthly relations, the Christian should
rather feel himself raised above them, by the consciousness of an exaltation transcending all height
of worldly honor; of that divine exaltation which
is founded in the divine life, in the dignity of the
Sons of God. This glorying he enjoins, with no
occasion to apprehend self-exaltation; for the
glory here spoken of is not one which man owes
to his own powers and efforts; it is a dignity bestowed on him by God alone. This glorying is,




54
therefore, the very opposite of all pride and selfexaltation, and can exist only in connection with
true humility. But as this dignity is not adjudged
to the poor on account of their poverty, so are the
rich by no means excluded from it by their riches;
althoug'h as we have already shown, these may to
many become a hindrance in the way of their attainin:g it.  To tile rich, too, the way is pointed
out, by which they may attain to that high dignity.  "Let the rich," says James, " glory in that
lhe is made low."  That is: by humblingl himself
on account of that which passes with the world as
great, he attains to the consciousness of that true
dignity, which springs only fiom  a sense of the
nothingness of all earthly greatness.  By this conviction of the worthlessness of his earthly riches,
he is prepared to appropriate as his own the true
riches, the only true dio'nity.  Self-abasement is
the patlh to true exaltation.  So long as the rich
man  prides himself upon his wealth, and fancies
that tlherein he possesses the true riches, the feeling of necessity for heavenly possessions, for true
greatness, will not germinate in his heart.  This
very feeling of need, this desire, is the necessary
condition of persona] participation.  Thus poor




55
and riCh anon10      Christian brethren, must be Inited
to each other by the same consciousness of equal
dignity.  Janies -then goes on to picture the vanity
of riches, by imagCes dra,8wn from lthe natural scenery
of the iEast.  Like the fresh grass, -which at morni;"n  stands  in all its flowery splendor, but nuider
the scorchinio lbreath of the south wind suddenly
-withers and dies, so will the rich man perish in
his ways..As he has his treasure only in earthly
things, and hbas wholly merged hlimrself in themi, to
him  is tranlsferred what is said of thle vanity of
those possessions, wlhicih he has macde his all.'But the sufferings of the oppressedi Chlistians are
ever before tle mlind of James.  TTa vin g
Fch. i. 12-5.S
spoklen of these sufferings as trials for
the verifyin"g of their faith, lie now extols as happy
the righ'teouzs who encdures teemptation; since, by
thus app rovin  himself, he would win the victol's
crowln of eternal life, which the n Lord has promised
to all -who love him.   3ut how shall wre reconcile
Awith -this thle warnv7ing, not to ascribe temptations
to God, nAwhich James immediately adds?  Does 11he
not ret-aild God, as ha ving hinmself ordained these
su-fferings as a means of testing' faith?  But there
are different applications of this termn, and we lmust




distinguish between outward and inward temptation.  The difficulties which beset one from without, may serve to awaken in him the latent power
of the higher life.  But they may also show his
inward weakness,-may become the point of connection for that which stands opposed  to the
divine life.  That which might otherwise have
been the -means of attesting, his faith or Christian
virtue, through his own falllt becomes temlptation
to unbelief or to sin. Thus the outAwlar(d temptation
becomes an inward one, and thereby endang-ers the
soul. When Christ bids us pray: Lea(d us not into
temptation, this can certainly be no othe.r than inward temptation; for his disciples vwere to be left
behind, in the midst of those temptation* of the
world which should serve as tests of their faith. The
object of the petition must have been, that the outward might not become an inward temptation. In
like manner, James, in his use of the word, passes
from one of these related ideas to the other.
But he must have found special retason for this
warning in the peculiar state of these churches;
and the explanation is to be sought in that same
spirit of externalizing, of nwhich we have alreadly
spoken.  As this spirit shows itself in the concep



57
tion of what is good, so does it also in the conception of sin. At no time have there been wanting
grounds of excuse for sin; which men have regarded as something cleaving to them from without,
and have sought its origin in merely external
causes, instead of tracing it to its inward source in
the faulty direction of the will. So it would seem
that many in these churches excused themselves,
on the plea that they were in subjection to a
higher power, which hurried them away into sin.
The Almighty, whom no one is able to withstand,
has plunged them into these temptations. To this
James replies: " Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God;" for as God cannot be
tempted by aught that is evil, being elevated
above all evil, so neither from him can temptation
to sin proceed. The Holy One can tempt none to
sin. He then lays open the fountain of temptation
in man's own bosom, and describes the process by
which the sinful tendency gains ground in progressive steps, till its final development in outward act.
The source of temptation, he represents as lying in
those desires inherent in every man, by which he
is excited and led away; which lie in wait for him,
as it were, but which he has power to withstand.
3*




58
They gain strength only because they are not resisted; because he who might subject them to himself, submlits himself to them. Thus prevailing,
thus ripened into fruit, lust bringeth forth sin;
and sin completed in act is followed by death.
We are by no means to infer, as is clear fiom
the connection of thought in this passage, that
these desires are not in their own nature sinful;
or that the prevailing sinful tendency of the will
would not involve death, even if it should find no
expression in outward act, as though all turned on
the outward act alone. Tle thought is this: Evil,
from the first breaking forth of desire, proceeds on
in ascending stages of development, until,-overpowering  all the opposing influences of the higher
life, —it is consummated in act. In this consummation in act is shown an increased strength of sin;
and though man was previously able, by overcoming the enticements to sin, to maintain and to reestablish in himself the true life; yet now, through
sin which has gained the victory over him, he falls
a prey to death.  James, therefore, warns them
against indulging in such false and delusive ideas,
as that God can be the author of evil.
Having thus directed them to look for the source




of temptation in themselves alone, and warned
themi against supposilng that temptations
[Ch.  i. 16, 17.
could come from God; he now further
opposes to this delusion the thought,-that only
whatever is good, whatever is true, proceeds from
Him. As he is the Father of all material light,
so is he also the Father of all spiritual light. With
him, therefore, can be no alternation of light and
darkness. Froml him, the unchangeable fountain
of light raised above all darkness, nothing which
tempts to evil can proceed.  As light and all that
is good, so darkness and all that is evil, are uniformly classed together in the Holy Scriptures.
From  this general thought, James now passes
again to its application to himself and his
[ch. i. is.
readers. To God alone were they indebtedl
also for the dawning of the divine light on them,
and for the new life thereby imparted.  "Of his
own will begat he us, with the word of truth, that
we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures."
We here perceive in James, as in Paul, the opposite of the Jewish tendency to the outward.  HIe
presupposes in the Christian a moral transformation, wrought from within. The word of truth,
the divine power of the Gospel, is that whereby




60
the new higher life has been produced.  He too
describes this as something not consequent upon
any human desert; all are indebted for it to the
will of Him from whom  all good proceeds.  IIe
too characterizes this moral transformation as a
new creation. Those in whom it was first effected,
he describes as the first-born of this creation;
since fioom them it should continue to spread, till
its final completion in a world pervaded and transformed by the divine principle of life.
But it is ever the manner of James to pass at once
from the general to the particular; a trait
Ch. i. 19-21.]
originating partly in his own personal
character, partly from the peculiar practical necessities of those to wbhom he was writing. He knew
their disposition to content themselves with the
general thought, without making an application
of it to their own life.  To incite them  to this
was his constant aim. He therefore proceeds at
once to show how the divine wordl, eceived into the
soul as the generative principle of the new creation,
must manifest itself in the course of life. Neither
does this take the form  of a mere generality in
his mind; but he passes directly to the special application most opposed to the practical errors of




61
these churches. WYe have already remarked on
the propensity among them to assume the office
of teacher,-the inclination to talk much and to do
little; how they were thus led to pass judgment
lightly upon others, to revile them, and how every
passion found herein its nourishment.  Against
this he warns them in the words: " Wherefore, my
beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath." One extreme must
be driven out by the other. There is a self-willed
silence, and there is a self-willed forwardness to
speak. He who is inclined to be too inert and
passive, to hold his peace when he ought to speak
out boldly, must be exhorted not to give himself
thus wholly to silence, but to be willing to speak
when duty requires. But James is dealing with
those, among whom the very opposite fault prevailed; those who lacked the sobriety, patience,
and humility, to hear before they spoke; and of
course he must make use of the opposite exhortation. As a warning against the temptation to
anger, easily furnished by over-hasty speaking, he
tells them that passion is least of all adapted to
effect the work of piety. " For the wrath of man
worketh not the righteousness of God." From the




62
particular instance he now returns to the general
thought with which he started, placing the two in
close connection with each other.  As passion
forces man towards the outward, withdrawing him
from the call, ever-deepening inner life of the
spirit, and banishing again from  the heart that
generative principle of the new creation, the WVord
of God, instead of allowing it to penetrate more
and more the inner spiritual nature: he therefore
counsels them to purify themselves from all that
is evil, all excrescences of the inwrard life which
passion nourishes, and in meekness to suffer the
word imnplanted in their hearts to take deeper and
deeper root therein. So shall they attain to the
salvation of the soul, through the power of this
word thus penetrating more and more their entire
life.  " Wherefore" (namely, because anger is in
contrariety to the divine righteousness, and is the
rank soil of every evil thing)-" lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of nauglhtiness, and receive
with meekness the engrafted word which is able
to save your souls."  James, it is true, is addressin(g those in whom the ground of salvation was
already laid; but he presupposes also, that they
can only become partakers of salvation, by con



63
tinuing to build on that foundation, and to yield
submission to the word which they have once received, that they may experience in themselves
its purifying and transforming power.
Having constantly in mind the practical errors
under which these churches were suffer[Ch. i. 22-24.
ing, he comes back again and again to the
warning against that delusive tendency to exalt the
outward. He exhorts them, not to imagine that it
is sufficient to have a mere knowledge of the word,
to be intellectually conversant with it. He warns
them  against the self-deception, that by such a
knowledge merely they had complied with what
he has just said, had really received the word into
their life, had thus become Christians. The essential point is, the practical application of the word
to the life. Herein must it manifest its efficacy,
as a principle which works from within upon the
outward character, and takes possession of the entire life. He says to them: " But be ye doers of
the word and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves." He sets this in a clear light by a
familiar illustration. He compares him who receives the word with the understanding only,
without applying it to the life, to one who, having




64
seen his image in a mirror, goes away and immediately forgets how he looked.  Thus he wht
merely busies himself in a superficial way with the
divine word, may have learned indeed what is the
true aspect of his life in relation to the divine Law
and its demands. A light has dawned upon his
mind, as to what he is and should be. But turning away again from the divine word, hurried
along by the current of life and by his own passions, he irmmecliately forgets it all like him who
just saw his image in the mirror, and all is of no
avail. "For if any one be a hearer of the word
and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth
-what manner of man he was."
With him who thus contents himself with a mere
superficial study of the word of God, in
Ch. i. ~5.]
2whom knowledge and practice are at variance with each other, James now contrasts one who
has looked into the depths of the divine Law, and
lives in that contemplation.  He here marks the
distinction between the law of the letter, in its
nature external, and that which Christianity has
made the inner law, the law of the spirit, received




65
into the inner life.  This lie calls the perfect law,
in contrast with the law of Moses viewed only in
its externality, which as such,-that is, as a law of
the letter merely,-can bringo nothing, to perfection, but leaves everything as it found it.  The
former he calls the law of liberty, inasmuch as it
makes him  free who has received it into his inner
life, in contrast with the bondage of the letter. To
this law one cannot hold the relation of a mere
external hearer.  Whoever has actually received
it into himself as the perfect law, the law of liberty, is constrained by an inward impulse to mnanifest it in the outward life.  " But whoso looketh
into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, lie being not a forgetful hearer, but a
doer of the word, this man,"-he adds,-" shall be
blessed in his deed."
But how does this accord with Paul's representation,, of the characteristic difference between
the relations established by the Law  and the
Gospel, when he gives as the watchword of the
former, " Do this and thou shalt live" (who does
it, he shall live therein); and of the latter,' The
just shall live by faith?"  There would indeed
be a contradiction here, if James were speaking




66
of the Law in the same sense as Paul,-if he
meant that by works of law one could merit salvation. But this is far from James' purpose.  He is
speaking of the Law, as made by faith in Christ a
living inward principle; of that Law as Christ unfolds it in the Sermon on the Mount, and which
presupposes and includes in itself faith. In this
view he may justly say, that one must feel himself
blessed in the practice of this Law, and in this
way alone can become a partaker of that blessedness which Christ imparts to the believer. It is
precisely the same thing as Christ himself says, at
the close of the Sermon on the Mount: "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth
them, I will liken him  unto a wise man, which
built his house upon a rock."  Certainly, to this
Paul also -would have assented. To this certainly
corresponded his own manner of teaching, —that
only he can experience in himself the divine power
of faith, can be blessed through faith, who furnishes the evidence of it in his life; faith being in
his view that inward principle, which works from
within the transformation of the whole life, that
faith which works by love; as he himself says:
"Though I had all faith, so that I could remove




67
mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."
(1 Cor. xiii. 2.)
James now passes once more from the general to
the particular, to the special application
of what he has just said on this principle
of active obedience. The case which he presents, as
requiring special notice, is selected with a view to the
peculiar circumstances and faults of these churches.
Writing to other churches he might have selected
other examples. "If any man among you seem to
be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.2"
James takes for his starting-point the Christian
principle, that religion must embrace the whole
life. Hence he calls that religion merely imaginary, seeming, unreal, which allows the continuance
of the moral defects originally predominant in the
character; as, for example, in the application to
these churches, that tendency to passionate anger,
that want of control over the tongue. Of those
who continued to live on thus as before, and yet
made pretensions to religion, James says that they
deceived themselves, that their religion was vain.
Here again, in contrasting with this that religion
which is genuine, showing itself in the life, he ad



68
duces the particular acts in which such a religion
must manifest itself; in this, too, making the selection with special reference to the circumstances
of these churches. To take the part of the orphan
and the widow, to protect them  against the pride
and oppression of the rich,-this is pure and
genuine religion.  P"Pure religion and undefiled
before God and the Father, is this, to visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to
keep themselves unspotted from the world."  He
thus closes again with the general; the injunction, to keep one's self pure from  all defilement
by the world, having  reference to the whole
Christian life. He does not mean that external, often  falsely conceived opposition to  the
world, which would hinder the Christian from
serving as the true salt and the true leaven for the
world. This would stand in direct contradiction
with that course of active labors in the world,
which James everywhere enjoins in this Epistle.
He means that one should keep himself inwardly
unspotted fiom the world; that while externally
acting upon it, he should guard himself against the
infection of its impurity; that he should remain
superior to the world, pure from the world whilst




69
acting upon it. There are two things, therefore,
essential to true religion and inseparable in it:
viz. conflict against the evil which is in the world,
the practical exercise of love; and in connection
therewith, the keeping oneself inwardly pure from
all ungodliness that reigns in the world. The
former, moreover, cannot truly subsist except in
connection with the latter.
We have already spoken of the distinction between the large numbers of the poor, and
[Ch. ii. 1.
the much smaller number of the rich, in        ii. 
these churches. Diversities and inequalities of condition, originating in the natural organization and
relations of society, were not to be clone away by
Christianity, but rendered less grievous; were to be
equalized by the common bond of love, and made a
ground for the exercise of this Christian love. If it
be true, (a matter on which we cannot decide with
certainty) that the first glow of Christian enthusiasm gave rise for the time to a proper community of goods; yet was this a state of things
adapted only to that period, when the new feeling
of fellowship with each other in the divine life
burst forth with a power, which for a while swallowed up all individual distinctions. But this




could not be permanent. The inequalities founded
in nature must at length re-appear, and the individual and personal be again allowed  its just
claims.  Only the feeling should still remain,
vwhich united all as one heart and one soul; and
through the love that cared for the wants of all,
made as it were a common stock of the possessions
of all. But this was now wanting in these churches;
and the differences of rank and wealth were no
longer repressed by the consciousness of that
higher Christian equality.  Hence, in opposition
to such an unchristian aristocracy, James says:
" AIy brethren, have not the faith of our Lord
Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory, with respect of
persons."  lie thus expresses the contradiction,
between the disposition to estimate the worth of
believers by such temporal advantages, and faith
in Jesus as the Lord of Glory! To him who acknowledges Jesus as such, the one dignity of belonging to him must seem so great, that all personal advantages of an earthly nature must be less
than nothing in comparison.  His glory, in which
all believers are called to participate, far outshines
all earthly splendor.
He then proceeds with a more specific application




of this reproof. "For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly
[Ch. ii. 2-4.
apparel, and there come in also a poor man,
in vile raiment: and ye have respect to him that
weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou
here in a good place; and say to the poorl', Stand
thou there, or sit here under my footstool: are ye
not then partial in yourselves [at strife with yourselves], and are become judges of evil thoughts.':*
The Greek word which we have translated " at strife
-with yourselves," indicates a state in rwhich solicitude, doubt, conflicting thoughts, arise in the soul;
as is the case where the simplicity of faith is disturbed, and discordant aims, worldly thoughts,
take precedence of that one sole interest which
should be all in all to the Christian.  Here then
are meant, in contrast with the Christian view of
the equality of all who stand related in Christian
fellowship, those worldly and foreign views, which
give an undeserved deference to one, while they
deny to another the respect due him as a member
of the same community.   These are the  evil
thoughts of which he speaks.
He now goes on to sho-w them, from the history
* Those who judge from, or under the influence of, evil thoughts.-TiR




of the spread of Christianity at this very time, from
the living example of the present, how
Ch. ii. 5, 6.]
entirely such a way of judging is opposed
to the Christian stand-point. IHe appeals to the fact,
that on the poor pre-eminently have been bestowed
the highest dignity of the Christian calling, the
greatest riches in faith, the heirship of the kingdom
of Ileaven.  And they despised the poor, whom
God had so highly exaltedl! " -Iearken, -ly beloved brethren; Hath not Godl Chose the poor of
this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom
which he hath promised to them that love him?
But ye have despised the poor."  We must here
remark once more, that when James here speaks
of the kingfdom of God as promised to those that
love him,-this love of God, in his sense- of the
words, is doubtless to be understood as connected
with faith.  He means Chritian love; which presupposes the revelation of the Ledeeming love of
God in Christ, and the consciousness of this love
received througlh the Holy Spilit.
In contrast with these poor, amlong' whom the
calling of God pre-eminently found acCh. ii. 6, 7.]
cess, he places the rich who oppress the
Christians, who drag them  before the judgment



seat,-if not on account of their faith, yet for the
sake of extortion, —who blaspheme that holy name
by which Christians are called. "'Do not rich
men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment-seats? Do they not blaspheme that worthy
name by which ye are called?"  We suppose thau
by the rich here are meant, such of the rich as
were opposers of Christianity. James makes use
of the well-known fact, that while the poor more
readily received the Gospel, the proudly rich
showed themselves the violent enemies of Christians and of Christianity.  It is possible, indeed,
though this would be less suited to the intended
contrast, that rich men who called themselves
Christians are meant; who might be said to blaspheme the name of Christ, through the scandal
which they brought upon it by their course of life.
He calls on them to consider, how entirely such
ia course is at variance with the essential
[Ch. ii. 8-13.
principle of the divine life, —viz. with
Love.  With him, too, Love is the fulfilling of the
Law.  " I, ~e fulfil the royal law, according to the
Scriptures, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, aald are convinced of the Law
4




as transgressors."  But he was dealing with persons ensnared on all sides in the outward and formal; who, therefore, among the transgressions of
the Law (which they could not comprehend in its
full majesty and strictness) made a difference in
degree, as measured by an external standard; and
who, judging by such a standard, might suppose it
easy to satisfy the claims of the Law. To them
such a predominance of the egoistic, as -was shown
in that preference of the rich, and that contempt
of the poor, seemed no very grievous sin. It wras
therefore necessary to admonish them  that the
Law, as an expression, in one indivisible whole, of
the divine will the divine holiness, demands absolute obedience; that only by such an obedience
can one be justified, and tLat in every single act
of transgression the whole Law is broken.  "For
whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For Ile that
said, Do not commit adultery; said also, Do not
kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou
kill, thou art become a transgressor of the Law."
Accordingly in applying this principle, in the
sense of James, to the special case here spoken of,
we must say: He who, in this one thing, permits




75
his conduct to be determined by that selfishness
which is in conflict with the law of love, has
thereby violated the whole Law. He has violated
it in reference to its substance, as the expression
of the divine will wherein all is of equal dignity;
and in reference to the ruling motive of his conduct, Self in opposition to Love.
Does James then mean, that in judging of sinful
agents and acts no differences in degree can be admitted?  By no means. It is only necessary to distinguish here between the abstract and the concrete,
according as the question respects the principle itself in the unqualified strictness of its demands, or
the varying relations which human agency bears to
it; inasmuch as, while all must acknowledge themselves guilty before the Law, there may be gradations in guilt, according as the higher nature of
man has more or less asserted its own freedom
and superiority, or as the disturbing element of
self may still show its predominance.  Certainly
James could not intend to say that any one, even
among Christians, wholly meets the demands of
the Law. The higher his conception of the dignity of the Law, as already shown, and the stronger
his opposition to the usual standard of merit as




76
consisting in particular external acts and  observances,-the less could such a view be attributed to him.  What immediately follows is to the
same effect.  It is assumed that, hoiwever different
may be the actions of men, all appear as guilty in
the sight of the Law.  But as Christ teaches us to
pray: Forlgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors; so does James exhort, that by exercising
gentleness and mercy, in the consciousness of still
remaining sin, we should show ourselves meet subjects of the divine compassion.  Christians should
speak and act with the continual sense of their
need of divine mercy; then will meekness in
speech and action be its spontaneous expression,
and mercy triumph over strict justice.  In this
view, therefore, he calls the law by which the
Christian is judged, a law of liberty.  For he is
no longer under the yoke of a law requiring absolute obedience, which none can render, as the condition of salvation; but is connected with a law
which is fulfilled by the free obedience of love,
not of fear,-in the consciousness of sins forgiven
and confidinog reliance on the mercy of God.
"So speak ye and so do, as they that shall be
judged by the law of liberty.  For he shall have




77
judgment without mercy, that hath showed no
mercy, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment."
As James everywhere marks the distinction between appearance and reality; and opposes those tendencies which make appearance pass for reality; as he declares himself
against dependence on mere knowledge of the law
without a corresponding course of life, against a
pretended piety which does not show itself in
works of love; so, from the same point of view
and with the same connection of ideas, does he
condemn a faith which fails to show itself in corresponding good works. " What doth it profit,
my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and
have not works? can faith save him?" It should
be carefully noted, that James does not say; if
one has faith,-but if he professes to have it. He
speaks of a merely professed faith, not of that
which is genuine.  Of such a faith, which by its
want of good works proves itself to be spurious,
he declares that salvation is not to be attained by
it. In the view of Paul also, good works are
necessary fruits of true faith. One which professed to be such, and yet was wanting in these
fruits, he would not have regarded as justifying




faith, indeed would not have allowed it the name
of faith. The meaning of James is clear firom the
illustration which follows. Faith without works,
he compares to that love which never manifests
itself in deeds, andL is shown only in professions.
" If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of
daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart
in peace, be ye warmed and filled: notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body: What doth it profit? Even so
faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone [is
in itself dead].
When James says that faith without works is
dead, he certainly could not mean that works, the
mere outward and phenomenal, constitute the living element of faith, that through theml it becomes
a living faith. On the contrary, he presupposes
that true faith has life in itself, has in itself the
living principle from which alone works can proceedc, and that in works it makes itself known.
The want of works was to him a proof that life
was wanting in that faith, and hence he calls it a
dead faith. He introduces a third person, speakingo from James' own point of view with him who
professes to have faith without works, and proving




* 
to him that the one cannot exist without the other.
"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have
works: show me thy faith without thy works, and
I will show thee my faith by my works."  In this
James proposes,-for it is he who says this in the
person of another,-to one who boasts of his faith
though he has no works, that he should make the
trial of showing to him the existence of his faith
nwithout the aid of works. To James it would be
easy, by his works to show the faith which animates him, and in the strength of which those
works were performed. As a proof that such a
faith without works is of no value, he adduces the
faith of evil spirits. Faith in God, in its true
sense, can only there exist where he is consciously
recognized as the highest good, where the whole
life has reference to him; that faith which includes
in itself a living fellowship with God, —a practical,
not merely intellectual faith. With evil spirits, on
the contrary, the consciousness of dependence on
the Almighty and Supreme forces itself upon them
against their will. They would gladly throw off
this dependence, but they have not the power. It
is something merely passive, with which their own
free inclination, the self-moved submission of the




80
spirit, has nothing to do. It is not a faith of the
heart, but merely of the intellect; presenting God
as in opposition to the spirit striving to escape
from hinm,-God the Almighty, only as an object
of fear to the spirit estranged from him, and unwillingc to acknowledge himu.  "Thou believest
there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also
believe, and tremble."
By the Jews Abraham was claimed, as the representative of the faith in one God in
Ch. ii. 20-24.]
the midst of nations devoted to idolatry;
and therein was placed (as by others indeed in his
circumcision) his great significance.  James therefore proceeds to show, that the significance of this
faith did not consist in a passive belief of the understanding in one God. It was a devotion of the
whole life to God. It proved its genuineness by
works of self-denial; by his readiness, in love to
God and reliance upon him, in confiding resignation
to his will, to deny all natural feelings and make
of the object dearest to himself an offering to God.
He, therefore, who would follow Abraham in his
faith and by that faith be justified before God,
must also attest his faith by like works of selfdenial. " But wilt thou know, O vain man, that




81
faith without works is dead?  Was not Abraham
our father justified by works, when he had offered
Isaac his son upon the altar?" Thus might he say,
that faith and works must here have wrought
together. How wrought together? For the justilication of man before God? So that Abraham
could not appear as one justified before Him, until
after the works had been performed? Had James
intended this, it must have been on the supposition, that God can know man only so far as he
manifests himself in outward acts. He could not
therefore have recognized him as the omniscient
God, who looks into the heart, and discerns the
inward feeling before it comes to light. Recognizing his omniscience, he must have known that
to the eye of God, this faith, which afterwards
showed itself in such works of self-denial, already
appeared as genuine justifying faith. But speaking from the stand-point of human consciousness,
taking into account only the outward manifestation, he might so express himself; viz. that faith
and works wrought together for justification. So
also when he says, that " by works was faith made
perfect," he could not mean that works,-the
mere outward phenomena of faith, —are that which
4*




82
perfects faith itself; but only that in them faith
shows itself genuine and complete, the attestation
of faith in the life and c6nduct.  " Seest thou how
faith wrought with his works, and by works was
faith made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it
was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he
was called the friend of God."  And in that sense
he then says: "Ye see then, how that by works a
man is justified, and not by faith only."
To the example of Abraham he now adds that
of Rahab. Here, also, against the false
Oh. ii. 25, 26.]
Jewish position, that this heathen woman was justified on the ground of passive faith in
the One God, he declares that this faith was required to approve itself in works, the fruits of an
inward disposition, contemning for the honor of
God all worlclly considerations. "Likewise also, was
not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she
received the messengers, and had sent them out
another way?" He concludes the whole discussion
with the words: "For as the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
In this comparison, faith without works answers to
the dead body without the animating spirit.  But




83
it is only because the point of comparison is not
fully brought out. We cannot suppose him to
mean, that works answer to the spirit; for the
spirit is certainly the inward, animating principle.
Works, would answer to the activity of the living
body.  He means then: the want of works is
proof that the faith is a dead one, destitute of the
vital principle, and is therefore to be compared to
a body which is dead.
James then passes to another, and at first view
apparently quite different topic.  But
upon nearer inspection, it is found to be
closely connected with the foregoing.  For the
very same tendency which made a merit of merely
knowing and talking of the Law, of an empty show
of faith without a corresponding life; would also
lead men to set themselves up as teachers of
others, and to have much to say in the assemblies
of the church, without the inward call to this
work. " MIy brethren, be not many masters [be not
many of you teachers]."  As the ground of this
warning, he refers to the increased responsibility
which one dlraws upon himself, by assuming to be
the teacher of others; "knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation."  The ground of




84
the tendency in these churches, to make so light a
matter of teaching, was that very want of self-examination and self-knowledge, which had so much
to do with all the faults rebuked by James. Under the influence of that superficial moral judgment, which took into account only the outward
and apparent, they could not rightly estimate the
importance of words. It was not considered, that
speaking itself was an act, and was to be judged by
a moral standardc; and that one may sin, not less
by the immoral use of speech than by any other
act. Hie bids them beware of this danger. He
shows how hard it is, to observe the just measure,
to exercise the proper self-control, in the use of
speech; what injury may proceed from a single
word; and by this he would admonish them, to be
so much the more conscientious in taking upon
themselves the office of speaking.  HIe who considered well that responsibility and its danger,
could not so lightly resolve upon assuming it.
Accordingly he says: "If any man offend not in
word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to
bridle the whole body."  That is: He who on all
occasions, exercises self-control in the use of words,




85
will also be able to exercise the same in all other
respects.
He then proceeds to show, by many striking examples drawn from  actual life, what
[Ch. iii. 3-8.
power may reside in things seemingly
trivial, —how much depends on the government
of the tongue. "Behold we put bits in the horses'
mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about
their whole body. Behold also the ships, which
though they be so great, and are driven of fierce
winds, yet are they turned about with a very small
helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even
so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth
great things. Behold how great a matter [forest]
a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire,"(that is, as a spark can set a -whole forest on fire,
so may a word spoken by the tongue be the occasion of great mischief)-" a world of iniquity:
so is the tongue amongst our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the
course of nature [life], and it is set on fire of hell."
By this is meant, that as the tongue is set on fire
by the flames of hellish passion, so from the tongue
does the fire spread over the whole course of life.
He then shows how vain a thing is man's dominion




86
over the natural world, if he, aspiring to rule the
world, is himself through passion a slave of the
world; -w;hat a reproach it is to man, claiming subjection from  all animals, not to be able to bridle
his own tongue.  "For every kind of beasts, and
of birds, and of serpents, and things in the sea, is
tamed and hath been taimed of mankind. But the
tongue can no m11an tamle; it is an unruly evil, full
of deadly poison."
The sllhow of piety James opposes in all its forms.
Such is that pious cant, in -which, along
Cwith praise to God in words, are mingled
a hateful censoriousness and bitter denunciation
of men, in whAom  God's i-mage is to be honored.
James exposes the inherent iniconsistency of such
conduct, lwhich to his view is mlere hypocrisy.
" Th ere-with bless we God, even the Father; and
therewith curse we men, which are made after the
simlilitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing.  Mlly brethren, these
thintgs ought not so to be.  Do0th a fountain send
forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
Can. the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive berries,
either a vine figs?  So can no fountain both yield
salt water and fresh."  Thus does Janes express




the ground-thought of this whole Epistle, viz. that
all turns on the inward temper from which the
whole life takes its direction; and nothing could
be more remote from that tendency, opposed by
him at all points, which confines its regard to the
merely external, to single acts and empty show.
As James has contended against a false faith,
unaccompanied by works,-so does he, in
like manner, against that knowledge and
-wisdom  in divine things, wlhich does not make
itself known by a living activity in a corresponding course of life. He requires of all religions
knowledge, that it approve itself, as a product of
the divine life of the spirit, in a course of conduct
proceeding from that inner life. " Who is a wise
man, and endued with knowledge amongst you?
Let him  show out of a good conversation, &c."
With this view, he gives special prominence to that
which stood most opposed to the faults of these
churches; cointrasting with the unbridled passion
of those who made such account of their knowledge, the spirit of meekness as being the markl of
genuine wisdom and knowledge:'" let him show...
his works with meekness and wisdom."
"But if ye have bitter envying and strife in




88
your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the
truth."  It is the inward temper which,
in his view, marks genuine knowledge
also, genuine wisdlom.  This must derive its being
firom  above,  must be the p)roduct of the divine
life, and through  its divine impress must mnake
itself known also in the outward life.  The opposite proceeds fiom  a prlinciple of the natural
man, not from that w-hich is divine. For the HIoly
Scriptures often designate, under the name of the
Flesh, everything ev-il, all which stands opposed to
the Spirit of God, to the divine life.  When the
term is used in this general sense, it includes talso
the spiritual nature of man, —the reason, the soul,
in so far as it has not been made subject to the
Divine Spirit, but clairms an independent being, to
be something in its own right,-indepenicntll y
of God and asidle fioom God, and hence in opposition to him.  All this is comprehencded in the
idea of the Flesh, in that Biblical sense.  It is Tb-y
no 1leans limited to what we call Flesh, senisuality
in the narrower sense of the term.  From Flesh,
understood in this mlore general sense, is distinguishedl in biblical usage that which in the nar



89
rower  sense  is designated   as  natural,*-,viz. the
spiritual nature of man  (the reason, the  soul)  as
being unlike to God, andl  conformed to the world.
Reason, however highly developed and cultivated,
remains still within the bounds of the natural man.
It is of this James speaks; and this with him  is the
same which  actuates  apostate spirits.   1' This -wisdom   descendeth  not froml  above, but is earthly,
sensual  [natural],  devilish.   For where  envying
and  strife  is, there  is  confusion, and  every  evil
work."
He  tlhen enters more fully into particulars, and
describes  the  traits  which   characterize
genuine wvisdom.   Ile does this with  special reference indeed to the false conceit of wisdoml
among  these  churches, but yet in  a mlanner practically useful for all times.     As characteriistic  of
the wisdom  that comes friom  above, he names first,
purity,-i. e. freedom  from  all worldly stain; then
~ This term is used here, as alreadly familiar to the reader of the English Bible, the same word in the original being so translated in several
passages, e. g. 1 Cor. ii. 14. The German word (seelisch, of the soul, psychical, pertaining to the higher rational nature of man) is used by Neander, as
explained in the text, of the rational soul not under the influence of the
Holy Spirit,-in other words, of the  ect'trall or unrenewed mind and
affections. It is therefore the best expression of his meaning to the English reader, though not a translation of the German word, for which we
have no representative suitable to be used here.-Tr..




90
love of peace,-the truly wise not being stubbornly attached to his own opinion and contentious
in support of it; then, that it is gentle, is easily persuaded,-i. e. ready to listen to others, willing to
be taught, to acknowledge what is wrong on its
own part, and to adopt the better way. All this
gives evidence of victory attained over the love of
self. The wisdom which is from above he farther
characterizes, as full of mercy and good fruits,meaning that knowledge and action  must go
together. We have already explained, in connection with a previous passage,* what James means
by being in conflict with oneself. This he now excludes from the idea of genuine wisdom.  He demands an inward harmony of soul, the stability of
conviction; that the soul shall not be distracted
by the discordant views, the mental conflicts of
this state of unbelief.  It is difficult to indicate his
meaning' in a single word. Candor, simplicity, perhaps comes nearest to the idea. Finally, true wisdom is without hypocrisy.
In what James has thus far said, his main object
has been to oppose the contentious spirit
Ch. iii. 18.]
of this conceit of wisdom.  Hie now
* Page I1.




91
brings the opposite trait more prominently forward, by asserting that it is only in peace, in
unity, that every Christian interest can prosper.
" And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace,
of them that make peace." "Fruit of righteousness" may, in biblical usage, be variously understood. It may denote either the blessing which
righteousness brings with it,-fruit for life eternal;
or the fruits of righteousness in the works which
it produces. But though the words are true in
both senses, the latter seems to be the one intended by James,-and his meaning is: the seeds
of all that is truly good in action, proceeding from
righteousness, can only prosper where there is
peace, and with those whose conduct tends to
peace. Where all is strife, nothing truly Christian
can prosper.
This leads him to speak, in general, of the source
of the many  controversies in  these
[Oh. iv. 1, 2.
churches. This he finds in those insatiable desires which allow no one to be at rest.
"From  whence come wars and fightings among
you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts,
that war in your members?" Like Paul, James
here presupposes an inward conflict in man, the




92
conflict between flesh and spirit. As the power
of evil is by Paul termed the law in the members,
because in the body is the outward manifestation
of man, and there the dominion of sinful desire
shows itself; so James, in like manner, speaks of
the lusts that war in the members.  In the case
of the unrenewed, the power of the sinful desires
is opposed only by the activity of man's higher
spiritual nature, which is too weak, however, to
gain the victory over the opposing force. This
conflict, which  leads to no decisive result, and
leaves man in unreconciled disunion with himself,
is described by Paul in the seventh chapter of his
Epistle to the Romans. It is otherwise with the
Christian, the regenerated man. In him also this
conflict is continued, but with this difference,that in him the higher spiritual nature has been
strengthened through the divine life imparted to
him, whereby he is enabled to overcome the opposing sinful desires. But he must maintain the
conflict in order to gain the victory; otherwise,
the evil principle gains upon him more and more,
and may at length succeed in wholly extinguishing
the higher life. James exhorts to the maintenance of this warfare, and gives warning of the




93
danger which threatens  him who intermits it, as
was the case with many in these churches. For
there were doubtless many here, as appears from
the rebukes of Jamnes, who called themselves Christians, but were yet strangers to the new birth, and
stood in just the same relation to these two opposite tendencies as those who still belonged wholly
to the wrorld. Hence Jaines says to them: "Ye
covet" (namnely earthly goods which ye may use
in the service of your lusts) " and have not; ye
kill, and desire to have [ye hate and envy], and
cannot obtain."
In the original of the above passage it is said,
" ~e murder." Luther has translated it " Ye hate,"
not without reason so far as respects the meaning;
for it is hardly possible that James should speak
of murder, in the proper sense, as so prevalent.
But James purposely, without doubt, selects the
very strongest expressions, in order to designate
with the utmost precision the nature of that evil,
which, wvatever may be the outwtard  form  of




94
way. The selfishness which here betrays itself,
sees in the existence of that object an obstacle to
its wishes, from  which it would gladly be freed.
Even if the overt act has not yet been committed,
and the power of the higher tendency is still too
great to allow it, yet does it lie in the very nature
of the emotion; and the divine word reveals to us,
in the concealed germ of the heart, the very same
thing which afterward, when expressed in act, becomes an object of general abhorrence.  HIence
Christ declares in the Sermon on the Mount, in
opposition to the mere external conception of the
Mosaic Law, that whosoever is angry with his
brother, is in danger of the judgment, i. e. of damnation. And the Apostle John says: "WVhosoever hateth his brother is a murderer."
James now directs them, as he hadl done at the
beginning of the Epistle, to the fountain
Ch. iv. 2, 3.]
of all good, whence alone they could obtain all that was wanting to them, the supply of
all their necessities. The ground of their unceasing and fruitless efforts, only involving them
in strife, through the collision of selfish interests,
he finds in their disposition to do for themselves,
that which they should seek from God alone in the




95
spirit of humble submission. To their neglect of
prayer, which alone can procure a blessing on
labor, he ascribes their vain endeavors and contentions. Such were not wanting indeed in these
churches, as connected a certain habit of prayer with
all the other external practices of religion, and proceeding from the same temper of heart. But such
prayer he characterizes as one which could bring
no fruit, because it was not the true prayer of the
heart, and did not proceed from the right disposition of the soul towards God. It was merely the
expression of earthly desire, seeking to make God
subservient to itself; for they sought from Him
only what they might use for the gratification of
their lusts.  "Ye fight and war, yet ye have not,
because ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon
your lusts."
He returns continually to the radical evil, the
want in the soul of the one determining
C[h. iv. 4, 5.
ground-tone in the reference of the life.
to God; the direction of the whole spirit to the
world, in connection with many external practices
of religion. As in the Old Testament, the union
of the people with God is represented under the




image of a marriage, their apostasy from God under that of adultery; so James addresses them as
adulterers, inasmuch as they claimed to be worshipers of God, and yet served only the world.
He admonishes them that God requires the whole
heart, that it cannot be divided between God and
the world; that either love to God or love to the
world must be the animating principle; that devotion to the world, as the aim of effort, a love of
the world which seeks in the world its highest
good, cannot exist without hostility towards God,as the Lord himself says: Ye cannot serve God
and MAammon. "Ye adulterers, and adulteresses,
know ye not that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be
a friend of the world, is the enemy of God."
James reminds them in general of the declarations of the Holy Scripture, which everywhere
testifies of the incompatibility of these two radical
tendencies.  " Or," says he to them, " suppose ye
that the Scripture saith in vain, The Spirit that
dwelleth in us lusteth to envy [is a jealous spirit]?" This spirit, he would say, can suffer no
other to share with itself; where it would take up
its abode, it excludes the love of the world.




97
" But,"-to the above warning he immediately
subjoins the consolation,-" He giveth
[Ch. iv. 6-8.
more grace;" more, to wit, than that
already bestowed, provided only that the one radical condition is fulfilled, in the entire submission
of the heart, in the humbly receptive spirit.  He
reminds them  of the passage firom the Proverbs:
" God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto
the hulmble."  Even if those, to whom his Epistle waas directed, were not chargeable with the
pride of unbelief,-they were yet wvanting in the
ground-tone of humility, the abiding sense of dependence on God, the ever-present consciousness
that they were nothing and could do nothing
without God. This want betrayed itself in excessive reliance on earthly possessions and human
means.  The prevalence of a worldly spirit always
originates in want of humility.  For this reason
James admonishes them, that God withholds his
gifts and aid from the proud, since the necessary
condition on the part of the creature for the reception of every communication on the part of
God, is wanting to them.  But where humility is
found, there is a susceptibility for the communication of all divine grace. He says to those, who
5




98
pleaded in excuse for sin the irresistible temptations of Satan, or the withholding of divine grace,
that it was their own fault if they thus fell. All
depended on the direction of their own will. In
order to resist the Evil One, -who has power over
no one except by his own consent, they needed
but to humble themselves before God, to turn to
Him  in the consciousness of dependence.  Thus
will God impart himself to them, and thus will the
Evil One be compelled to flee.  "Submit yourselves therefore to God: resist the Devil and he
will flee from you. Draw nigh unto God and he
will draw nigh unto you."
The inward and the outward James comprehends as one. Purity of heart from all
Ch. iv. 8-10.]
worldly stains, must show itself in purity of the outward conduct.  This is expressed
by James (who delights to embody truth in a
specific form) as keeping the hand, thle instrument
of sin, pure from every sinful act; and purity of
life, exhibited in the external walk, must lead
back again to its source, inward purity of heart.
" Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your
hearts, ye double-minded" (divided between God
and the -world).  The Greek term  expresses the




9 
idea (which we have already explained*) of a man
who has as it were two souls; to whom is wanting
the true harmony of the inner life, which proceeds
only from the all-controlling direction of the soul
to God; of the man who is divided between opposite tendencies to God and to the world. Such a
spiritual state is in direct contrariety with that
sanctification of the heart, which James requires;
it being the very ground of true sanctification,
that but one soul should dwell in man, that in all
thingos the single animating principle should be
love to God. It was therefore necessary, first of
all, to arouse those who were sunk in worldly
pleasure to a sense of the vanity of such enjoyments, to the wretchedness of their condition. A
godly sorrow must be awakened in them; the
anguish of repentance as a ground of true joy, —
the joy in God of those who are dead to the world
and wholly devoted to Him. So Christ says in
the Sermon on the Mount, with which we find so
many points of harmony in this Epistle: Blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
"Be afflicted" (feel your wretchedness), "and
mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to
* Page 51.




100
mlourning, and your joy to heaviness.  Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall
lift you up."
Thus Jamles comprehends all in self-abasement
before God, as the condition of all true exaltation,
which comes alone from God; as the Saviour has
said: Whoso exalteth himself shall be abased, and
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. James
here speaks of an inward act of the spirit, not of
one which can become an object of outward perception; although this inward act must make
itself known in the outward form of the whole
life. Hence he says,-abasement before God, in
the eye of God, as that which can take place only
between the soul and God. Here too the relation
is such as man can sustain to God alone, not to
any created being. He who is conscious to himself of such a relation to God, for that very reason
will be far from placing himself in a similar relation to any human being'.  As his whole life thus
has its root in conscious dependence on God, he
nill thereby be secured fromn every form of bondage to man.
The want of humility showed itself in that
proneness to judge censoriously of others. Here




101
was a twofold expression of the want of humility, in reference to the Law. He who
[Ch. iv. 11, 12.
judges thus censoriously of others, is
far from humbling himself before that holy law;
from comparing his whole life therewith, and
discovering how great is the chasm between his
life and its demands.
Hence James says, that such an one makes himself the judge of the Law, the lawgiver, instead of
applying the Law to himself and acting in accordance therewith. Such an one, he says, in
speaking against his brother speaks against the
Law, since he gives the lie to the Law that accuses him  for judging another.  Furthermore,
such an one betrays the want of self-abasement
before God,-inasmuch as he forgets how he himself, with him whom he accuses, stands in like dependence on the One sole Judge and Arbiter of
happiness and misery.  He sets himself in the
place of the Supreme Judge, inasmuch as he presumes to anticipate his verdict. "Speak not evil
one of another, brethren: he that speaketh evil of
his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil
of the law, and judgeth the law; but if thou judge
the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a




102
judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to
save and to destroy; who art thou that judgest
another 2"
The pride of the worldly spirit, in contrast
with the nature of genuine humility,
Ch. iv. 13-17.]
was the starting-point with which
James commenced, and from, which he proceeded
to reprove the various forms of evil in these
churches. In like manner he now brings forward
another specific case, connected however with the
same radical tendency of which we have spoken.
It was that false reliance upon the Human, which
leads one to make calculations upon the future,
without for a moment taking into account the insecurity of human life; to form prospective plans
of earthly gain, as if one were entirely certain of
the future. James thought it necessary to admonish those, who were thus absorbed in worldly
pursuits, of the uncertainty of all human things;
that every moment of life is dependent on the
will of God and his providence. "Go to now ye
that say, To-day or to-morro-w we will go into
such a city and continue there a year, and buy,
and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what
shall be on the morrow: for what is your life? It




103
is even a vapor which appeareth for a little time
and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to
say, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or
that."  It is plain that in saying this, James did
not mean to insist, that such a condition should
always be expressed in words. For such expressions might easily degenerate into a mere form;
and the tendency of these churches was to turn
everything into form. Here again James shows
his preference of the specific over the general. Instead of the general truth, of the uncertainty and
dependence of the whole earthly life, he uses
language adapted to suggest this general thought
by its application to a particular case. From the
particular he now passes over again to the general,
and assails that false worldly and self-reliance in
its whole extent.  "But now ye glory in your
vain confidence; all such glorying is evil."  In
closing this admonition, he warns them, that it is
not enough to have known the truth here expressed; it was necessary,-and herein they chiefly
failed,-that the known truth should pervade the
life and control the conduct.  "To him  that
knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is
sin."




104
James now addresses himself to the rich, wholly
immersed. in the spirit of the world.
Ch. v. 1-6.]
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and
howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted  and your garments
moth-eaten: Your gold and silver is cankered, and
the rust of them  shall be a witness against you,
and shall eat your flesh, [as ye have treasured up
fire] for the last da-ys."  He speaks of riches under
three specific forlms, viz. in the garnered fruits of
the field, in garments, and in gold and silver. All
these, he would say, the rich heap up without
profit. Their treasur es in gold and silver, allowed
through disuse to consumne with rust, will witness
against them  to their condemnation; showing
their guilt in suffering to perish unemployed, that
which they should have used for the benefit of
others.  The rust eats into their own flesh, inasmuch as it i.s a token of their own perishableness
and of the judgment that overhangs them; as they,
instead of gathering durable riches, have treasured
up for themselves the fire of God's wrath in
tleasures accumulated for a prey to rust. Ile then
describes the oppressions inflicted by the rich (not
necessarily such as belonged to Christian churches)




105
on the pious poor in humble life.  "Behold, the
hire of the laborers which have reaped down your
fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth:
and. the cries of them  which have reaped are
entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye
have lived in pleasure on the earth and been
wanton; ye have nourished your hearts as in [for]
a day of slaughter." That is; as one pampers the
beast destined for slaughter, so have ye, giving
yourselves up to the service of your lusts, and revelling in careless unconcern, prepared yourselves
for the judgment that is hastening on.  " Ye have
condemned and killed the just, and he doth not
resist you:"-the pious sufferer's patient resignation to God's will, in contrast with the pride and
presumption of the oppressor.
He then turns to the Christian brethren, who
had so much to suffer from the rich and
[Ch. v. 7, 8.
powerful.  HIe exhorts them  to bear
with patience every wrong, to wait submissively
for the coming of the Lord, who will redeem his
own from  all evil, and will show  himself the
righteous judge of all. W7e must bear in mind,
that the time of the Lord's coming was then looked
for as already near at hand. It was natural, in
5*




106
the Apostolic age, so to regard it. Christ himself
had not chosen to give any information respecting
the time of his coming. Nay, hlie had expressly
said, that the Father had reserved the decision to
himself alone (5Mark xiii. 32); that even the Son
could cdetermine nothing respecting it.  But still,
the longing desire of the Apostolic church was
directed, with eager haste, to the appearing of the
Lord.  The whole Christian period seemed only
as the transition-point to the eternal, and thus as
something that must soon be passed.  As the
traveller, beholding from afar the object of all his
wanderings, overlooks the windings of the intervening way, and believes himself already near his
goal; so it seemed to them, as their eye was fixed on
that consummation of the whole course of events
on earth. It is from this point of view that James
here speaks.  "Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord: behold the husbanduzan waiteth for the precious fruit of the
earth, and hath long patience for it, until lie receive the early and latter rain.  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the
Lord draweth nigh." Jalues,-who, as already remarked, had all the oriental fondness for imagery




107
drawn from  natural objects, —here transfers to
history the laws of gradual development in the
phenomena of nature. As the fruits of the earth
mature only by slow degrees, and the husbandman must wait patiently for the early and the
latter rain; so there is needed the same constancy
of patience, while anticipating the final consummation of earthly history, in its gradual course of
development. Here, too, everything has its appointed time; and one must guard against that
impatient haste, which is unwilling to wait for the
successive stages of progress, and is eager to reach
the end at once.
He now proceeds to speak of the deportment of
Christians towards each other, and com[Ch, v. 9-11.
mends the mutual exercise of long-suffering and forbearance. They should not indulge
in mutual accusations, appealing to God against
one another, but leave all to the judgment of God.
They should not desire, by thus mutually condemning one another, to anticipate the Judge who
will soon appear. His words remind us of our
Saviour's admonition in the Sermon on the Mount:
Judge not, that ye be not judged. " Grudge not
one against another, brethren, lest ye be con



108
demned: behold the judge standeth before the
door."  IIe then sets before them the examples of
the prophets as models of patience; especially the
example of Job, in whom, after he had endured
every trial of his patience, the mercy of God was
so gloriously displayed.':Take, my brethren, the
prophets, who have spoken in the name of the
Lord, for an example of suffering affliction and of
patience."  The thought is doubtless this: They
have spoken in the name of the Lord, and yet
have suffered so much, —and that for the Lord's
sa1ke. If the prophets, so highly honored and
speaking in the nalme of the Lord, have endured
such sufferingl, how could we expect a different
lot? "Behold we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and
have seen the end of the Lord" (i. e. the end
brought about by him, the final issue which the
Lord granted to all his trials); " that the Lord is
very pitiful and of tender mercy."
Then follow particular admonitions and exhortations, all which, however, are opposed in
spirit to such errors, as were the fruit of
the leading' evil tendencies in these churches.  In
the Sermon on the MIount, Christ has unfolded the




109
whole Law in its spirituality and glory; everywhere converting the outward and particular to
the inward, to the completeness and unity of the
inward temper and disposition; at once abolishing
and fulfilling the Law, abolishing it in the letter
and fulfilling it in its spirit. Thus to the commuand: Thou shalt hallow the seventh day, is
given its higher spiritual import,-Let every day
be holy to thee. In like manner, the requirement
to regard an oath as holy, becomes in its true
spirit: Let every word be holy to thee, as being
consecrated to the Lord, —as addressed to him,
since he is ever before thine eyes. What an
oath is to others, shall every word be to the
Christian. Hence among true Christians, there
will be no need of oaths; since to each his word
is holy, and such is the mutual confidence of all,
that the word of each is so received among them.
So should it be in a truly Christian church, in
which all are recognized as genuine Christians.
But in these churches, where the proneness to
much speaking had naturally led to a careless use
of words, there now prevailed the Jewish habit of
using many asseverations, in order to give their
words a weight which they had not in themselves.




110
Even if they shunned so frequent a use of the
name Jehovah, they had other more covert forms
of oath in its place, —the violation of which, however, they macie less a matter of conscience.
Against this James says expressly: "But above
all thing's, my brethren, swear not; neither by
Heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any
other oath.  But let your yea be yea, and your
nay be nay; lest ye fall into condemnation." That
is, their Yea and 7Nay should suffice in place of
every other form  of confirmation; for if their
word is not in itself sufficient, and requires the aid
of protestations to procure belief, they bring themselves into condemnation.
Then follows the general direction, which most
of all stands opposed to the spirit of
Ch. v. 13.]
worldliness in these churches, to that tendency to distinguish between certain acts of religious worship and all the rest of life as belonging to the world.  Nothing can be more opposed
to such a tendency than the requirement, that
every feeling of the Christian, in sorrow and in
joy, shall take the form of prayer.  Thereby are
sorrow and joy to be sanctified and ennobled. In
suffering, the feeling of pain shall be changed to




111
the tone of prayer; from God is help to be sought
in prayer, —power to sustain suffering and to be
submissive under it. And joy, too, shall attune
the heart to the praise of God, to gratitude
towards Him to whom we owe every good. Thus
shall sorrow and joy have this in common,-the
direction of the heart towards God. And as life is
divided between joy and sorrow, the whole life will
thus become prayer. " Is any among you afflicted,
let him pray. Is any merry, let him sing psalms."
Having thus referred everything to prayer as
the soul of the Christian life, he now
makes a specific application  of the
principle to cases of sickness. Here there was
need of mutual intercession in the name of the
Lord. As the Presbyters acted in the name of
the whole church, and each one as a member of
the body felt that he needed its sympathy and intercession, and might count upon it; individuals
should therefore, in cases of sickness, send for the
Presbyters of the church. These were to offer
prayer on their behalf. With this was connected
a symbolical transaction,-practised indeed in
many churches of the East, but never prescribed
as a general usage, —the anointing with oil; of




112
which Christ had sometimes made use in the healing of the sick, as an outward sign of healing and
sanctifying power. If it was the will of the Lord,
the sick should be restored to bodily health.
But, however this might be, he should certainly
receive spiritual refreshment, the renewed and
strengthened consciousness of sin forgiven; and
this could not but favorably affect his bodily
state.  " Is any sick among you?  Let him  call
for the elders of the church, and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of
the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the
sick, and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he
have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."
We see that James ascribes the healing power,
not to the anointing with oil, but to the prayer
of faith.  As he regards the Presbyters in the
light of organs of the church, acting in its name;
so does he hold all other Christians in such a
relation, as members of one body, that they
should mutually pray for one another in bodily
and spiritual need; should confess their sins to
one another, and pray for the forgiveness of each
other's sins. He ascribes great efficacy to the
prayer of fraternal love. "Confess your faults




113
one to another, and pray one for another, that ye
may be healed,"-whether spiritual and bodily
healing united is meant, as in the last quoted passage, or merely spiritual healing. "The effectual
fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth
much." Of this efficacy of prayer he adduces examples from the Old Testament. But the Jeiwish
tendency to externalize everything, led them to
contemplate these holy men of old only from a
distance, and as objects of veneration and wonder,
not as examples for imitation. James therefore
reminds them, that these men were frail mortals
like themselves, and that the power of God can
still work through the weals. This application
was all the more appropriate, inasmuch as Christianity, by virtue of the common relation of Priest
and Prophet belonging to all believers, had made
that common to all which under the old dispensation had been the gift and prerogative of a few.'" Elias was man subject to like passions as we are,
and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain:
and it rained not on the earth by the space of
three years and six months. And he prayed
again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth
brought forth her fruit."




114
This exhortation  to  mutual intercession, in
bodily and spiritual need, leads to this
Ch. v. 19, 20.]
further admonition, —that they should
not harshly spurn from them such as, in their religious and moral development, may have erred
fiom the right way, but should interest themselves
in their case and seek to lead them back to the
truth: an admonition which they specially needed,
who were so prone to defame  and condemn.
"Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth,
and one convert him, let him know, that he which
converteth the sinner from the error of his way,
shall save a soul from  death, and shall hide a
multitude of sins."  This, then, is in James' view
the highest work of love,-to rescue the fallen
brother from that spiritual death to which he is
verging.  M:ore than to excite in one repentance
for a single sin, and thereby prepare the way for
attailinng forgiveness of one sinful act,-more
than this is the rescue of a soul from a life of sin,
and the restoration of the new divine principle of
life. By this the many sins are covered, in which
his former course had plunged him. This explanation of the words seems most in harmony with
the connection.  But, by the sins here spoken of,




115
might be understood the sins of him who thus
rescues a brother from death. The meaning would
then be: The love thus shown in active zeal for
the spiritual welfare of another, shall cover mlany
sins into which one may have fallen through infirmity of the flesh; inasmuch as Love outweighs all
else, and above all else is adapted to subdue the
still remaining evil of the heart. So we are taught
by the Saviour himself, that to him who loveth
much, much shall be forgiven. Were this the true
meaning of the passage (which, however, is contrary to our view), still the covering of one's own
sins would not be dependent on the success of his
efforts for another; for this is not placed in the
power of man, and he can gain nothing for himself thereby, for the very reason that it is something independent of his own purpose. It is the
zeal of love, laboring for the conversion of another,-it is this that hides the multitude of sins!
Thus closes this Epistle, in that spirit of love
which breathes through it all, and which everywhere shows itself in the life and labors of James!








THE FIRST
EPISTLE OF JOHN,
PRACTICALLY EXPLAINED.
BY
DR. AUGUSTUS NEANDER.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN
BY
MRS. H. C. CONANT.
WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST?
NEW YORK:
LEWIS COLB3Y & CO.,
122 NASSAU STREET.
1853.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851,
BY LEWIS COLBY,
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York.
<, -NN




PREFACE.
THE present volume closes the series of:Neander's Practical Commentaries.  Of his original plan, embracing all the more important
portions of the Bible, only the Exposition of Pllilippians, of James,
and of the first Epistle of John had been completed, when their revered author was summoned to a higher sphere.  All these are now
before the American public. They formn a worthy close of his earthly
labors, and to many, will seem tile crowning glory of his noble lifework.  The treasures of genius and learning, which enrich his more
scientific works, here seem  vivified by a new element, and melt
under the fervor of his inner spiritual lite, into a glowing stream of
eloquent practical-instruction.  Not that this element is wanting in
any of his productions. It was the informing spirit of his life, and
of all his labors. But here it is predominant; all else is but the servant and instrument of Christian love, seeking to edify the body of
Christ.
Here, in the Epistle of John, Neander found a peculiarly congenial
field. There is a noble freedom and assurance in his tread, a glow
Df feeling, an eloquence of utterance, such as even Neander exhibits
nowhere else. Hie moves along the high track of revelation as in a
familiar path; gazing into its deepest mysteries with reverent but
open eye, and interpreting theml to us, not as subjects for speculation, but as sources of vital influence to the human spirit.
This exposition derives a peculiar interest from the fact, that it
was intended to meet the religious wants of the time. He found
the tendencies of the age of John reproduced in our own; and
threatening as then, not to subvert Christianity by open opposition,
but to corrupt Christianity itself, distilling into the sources of belief
the poison of human opinion, under the name of Biblical criticism,
and Christian philosophy. In developing the Apostle's meaning, lihe
takes his stand, with a spirit and tone worthy of John himself, in
defence of positive revealed religion.  The Gospel l-istory is to him
no Myth; it is a record of divine facts. The Christ therein revealed, is the Eternal Son of God in human nature.  IIe truly lived, he
truly died; he rose victorious over death, and now lives at the
right hand of the Father. Through his Life and his Suffering, he
won immortal life for man; that life which consists in restoration
to the likeness and fellowship of God.  Only through him, can the
human soul obtain this life. There is here no liberality, so-called,
in the theology of Neander, truly liberal as he is on all minor points




iV                              PREFACE.
of belief.  The crucified, thle risen, the perpetually mediating Christ,
must be the all and in all, o0  the sul xvwandles in darkness, cut off
from  the only fiountain of salvation.  On knowing  Christ depends
even the knowledge of God, as the universal Faitller end Cl'.eator.
To thle Chlristianity which does rnot accep)t Clirist in  his whole revealed challrater as the inc:trnate Eternll Word, tlhe divine-lhuian
Redeemer,  he retLues even thle naniLe of Christianlit.  In lis own
einphlatic words:   " Whoevere  denies or Inutilates tlis fait, is to be
at once rejected.  No otheir  nlark for the designation of the undi-ille, the false, the anti-Christiun, should be neeledl d fo  thle believerl'
Th'is colnlientari,   as well as tile two prleceding, exhibits in a strikinI light Neanderi's estimatiorn of  the  Sciptules, as   the iiispired
Aword of God.  In  whllt English  interpreter,   guiltless of Geriman
learning, can be found a inole Lreverenlt reception of their teaching's,
a morne devout and diligent seeling  after what is reveled,    a  inoie
child-like  lhumility in pausiin'it tile bounldary    where r evelation
ceases?  Tile  x1word of God is to  hiln  the supieine authority,   the
final ap)peal.  His sole obljet is to dlevelop its treasures, to penetriate
through i the letter to the spirit, and to bring this into contact wxith
the living' hIeart.
But Neander flund also, in the present age, a dead orthodoxy;
whicll,  wlxile professillg tile Iiost tenacious ailldhlerence to the Scriptures as the revelation of divinle truth, no less dishonored anl d endalnered true Christiallitx.  Iin unfolding John's treatineniit of this
erlror in his own a(ge, lie furnislhes lessoins of the richlest practical
instruction for the evallnelicl clhurcli of our time, and of all tiies.
Religious   tirutli is to hlinl food for tle soul, that on whllich  it m-ust
live, soinethling deiliandedl by anL inwlard necessity of its tixture.  Its
office is not to exercise t]he intellect,  but to raise  andc  purify  the
spirit.  Belief is the reception of this truth inito  the living heart, not
the cold assent of the undelstandii.  Ilence both the earrnestness
xvith xwhicli he demanlds tlhe reception of essential truths,  and his
colmparative inldifference to all points of' doctrine, nwhxlich do not affect the interests of salvation.  Tlius the true view of thle person of
Christ, is to hiln Ian object of infiilite iioiiient.  This is  liot, however, for the sake of tlle Iknowledgle in anld for itself; but because it
is only through this klinowledge, that Clirist hlimself canl be rightly
received into the soul perishing fori his help.  Only by knovwing   him
as lie is, cain the soul rightly sullbllit to linll, trust in hlill, dlraxa  from
him  what it needs for the restoraltion of its God-like nature in the
divine image.  The riglit r ecognition of tr utli pr esuplposes moreover,
on the part of thle percilieilt, tlilat sense of his owxn moral statte and
of his relations to  God, xwliicih converts tl-e outward  to  inwardc
knowledge.  The fainishlilg,  the sick, the dcing, Kxox-i s that he has
in this truth received rel'resilnelnt healing, life, in his inlner being.
The Christ revetlded TO hinl hbas becollne thle Cliiist revenled IN hiill 
and in  this inwarldd revel tionl, continlally   derived  anewv fioni its
divine fountain, lies the higliest source of s)ilitual knowvledge.  For
it is the perception   iinparted by the Soii of God himlself, thle new
God-related senlse, which lie alone can give.  Tlhis is the Christian
consciousness, so often mentioned by Neander in this commentary;




PREFACE.                               V
to which he ascribes so high an office, both as' the immediate ground
of belief in Christ, and the test of whatever is presented to the Christian as divine truth.
According to this view, a man's creed cannot in the Scriptural
sense be rigl-t while his life, his spirit, is wrong.  The letter of his
creed may be right; but wanting that whlich ina'de it God's truth,
God's revelation to the soul, it is essentially false.  It no less misrepr-esents God, is no less ruinous to tile soul, than the unbelief
which openly rejects the truth, or thle false philosophy whicth corrupts it.  Iow much orthlodoxy, so-called, Land contended for as essential to salvation, xwould at this Ithuriel-touchi stand revealed in
its true forll, as flrols   beneat!it not fiom  abovel!  The spontaneous
inevitable expriession of belief in the Gospel, of orthlodoxy in the
sense of John, is Brotherlv Love; love which regards all men as
brethren, but whose most immnediate sphere, where it unfolds in its
highest power and Alory, is the chlrcl, thle body of Christ.  Hard
test!  Who then,  wee might dnalost exclaiml, as, looking over evangelical Christendom, we see r tttler an arelna of deadly comnbatants
than the peaceful, loving home of thle falmily of God,-who then believes!  Coirvinced we inust be, both thl.it tl-e true knowledge of
Christ is as Set greatly wantint  aniong  professing Christians, and
that all attempts at outwar(ld anion, whetler animong individuals,
churcles, or the Various gi reat divisions of the church, is labor
thrown away.  The innward union, wAlhich splrings fronm living followslip wvitlh God thlrough Clh rist, w ill gradualluy melt away all outward
differences which mar the snmlllletlry of the churchll;  but thle outward union can never hleal the inwarld discord.  So also with the
evils of the world at llarge.    All reforms whichl  proceed not from
this divine principle,  however fair their  appearance, will prove unreal and of brief duration.  The source of all evil, whether in the
church or the world, is estrangement fiom God; the one great cure,
the restoration of the soul to a loving union with God, effected
through the mecliation of the divine RPedeemer.
Herein lies the peculiar characteristic of this whole Commentary,
-the conception of Christianity in all its relations and manifestations, as a Iiiatter of the life.  A believer,  a Christian, is one who is
in living fellowship with Chriist.  If this living fellowship is lost, he
is, whatever may fhave been his former experiiences, in precisely the
same peril with one who has never known it. NTeander knows of
no dead state of grace.  Thie humnan soul, created in the inmage of
God, and redeemed by his xvell-beloved Son, is in his view too noble,
and its price too costly, to be tlhus taklen to heaven as a piece of
purchased merchandise.  The salvation wvon by Christ for man, is
the life of God in the soul; a conscious life, a reaching forth of its
xvarin living affections after him, a life lmanifested by fi-ee, unconstrained, joyful obedience to his conrlands, by the spirit of holiness
and love pervading the whole cllaracter and conduct.
On this viewv of the Chriistian life, rests his noble conception of
the Christian church.  It is not a bodyv of Inen bound into an external unity by the saime creed; but a company of individual believers
drawn together by an inward affinity, by a common participation in




Vi                          PREFACE.
that living fellowship with God. Neither are there here any distinctions of rank.  It is one faumily of God, in which each member
stands in immediate communion with his Fathler, and receives immediate life and light firom  the same divine Spirit.  There is here
no infallible head of the church on earth; no constituted priesthood
to mediate between him  and God; no articles of faith shaped and
stereotyped by the ingenuity of man, to which he is required to bow.
Each has the Anointing  of the Holy One; all are Priests and Prophets, through the indwelling' divine Spirit.
It seems especially meet, that the illustration of these vital truths
should be the closing labor of Neander's life.  The spirit which pervades it, reveals a soul matured and mellowed under the influence of
these truths, to the deepest and richest tone of Christian experience.'From his own christian consciousness flowed these eloquent expositions, of the true character of religious knowledge and belief, of tile
nature of sin, of the efficacy of redemption, of fellowsXhip withl God.
Only from personal intercourse with heaven, was caught the fire of
his almost inspired delineation of the power of prayer! And beautifully fitting it seems also, that it should be the exposition of these
truths as revealed through the Apostle John.  With him, the man
of "burning love and burning hate,"* the beloved disciple and the
son of thunder, the man of immediate perception and intuition of
the divine, Neander had always felt a peculiar affinity.  Tile illustration of John's writings had been a favorite labor of his life; and
now, as its close draws near, we find him again holding communion
with the aged Apostle, and interpreting his latest counsels to the
church.  Standing on the threshold of the unseen world, he seems
to listen with a deeper spiritual sense to the inspired utterances, and
interprets them  in words of kindred sublimity, earnestness, and
love. Their sweetness had hardly  died upon his lips, when he was
called "to the home of the Good, to Christ;" to join in that new
song, to which while yet on earth his spirit and his life were so
fully attuned, " Worthy the Lamb that was slain!"
The brief sketch which has been given, of the leading features of
the following work, will be pardoned by those who are conversant
withll Neander's peculiar modes of thougllt, for the sake of the many
to whom they are still new.
The quotations firoll the Epistle are given in the words of the
common English version.  The author's variations are added in
brackets, wherever they affect the view expressed in the commenta'y.                                                   H. C. C.
ROCHESTER, Sept. 1852.
* That is, in his original chalracter, unmodified by divine grace. " Feurige Liebe und
feurige Hasse," was Neander's characterization of the natural temperament of John.




INTRODUCTION.
IN order rightly to understand this Epistle, we
must make ourselves acquainted with the Apostle's sphere of labor at the time of writing it,
and with the peculiar circumstances to which he
had reference, in the condition of the churches
whom he addressed. From the true historical explanation will follow, moreover, its proper application to all succeeding times, and to our own age
more especially, as bearing a more marked resemblance to that which we may designate as the
Johannic period; an age which, in the disorganization and destruction of the old order of things,
is preparing the way for a new epoch in the development of the kingdom of God. In the opposing influences with which John had to contend
as a preacher of the Gospel, properly understood,
we shall see prefigured the very same which ob



struct the progress of evangelical truth in our own
day.
After the martyrdom  of Paul, the influences
which had already begun to oppose themselves to
the christian life in the churches of Asia Minor,
broke forth  wvith  increased  strength when no
long'er restrained by the personal character and
anthority of the great Apostle.  John was now
called to supply his place in the guidance of the
bereaved churches, left exposed to the perils of so
dangerous a conflict.  ile had already labored
long among them, when he sent out this pastoral
letter, with reference to the many forms of corruption Awhich here menaced genuine Christianity.
Of these corruptions, soime -were chiefly speculative, others practical in their character.  They
were, in part, errors arising from  a narrow and
defective conception of christian truth; in part,
practical mistakles which had no such deeper origin.  But these errors, of whatever kind, with
which John had to contend, did not respect merely
those single points of difference in the mode of
dogmatic conception, to which in later times a
greater weight has often been attached, than is
warranted by a more just estimate of their impor



9
tance both to the inward and the outward christian life. On the contrary, they all had reference
to that one great truth on which all others turn,
the central truth of Christianity. The Apostle's
example furnishes a model of the discrimination,
too much neglected in after times, between that
which is of practical importance in differences of
doctrine, and that which cannot be so regarded.
In the Pauline period, all had turned on the
question between Law and Gospel; on the question whether faith in Jesus, as the Saviour, would
alone suffice for the justification and sanctification
of men, or whether obedience to the Mosaic law
were also requisite. Now, on the contrary, the
central point of the conflict between truth and
error was the PERSON OF CImIST; and it became
more and more evident, that a full and complete
conception of Christianity, in its relation to faith
and life, must be based on a full conception of the
Person of Christ himself. The question had already taken this turn at the time of Paul's first im
prisonment at Romne, as appears from his own opposition to those errorists in the church at Colosse.
Here, even then, the Person of Christ in its relation to God, to the universe, and to humanity,
1*




10
formed the central point of controversy; and this
was nothing else than a farther development of
the inherent contrariety between genuine Christianity, ancl that which only assumes its likeness
in order to vitiate it in its own peculiar nature.
5We see the same thing repeated in our own time,
-all essential questions of religious faith resolving
themselves more and more into -the one question:
WTlVhat are we to hold respecting the Person of
Christ?
That the WVord,- He who from the beginning
was with God and was God, He by whom  all
things were created, —became Flesh; this, as John
himself teaches, constitutes the peculiar nature of
the Person of Christ.  Herein is that grounded
by which he is distinguished from all else that has
ever appeared in the history of humanity,-the
union of the Divine Essence -with human nature
in all its properties and peculiarities, the humanization of the Divine Essence in order to remodel
human nature after this revealed form of the divine.  And as it is this wrhich constitutes the peculiar nature of the Person of Christ, so does it
constitute the peculiar nature of entire Christianity; its grand purpose being, as befits the destiny




11
of man created in the image of God, to raise
whatever is human to the glorious dignity of the
divine life, to transform it into the divine. Thus,
on the right applrehension of Christ as the Incarnate Word, depends also the true conception of
the Twhole moral change wrought in the life by
Christianity, in other words, the peculiar nature
of all christian morality. The true conception of
this union of the divine and humlan, in the Person
of Christ, being thus essential to a true understanding of what Christ was; there readily arose
two opposite forms of error, exalting the one at
the expense of the other, instead of grasping the
full and entire unity of his divine-human person,
both sides in perfect agreement and harmony with
each other. Both these erroneous and mutilated
conceptions of the Whole Christ, testify of that
very truth fi'om which they diverge in opposite
directions. For such, and no other, must have
been Christ's manifestation of himself on earth, in
order that the contemplation of it might make
such opposite impressions. Of this no other example can be found in human history.  On the
one class, so powerful was the impression of the
purely human in that manifestation, that they




12
would recognize in him nothing but the man,
though gifted with extraordinary divine powers
for the fulfilment of his human calling. The other
class, contending against this narrow conception of
the idea of Christ, ran into the opposite extreme.
To their view, the divine glory shone in the appearance of Christ with an overpowering radiance,
before which all that was human vanished from
sight. They regarded it only as the visible form,
in which the manifestation of a divine existence
had made its abode, in order that it might become
an object of human perception. Between these
opposite forms of conception,-the Ebionitish and
Docetish, with which John had to contend,-there
arose a third, that of Cerinthus, which seemed to
reconcile the two extremes, but which was at bottom a compound of what was erroneous in both,
and allowed neither to the divine nor the human
in Christ its just claims. According to this view,
Jesus was a mere man, in all respects like other
men. But at his solemn consecration to his Mes
sianic calling by the baptism in Jordan, the celes
tial redeeming Spirit, as something wholly distinct
from himl, had descended upon and united itself
with him. Thus the purely human and the divine




13
nrere indeed both recognized; not however in
their proper unity, but on the contrary as entirely
distinct the one fioml the other, and only united
in an outward and accidental relation.  Thus neither the divine was recognized in its humanization, nor the human in its exaltation through the
divine.  The true significance of the Person of
Chlrist, and of the new creation which was to proceed froml  him,-the God-man as the Redeemer
of humanity, — was necessarily obscured in this
view no less than in the two others. In opposition to all these fiagymentary conceptions of the
person and work of Christ, the Apostle John felt
himself constrained to give the testimony derived fiom his own direct perception and personal
experience of the life of Christ, in which the glory
of the only begotten of the Father had revealed
itself to him, beaming forth in his whole manifestation.
But it will easily be perceived, that these same
contrarieties are repeated at the present day under new forms; and hence the Apostle's words
apply with no less force to the spiritual aspects of
our own age. The one class recognize in Christ
only the enlightened man, the most perfect teacher




14
of religious truth who had then ever appeared on.earth, and the most perfect model for the human
life. Christianity is in their view only a system
of moral instruction, moral precept and moral example. They deny the supernatural, the divine
in the life of Christ, and consider him as differing
only in degree from the nobler of the race; they
explain away the Gospel history, till everything
in it is brought down to the level of common experience. Hence too, they cannot recognize nor
comprehend those moral potencies proceeding
from Christ, such as could proceed from no other,
which are working the moral transformation of
the world, and by which Christianity is distinguished from all other spiritual forces at work in
humanity. The glory of a divine life, whereby
everything human is transformed into the heavenly, remains hidden from their view. Christianity, in its peculiar nature, is to them still an unrevealed mystery.  Others there are, on the contrary, who fully recognize the violence thus done
to the representation of the life of Christ in the
Gospel, who catch from the Gospel narrative the
gleam of higher ideas; but they are ideas floating
in ether, having no contact with the earthly and ac



15
tual. According to their view, the historical manifestation had no actual existence; it is but a sublimated myth, which has become a medium for
the divine. The historical Christ becomes to them
a mere form of miist, a phantom, an illusion, as to
the Docetes of the ancient world.  There still remains, therefore, the same disagreement between
the heavenly archetype and the actual being,
which it was the very purpose of Christ's coming
to do away; and which was to disappear more and
more by the progressive incorporation of his divine life into the life of humanity, in those who
enter into fellowship with him as their Itecldeemer.
As the former will allow  no guide but actual
and ordinary experience, which can never rise to
the divine Idea; so the latter content themselves
wvith the contemplation of mere ideals which have
no part in life, never become flesh and blood, never
incorporate themselves with the actual; and thus
on this side also, with all its tendency to the ideal,
nothing remains but the common and actual.
The one class admit only an ideal Christ; the
other only an every-day Christ level to their low
and natural view of the historical.  The first admit only the spirit, the other only the letter; and




16
thus both are lost, being rightly apprehended only
in their unity.
From both these forms of error are to be distinguished those practical mistakes, which have no
such theoretical basis. Here too, as in the former
case, we find directly opposite forms of error.
The one class, in the consciousness of redemption
already received, lost sight of the still remaining
necessity of redemption, which should be ever
present to the view of the believer; that ever
present sense of still inhering sin, from which he
can be purified only by a perpetually renewed
surrender of himself to the RPedeemer.  The other
class hoped for forgiveness of sin, without renunciation of sin in submission to the Redeemer.
They supposed that forgiveness might be obtained,
without a thorough work of sanctification in fellowship with Christ. To them, forgiveness of sinl
was something merely external; just as faith had
become something external merely, having lost
its true inward significance.  A  mechanical and
worldly Christianity had arisen; a natural result
where Christianity has become a thing of custom
and habit, as in these churches founded in the
time of Paul, in many of which Christianity had




already been handed clown from one generation
to another. Both these forms of error must be
met by holding up to view the Holy One; Him
who appeared as Redeemer to establish a kingdom
of holiness in man; who, as Redeemer and Sanctifier, continues to work in that humanity, which
is more and more to be purified and ennobled by
him, and which can never cease to have need of
Him as its Redeemer in all the progressive stages
of sanctification. We need not stop to point out
the perpetual recurrence of these practical mistakes, as it must be obvious to all.
To these theoretical and practical mistakes stand
opposed the counsels, instructions, and warnings
of the Apostle in this pastoral letter. It will
therefore easily be seen, how we are to apply what
is here written as if intended expressly for our
own time. WVe will now proceed to the consideration of them in detail.
2








EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE.
CIHAPTER  I.
JOHN commences without any preliminary introduction. His first words burst forth from the
fulness of that which was the soul, the centre of
his whole Christian life, that which formed the
sum and substance of his preaching and of all his
instructions. Taking his readers at once into the
midst of that subject, on which no doubt all he
had ever had occasion to say to them had turned,
he begins by pressing home upon their hearts
what had already become familiar to them from
his lips; which needed only to be recalled to their
remembrance, to be quickened and animated anew,
and to be made the centre and axis of their whole
christian life.  Wte all remember the old tradition,
that when this Apostle, in extreme old age, was
carried in the arms of his disciples to the assem



20
blies of the church, lie did nothing but repeat this
one admonition: " Little children, love one another." 1When asked the reason, he replied: "Because it is the Lord's conimmand; and this being
done, all is done."  In this single trait, handed
down to us by tradition, is fully expressed the
peculiar nature and personality of John.  It is
not the rich variety in the development and expression of ideas, anid of their remote relations,
which we find in Paul.  Here, on the contrary,
are a few essential truths, repeated. over and over
in simple words, which, as they fell from the lips
of Christ himself, had stamped themselves deeply
into the susceptib)le spirit of John, and had become as it Nwere ingrown into his ownr peculiar nature.  WVith himn all proceeds firom the direct contenmplation of Christ, the God-man, whose living
image is ever present to his soul, and to whom he
is ever directing' alike his hearers and readers.
He ceases not to testify of that vwhich  he has
learned in daily interlcourse with him, the divine
source of life, and which is to him of all things the
nlost certain. He can find no words strong enough
to express the assurance of his conviction, that
this divine-human life was a reality.  His very




21
forms of expression stand forth in strong contrast
with that sublimation of the image of Christ by
the Docetes, of which we have already spoken.
In his historical representation of Christ's Messianic labors, he distinguishes himself fiom the
other Evangelists in this respect,-that he does
not commence with the immediately preceding
historical preparation, the prophetic advent of the
Baptizer, nor yet with the beginning of the earthly
life of Christ; but rises above the manifestation
in time, to that divine Original which revealed
itself therein. This characteristic peculiarity of
John meets us also here, at the very commencement of this Epistle.  No otherwise could John
have spoken. The fulness of the divine essence,
leading back to the Eternal Source in the invisible
God himself, and the human manifestation,-all
this he contemplated inseparably and as one. He
beholds in Christ the revelation in humanity of
Him who is exalted above all time, who had no
beginning in time; who, antecedent to all creation, was from the beginning; the Eternal Image
of the unknown divine existence. This having now
presented itself in human nature to human apprehension, it was necessary that John, in reprodu



22
cing the image of Christ to the view of his readers,
should first of all comprehend both these in one;
viz. that which was from, the beginning, —and that
which had become, to those who witnessed his life
on earth, an object of unquestionable physical
perception. He begins, not with abstract ideas,
but by referring to a FACT, the highest of all facts
iln human history, and to its attestation by personal experience.
" That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our
Ch. i. 1.]
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled."  It is noteworthy, that John
here expresses himself in the indeterminate form.
We should naturally expect a personal designation
of Him who was from the beginning; who in his
temporal manifestation had permitted himself to be
seen and heard and handled, thus subjecting his reality to the test of all the senses. Yet John expresses himself thus indefinitely: " TIAT WHrrIC
was from the beginning, THAT WHICH we have seen
and heard;" and again afterwards he resumes the
same form: "' That which we have seen and heard,
declare we unto you."  In the intermediate clause
also, he designates him  not personally, but by




23
something relating to him,-" of the word of life."
These expressions,taken in connection, are the very
clue which is needed, to introduce us into the peculiar spirit and manner of John. All which he
has to say to men proceeds from Christ, and leads
back to Christ; it is Christ himself that appears
in all; the sole object is to gain Him entrance to
the hearts of men, to bring within reach of man
that fountain of all true life, the self-communication of Christ. Thus it naturally happens that, in
John's mode of conception, the distinction between
the impersonal and the personal is lost from view.
THAT WHICH he has to announce, that which was
from the beginning, that which he has seen and
heard, is no other than the self-revelation and selfimparting of HIMr, who was froml the beginning.
John does not immediately carry out this
thought, in the form of expression with
[ch. i. 2.
which he had begun; but interrupting himself, expresses in a new form what was already in
his mind and filled his soul while writing the first
words: " Of the Word of life (for the Life was
manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness,
and show unto you that Eternal Life which was
with the Father, and was manifested unto us)".




24
What now are we to understand by " the Word
of Life"?  Shall we, as elsewhere, understand
"word" in the sense of announcement?  We must
then refer it to that original proclamation of the
Life, which was made by Christ. Even thus the
mind would still be directed to the appearing of
Christ himself: as, in what immediately follows,
not merely the proclamation of the Life is spoken
of, but the manifestation of the life in its self-revelation among men; and also the expression " That
which was from the beginning" refers, as we have
seen, not merely to'an indefinite something, but
to Hir who was from  the beginning. Ile it is,
then, whom -we here find represented as the " Word
of life."  The mind is thus directed to what John
calls "The Word," at the beginning of his Gospel.  Christ himself is the Word, in whom  the
hidden being of God has revealed itself. Since, in
his temporal manifestation as the revelation of
God in human nature, he is the perfect expression
of the divine nature in human form; this his temporal manifestation is by John referred back to
the Eternal Word, in which the hidden being of
God originally imaged and revealed itself, became
objective to itself, —in which the whole creation




25
had its archetype. As the spirit of man, before
it reveals itself outwardly in the spoken word, expresses itself to itself, unfolds and becomes objective to itself, in an inner word, the word of self-consciousness; so in God, this Word of his eternal selfrevelation is to be distinguished from his hidden,
unfathomable being. It was this Word which
was from the beginning.  It is this Word which
John calls " the Word of Life." By life here he
understands the divine life originating in God,
proceeding from him alone as the only true life.
Since now all communication of life from God is
through the medium of this Word, it is itself the
fountain of true life, and John calls it absolutely
the Word of Life. He then proceeds, under this
form of conception, to express what he had in
mind at his opening words, what he wished to testify to his readers as something made certain to
him by personal observation and experience. Having designated Christ as himself the Word of Life,
he adds, under the same form of thought, the declaration that the Life absolutely, IHe whose nature
is life, the divine life-fountain, has revealed itself
in a human manifestation.  He claims to have been
an eye-witness of this self-revelation of the Life.




26
The eternal Life itself, which as the Word was
hidden with the Father, has appeared in a selfrevelation in humanity;-such, and no other than
this, was the appearing of Christ. John testifies
of that eternal Life, which appeared in Christ in
order to impart itself to men; to impart to them
this life iwihich constitutes His whole being, and
whose fountain he himself is. This it was the object of John's testimony to make known.
Resumiing accordingly what he had begun, he
now proceeds in the same form: "That
Oh. i. 3.1
C which we have seen and heard declare we
unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with
us."
H-aving, therefore, been himself an eye anct ear-witness of the self-revelation of that eternal Life
which seeks to implart itself to man, John declares
what he has seen andc heard, that those Twho hear
may be led by it into that divine fellowship of life
in which all are to become one.  By the " fellowship with us," which he represents as the object
for which he declares this, he means fellowship
with those who testified, as original eye-witnesses,
of the eternal Life which had rmade its appearance
in humanity; a fellowship therefore derived from




that original fellowship with the divine life-fountain so revealed, a fellowship with the Apostles
grounded in fellowship with Christ.  All fellowship of believers with one another, in the Apostle's view, springs from that original fact of fellowship with Christ. Thus is formed his conception of the Church.
This is of special importance as a guard against
the tendency, which is ever reappearing, to externalize the idea of the church, to attach an undue
value to a certain visible organization; while it is
forgotten that fellowship with Christ is the main
point, the essential element of the whole true
church, —which, issuing from this source, grounded
in this fellowship, may appear in a variety of outward forms.  We must ever bear in mind that
where this fellowship exists, there, whatever defects may still cleave to it, is a true church; as indeed there is no form of divine manifestation in
sinful human nature wholly free fiom defect.
In explanation of what he understands by this
fellowship, the Apostle immediately adds; " And
truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with
his Son Jesus Christ."
Fellowship with the Father, who can be truly




28
known as Father only in this self-revelation through
the Son, is here represented as effected
Ch. i. 4.]
through the medium of fellowship with
the Son.  And since in this fellowship is grounded
that eternal divine life, in which alone true blessedness and joy can be found; John represents it
as the object of his whole preaching, as likewise
of this Letter (intended to revive in their hearts
the contents of that preaching, in opposition to
all the corruptions and impurities of which we
have spoken) to promote that joy: "And these
things write we unto you that your joy may be
full." All impurities and corruptions of the christian's inward and outward life, must also introduce disturbance  into the joy or blessedness
grounded in the divine fellowship of life with
Christ. In this pastoral Letter, designed to avert
such a danger, what he seeks is this: that their
joy may be full, that in fellowship with Christ they
may find their full joy.
In this Epistle, promises and the stipulated condition of their fulfilment, that which is to
Ch. i. 5.]
be performed on the part of those to whom
the promises are addressed, are presented in constant interchange. With religious truth there is




29
always connected a practical application to the
moral conduct and course of life; and nothing
is said in reference to the latter which is not deducible fiom  the former.  As in his opening
words, where he speaks as an eye-witness of the
appearing of Christ, John plainly has reference to
that erroneous sublimation of the Idea of Christ;
so here when he is speaking of the practical, we
cannot fail to perceive an implied reprehension of
that secularized Christianity of custom and habit.
" This then is the message which we have heard of
him, and declare unto you: That God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all."
First of all, he represents God under an image
which they had doubtless often heard fiom his
own m1outh, as he too had received it from the
lips of Christ: " God is light, and in him  is no
darkness."  IIis nature is light; from  Him  all
darkness is excluded.  He is the opposite of all
darkness.  Light, in the HIoly Scriptures, and especially in the writings of John, is often used as
the image of the Divine; darkness, on the other
hand as the image of the Undivine.  Truth, holiness, bliss, all these may be designated as light,
since they all belong to the nature of the Divine;




30
as falsehood, wickedness, and misery form the
characteristics of the Undivine.  What is particularly represented by the image of light in this
passage, will appear from the exhortation which
is founded on it. It enjoins a course of life contrary to all that is unholy, and the ground-thought
must therefore be, that the nature of God is holiness; all that is unholy is alien to him.
From this view of the divine nature, the Apostle now deduces what is required as the
Oh. i. 6, 7.]
condition of standing in fellowship with
God; the signs by which this fellowship will manifest itself in the life; and on the other hand, by
xwhat signs it is to be known that no such fellowship exists.  " If we say that we have fellowship with him  and walk in darkness, we lie, and
do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as
he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin."
The thought here lying at the basis is this: that
since all spiritual fellowship presupposes an affinity
of nature, and this inward fellowship of nature must
also have an outward manifestation in the life;
so no fellowship with God can exist without a life




31
conformed to God. Since then God is light, fellowship with him must manifest itself through a
life which is full of light; fellowship with the
God whose nature is holiness, through a holy
course of life. John does not here,mean a quality of the life-walk required for the first attainment of fellowship with God; but assuming this
divine fellowship of life, received through faith in
the Redeemer, as already existing, his object is to
point out the tests, whether the claim to such a
fellowship be true or false,-whether the Christianity which is professed be a true, or merely a
seeming and pretended one. This thought is expressed, in John's peculiar manner, both in the
negative and affirmative form.  Ile first says, in
opposition to that mere seeming Christianity, that
he who leads an ungodly life, and yet claims to
be in fellowship with God, thereby makes himself
guilty of a lie. Full of significance is the expression, "We do not the truth"; an expression belonging to the depth of conception peculiar to
John.  With him truth is not limited in its application to speech merely; it embraces the entire
life. The entire life has its root either in falsehood or in truth. Truthfulness in speech is but




32
one index of that truth which embraces, fills, vitalizes the whole inner and outer life. Hence, of
one who makes claim to something which is contradicted by his course of life it is said, that his
whole life is alien from the truth, that he does not
practice the truth, that his life is chargeable with
falsehood. Speech appears also as an action;-:' We Do not the truth."
In contrast with this, John designates " Walking in the Light," in holiness, as a mark of fellowship with God who is in the light, who reveals
himself in holiness. " If we walk in the light as
He is in the light, then have we fellowship one
with another."  He does not speak here directly
of fellowship with God, but of the fellowship of
believers with one another; but in this is necessarily presupposed fellowship with God through
Christ, as that from which the fellowship of believers with one another first proceeds.  John
thus distinguishes between those who belong, as
true members, to the fellowship of Christians (in
other words to the church, a designation never
used by John) and those who belong to it only
in appearance and not in truth, those whose pretensions are contradicted by their ungodly life.




33
Fellowship with God, as effected through Christ,
and the fellowship of believers with each other, is
here one and the same thing.
If now the life of believers while here on earth
wmere already a perfect fellowship with God, if
their course of life were a walking in the light
free from darkness of every kind, and unstained
by any farther act of sin, then John would have
had no occasion to add anything more. But he
was well aware that even in believers, although
their life is in its determining tendency a walking
in the light, yet the dark, the sinful, still mingle
with it their disturbing influence; the former
stand-point of darlkness and sin, from which redemption has set them free, still remains in its effects. Hence, this " walking in the light" must be
developed in a continuous conflict with the former
darkness; from  the light already received, the
whole life must be gradually transformed into
light.  And hence, in reference to that sinfulness
which still cleaves to the believer and opposes itself to the light, he says, that where that walking
in the light exists as the determining tendency, the
mark of fellowship with God, there the blood of
3




34
d tsus Christ will make known its purifying efficacy,
its power to cleanse from all still inhering sin.
In the purification through the blood of Christ,
we are obviously not to understand the blood of.
Christ literally, nor an outward literal purification
byit, anymore than the sprinkling of the conscience
with the blood of Christ, spoken of in the Epistle
to the HIebrews, is to be so understood.  Only a
spiritual cleansing can here be meant, and consequently only a spiritual means of cleansing. It is
necessary to refer back the sensible imagery to the
thought imaged therein.  It is the language of the
HIIoly Scriptures, the language of life; according
to which one characteristic of the whole is put for
the whole itself; and especially is that which appears as the crowning point put for the whole with
all its characteristics, so that the single characteristic must be conceived of in that connection, in
union with the sum  of all the others, in order to
be rightly understood. The blood of Christ, then,
must be conceived of in its full significance, as it
was present to the viewv of the Apostle, viz. as
both a Doing and a Suffering; it being on the one
hand a suffering for the guilt of humanity, and
presenting on the other, in the perfect holiness of




35
the life of Christ, an offset to the sin of humanity,
a thought which we shall hereafter find still further developed in other expressions of John. Since
now this suffering of Christ, once for all, possesses
this redeeming and purifying significance, it continues to perform its work in all those who through
faith enter into fellowship with Christ, till all in
them that is sinful shall be cleansed away, and all
be transformed into light.  In this idea of purification two distinct things are included; namely,
first, that the sin which yet remains shall no
longer form  a hindrance to fellowship with God,
it shall be as if already done away, —the forgiveness of sins; and secondly, that the still operating
sinful element shall actually be more and more
cleansed away, —the progressive purification  of
the whole life.  All this is an ever progressing appropriation of the once perfected redemption.
So in what John here says, we find two different
things expressed.  It is assumed that there is sin
yet cleaving to those who are walking in light;
though in fellowship with Christ, they are still in
constant need of redemption through him, in constant need of him as the Redeemer; that we who
are walking in the light with Christ IN us, have




also still need of Christ FoR us. To those who,
while walking uprightly in the light, are yet daily
conscious to themselves of the still remaining influence of sin; who cannot but perceive in their
own life much Mwhereby the light which is in them
is darkened, and who might be disquieted in conscience, when told that only those who walk in
the light can stand in fellowship with God who is
Light; to them is offered the consoling assurance
of entire purification fi'on their yet inhering sin.
But the Apostle guards also against the self-deception of those, who trust to purification through
the blood of Christ without a course of life corresponding to such an expectation, wvithout the
outward signs of an inward divine fellowship of
life through Christ.  Only those are to expect
this purification, who, through the determining
tendency of their lives, make it manifest that
they stand in that divine fellowship and are sanctified thereby.  Thus the close connection between
the Christ IN us and the Christ -FO  US, is here indicated.
But it is the Apostle's aim to meet the mistake
on both sides; on the one hand, as held by
Ch.i. 8     who suppose they may trust to Christ
those who supponse they may trmust to Chl'ist




for us, without the Christ in us; and on the other,
by those who think that with the Christ in us,
there is no longer need of the Christ for us, and
who look upon themselves as already free from
sin.  He therefore continues to urge, in opposition
to the latter view, the still remaining need of redemption on the part of the sanctifiedc: "If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us."  If then those who are
walking in the light, suppose themselves to be already entirely free firom  sin, feel not the perpetual
consciousness of its still indwellilg power; this
to John is an indication of self-deception, a token
that the truth has not yet become the ruling element in the inner and outer life.  It is clear that
he here makes no exception, that he includes himself also among those who are still defiled with
sin.
The two succeeding verses have reference also
to the believer's ever-continued need of
[Ch. i. 9, o10.
redemption and purification. " If we confess our sins, lie is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from  all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is not in us."




38
The ground for the believer's confidence, under
this consciousness of still inhering sin, is thus presented by the Apostle in the faithfulness and
righteousness of God. For the faithfulness of God
includes in itself his truthful fulfilment of the
promises which he has given.  It necessarily
implies, that what he has promised he will certainly bestow, provided only that believers on
their part meet the condition affixed to the fulfilment of the promise.  By the faithfulness of God
is meant, the harmony of his action with itself
and with his own nature.  It is implied therein,
that Ile will certainly perform what his word, his
promises, the wants implanted in the soul and
waked into conscious life by his providence, have
taught men to expect fiom Him; that his dealings
with men will certainly be in accordance with the
wants and expectations thus excited; that in his
dealings all parts will correspond, beginning middle and end will be in harmony; no contradiction,
no discord in any part.  Since then God is truth,
it must follow as a necessary consequence that,
having through his word, through the sending of
the Redeemer and his sufferings for humanity,
through the influence of his spirit upon their




39
hearts, promised forgiveness of sin to those -who
believe; he will assuredly suffer nothing of this
to fail, he will fulfil the promise which he has given,
if they will but conform to the conditions with
which the promise is connected.  But righteousness is here conjoined with faithfulness.  This
might at first seem  strange.  We should rather
expect that forgiveness of sins would be represented as an act of divine love and mercy.  But
we must here seek for a relation, according to
which forgiveness of sin can properly be ascribed
to the divine righteousness.  The true index to the
Apostle's meaning is found in the union here of
faithfulness with righteousness.  Rigohteousness,
then, must here be understood in a sense akin
to faithfulness.  Now we call him righteous who
gives to each one his own, to each his due, what
his position, the relation in which he stands to the
other, give the right to expect.  God's righteousness is manifested in the observance of the laws
which he has himself established in the moral
world.  Its office is the administration of these
laws.  Redemption, the forgiveness of sin, is indeed primarily the work of divine love; yet, that
provision being once brought about through his




40
love and mercy, the divine righteousness now reveals itself in the observance of the laws, according to which redemption and forgiveness are to be
bestowed on man, —in the administration of the
order established in the work of redemption.
God, the Righteous, gives to each what belongs to
him; he truly performs what the redeemed, as
such, have reason to expect of him under the given
conditions. The original provision is the fruit of
divine love; the administration of its established
laws, the work of divine righteousness. Hence,
in this view, the divine righteousness stands in
close relation to the divine faithfulness; and is the
pledge that if the redeemed fulfil the laws, the
conditions, according to which and under which
forgiveness is to be imparted, God will truly bestow on them the forgiveness promised, will complete what he has begun, that he will do his part
if the redeemed do theirs.
The condition to be fulfilled on the part of the
believer, is expressed in the words: "If we confess our sins."  Of course it is not an outward confession of sin which is here spoken of, but an inward act, grounded in the whole inward direction
of the spirit; as that which is thereby to be ap



41
propriated and received, that for which man is
thereby to be made meet, is also something purely
inward. It is therefore that inward confession of
sin before G-od,-the consciousness of sin both in,
general, and in its manifestation in particular sinful acts,-whereby, in a spiritual sense, man draws
near to God. In this it is necessarily implied, that
he is deeply penetrated with the sense of still inhering sin; recognizes the sinful as such in all its
single forms; and with a deep feeling of sorrow
on account of it, begs of God forgiveness of sin
and purification from all remaining sinful tendency.
All communications of God to man, —man, to
whom God imparts himself not after a law of natural necessity, not by a process of constraint, but
as to a being gifted with freedom,-are conditioned
on his own voluntary acceptance, the free surrender of himself to the divine communication. As
in the words of our Lord, God is represented as
giving only to those who pray (and prayer is nothing else than this direction of the spirit towards
God in the feeling of personal want) so here, confession of sin is made the necessary condition of
that gift of God, which consists in the forgiveness
of sin, as evidence of the free appropriating ac



42
ceptance of the blessing.  With forgiveness of sin
is here conjoined the cleansing firom  all unrighteousness.  This would not have been added, unless
something new, something additional, were to be
designated by it; as indicated by the emphatic
expression:   FROM ALL iUNRIG-ITEOtTUNESS."  We
cannot but perceive that a distinction is here made
between forgiveness of sin, and the progressive
work of pnurification from all remaining sin. WVith
the forgiveness of past sin, is necessarily connected
purification from all the sin which still remains, as
a security against relapse into like sins.
To that affirmative proposition, the negative is
now added.  With the confession of sin is contrasted the boastful declaration, and of course the
inward view and feeling which dictates it: "VWe
have no sin."  This implies first, that he who says
it is wholly unconscious of still inhering sin, that
he regards himself as sinless. In this again two
things are included, viz. filrst, that lie has no understanding of what is implied in a sinless state,
of the true nature of that holiness for which man
was created, and for which lie is to be new created,
to be born again; and that he has not rightly compared himself with that standard which he is re



43
quired to reach, has not examined and tested himself by the model of the divine word, in the mirror
of the divine law, in the divine light. And secondly,
it is implied that he does not recognize the sinful
as such in its particular acts, but has learnt to
palliate it to himself, to deceive his conscience in
regard to it.  The guilt and the perverseness
of such a position is now represented by the
Apostle as consisting in this, viz. that it makes God
a liar; that is, by such a position we show that
we regard God as a liar, we deny him as the God
of truth.  First, inasmuch as the word of God
uniformly represents us as sinners, and seeks to
awaken in us a consciousness of our sins; we, by
declaring that we have no sin, accuse the word of
God, and God himself speaking through it, of
falsehood.  Secondly, since God in sending to us
Jesus as the Redeemer from sin, has thereby declared that we are ever in need of continued redemption; we make him guilty of a lie,-asserting by this position of ours, that although it is
through Christ we have attained to our present
state of religious development, yet as being now
sinless, we are no longer in need of him  as Redeemer. Hence the Apostle charges upon such,




44
that the word of God is not in them; an expression equivalent to the former declaration, that the
truth is not in them.  By it is meant, that the
word of God does not dwell in such as the animating principle of their inner life, or that they
do not dwell in it; which is one with saying that
the truth dwells not in them as their life-element,
that their life is alienated from the truth. Though
in their external profession they acknowledge the
word of God, they have not given it an abode in
their inner life and consciousness.  Their judgment
of themselves is in contradiction to it. The'word
of God is to them a merely external thing.




CHAPTER II.
THE Apostle now turns to those for whose sake
he writes, as a father to his children.  Ad[Ch. ii. 1.
dressing them personally as his children, he
presses home upon their hearts a spiritual father's
admonitory words: "My little children, these
things write I unto you, that ye sin not."  The
expression, "these things," glances back to that
main topic which had been his starting-point, viz.
that it is only while walking in the light, that we
can be certain of that divine fellowship of life bestowed through Christ.  But with this all that
follows is connected, and to all this the expression
has reference. All which he had said to them
respecting the sin still cleaving to the christian,
and of the progressive redemption from  it for
which they may hope, has had for its aim, not to
make them lenient towards their own sins, but on
the contrary to excite them to a continued and un



46
wearied conflict with sin. In order to apprehend
and apply the admonition to abstain from sin, as
understood by the Apostle after the law of Christ,
our conception of the nature of sin, of what sin
is, must be very different from that derived from
the superficial moral judgment of the world. For
this it is requisite that, trying ourselves by that
higher standard, we should learn to detect what is
sinful in our own life in order that we may overcome and avoid it; and as the source of the needecd resolution, confidence; and alacrity for this, is
presupposed the sense of divine forgiveness, and
reliance upon the divinely purifying power of the
work of redemption. Thus we perceive how all
that precedes, starting from that central thou!ght,
serves as a basis for the exhortation, " That we sin
not."
That connection, which we have noticed, is always present to the Apostle in the light of his
christian self-knowledge and his knowledge of man.
Hence, to the unconditional exhortation to sin not,
he is constrained to add a ground of consolation
to those, who, while honestly striving against sin
have yet fallen under temptation, and who might
thereby become wholly unsettled in regard to the




work of their salvation, and be driven to despair.
Another would have given this the adversative
form: But if any one sin. In the style, however,
of the undialectic and unrhetorical John, there is
no occasion to change the connective word; as in
many cases where another, Paul for instance, would
have made this change, with him the simple " and"
suffices for all the relations of his several propositions to one another.
Accordingly he says: " And if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father,
[Ch. ii. 1, 2.
Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world."  To those
who are weighed down by consciousness of the
sin still cleaving to them, and of defeat in conflict
with it, John thus extends the cheering assurance
of a mediator with the Father in Heaven. This
mediator is Jesus Christ the IRighteous, that is, the
Holy; righteousness here being taken in its highest and absolute sense, namely, as what is right,
what is as it should be, what corresponds to the
idea of moral perfectness. IHe bids them, after
having once attained to repentance for that still
inhering sin, not to abandon themselves to the




48
fruitless anguish of despair, not to consume themselves in a perpetual brooding over their sins; but
on the contrary, to turn with full confidence to
Him who is their everlasting advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the Holy.
When man, having become conscious of the
chasm, between himself in his sin and imperfection and the holy and perfect God, sinks under
the feeling of separation and estrangement from
that Being towards whom his higher nature strives
to rise; there then awakens in him the want of a
mediation, by which this chasm may be filled.
Hence, in all religions, the founding of a priesthood, the recognition of a mediating agency between God and man, to whom he may address his
prayers when he ventures not to turn immediately
to God. There is, however, in every such human
priesthood this inherent inconsistency, that they
who are themselves sinful and in need of redemption like all other men, should undertake for others the mediation which they themselves need in
common with them. Thus, the undeniable want
which lies at the foundation of the priesthood
universally, in connection with its insufficiency to
meet that want, becomes a prophetic indication




of Him who alone can truly satisfy it; of Him
through whom the idea of a priesthood, so deeply
grounded in the nature of man, found its realization, and with it all previous forms of priesthood
their final end. This relation of Christ, to God
and to humanity, is the especial object of the
Epistle to the Hebrews.  As man, he is in all
respects akin to those who seek his aid, has partaken of their nature with all its necessities, all its
infirmities, sin excepted; has himself experienced
all their conflicts and temptations, and in all has
approved himself as The Holy.  Only as the
Holy, as the realization of the holy archetype of
humanity, can he stand as the substitute of sinners before the Father in Heaven.
This is not to be so understood, as if the forgiveness of the sins of believers were something
yet to be obtained by the intercession of Christ.
There is presupposed here, as appears firom the
immediately following connection, that redemption, that reconciliation of man with God, which
was effected once for all through the holy life and
the sufferings of Christ.  Jesus Christ, as The
Holy, is here contemplated in connection with his
whole work accomplished on earth, wherein he
4




50
manifested himself especially as The Holy One,in the connection of his present life with Godl and
previous life on earth.  There is also presupposed,
as already existing, that entirely new relation to
God into which those are brought who are reconciled to Him through Christ.  It is not said: We
have an advocate with God, but with the Father;
indicating that filial relation of believers to God
as their Father, whom they have first been taught
through Christ to know and honor as such.  In it
is included the permanency of this once established relation, as something not again to be unsettled,
so long as the believer abides in this fellowship
with Christ, so long as his faith continues steadfast.
Only where it has already suffered disturbance,
must the direction of the eye to Christ, by whom
it was established, revive again the living consciousness of this relation.
There is thus presupposed, in this perpetual aclvocacy of Christ, that which he has once for all
wrought out for the human race. But this too, is
represented as something which shall continue
workincg in divine power, until it has accomplished
its final aim, the complete redemption and purification of man already reconciled to God through




51
Christ,-until the consummiation of the kingdom
of God.  It is clear that this divine agency in the
ever-progressing work of redemption, is necessary
even for those who have been thus reconciled to
God through Christ, and who are conscious of a
filial relation to Him as their Father.  It is made
necessary by the frequent disturbances of this
relation, through the after-worlkinfgs of that sin
from  which they have been made free. Their
clhristian life can prosper, only -when in a continued
living connection with the original divine foundation on which it rests, that common foundation
of all which belongs to the development of the
kingdom of God on earth.
But when vwe speak of the still operative power
of the work of redemption, Awe are not to understand by this, merely the influence exerted by
some past transaction upon the development of hnmanity, and of individuals who yield themselves
to it, irrespective of the personal influence of him
by whom that work was wrought; as though the
sacred writer, when speaking, of Christ as the perpetual intercessor, ascribed to him by a ficgure of
speech the influences belonging to his once completecl work.  So the still operating influence of




any great work, once wrouoght in human history by
some master spirit, might be ascribed to his continued personal agency; a lively and graphic form
of conception representing such an one,-for a
time at least, until the whole aim and purpose of
the work shall reach its full completion,-as still
working on in that which had its origin in him.
Thus it might be said of Luther, that he still
lives and works in that Rleformation which bears
the impress of his own spirit.  We might indeed,
in such a sense as this, speak of Christ the Holy
as the intercessor of believers, without knowing
anything farther of his personality; and even
though this personality had been a mere transient
phenomenon, as regarded by a Sabellius, and as it
is presented by a certain school, which, though
totally opposed to Christianity, sometimes assumes
its likeness.
But such a view is entirely at variance with the
Apostle's meaning. Before his believing eye stands
the LivING CHRIST; approved by his victorious
resurrection firom the dead, as the Holy One, over
whom death could have no power; risen and ascended to an eternal divine liei in heaven, forever
living with the Father in a gloirifie(l, (livine-human




53
personality. This living Christ he contemplates
as still carrying on his work in person, and with
the same holy love with which he labored on earth
for the reconciliation of sinful man, still continuing to work in that glorified state with the Father.'In his divine-human personality he forms the medium by which the human race, redeemed and
reconciled to God through him, is brought into
union with God as a Father. This connection between the living Christ and what he once wrought
on earth, must therefore never be lost sight of.
Thus Christ himself, in those last discourses transmlitted to us by John, says on the one hand, that
he will pray the Father in behalf of his disciples,
and that in answer to his prayers the Father will
bestow upon them what they need (John xiv. 16);
and on the other hand, that he need not pray for
them, since, by virtue of their connection with
him, they are themselves already the objects of
God's paternal love, already stand in a filial relation to IIim  (John xvi. 26, 27).'With special emphasis it is here said that Jesus,
as TIIE HOLY, is the advocate of the redeemed,
who under the sense of still remaining sill direct
to him the eye of faith. Christ being the Holy




54
One, having in his life on earth given once for all
a complete realization of the perfect holiness required by the divine Law; this his holiness stands
forever the offset for all that is still sinful in those
who have been redeemed by him, and are in fellowship with him. It is in this connection with
him, as one with him, that they are presented to
the eye of God. Herein lies the pledge that they
also, by virtue of this union with him, shall one
day be wholly purified from sin; shall be like him
in perfect holiness, to whom even now, turning
away from sin, they direct the eye of faith; shall
be made holy as he is holy.
What now is the practical significance of this
truth, that Christ the Holy is our ever-abiding ad
vocate with the Father?  To this perpetual mediation through the living Christ, to his everabiding priesthood for those who are reconciled to
God through him, corresponds the ever-remaining
need of mediation in believers, their constant dependence upon the priesthood of Christ, in union
with whom they are a generation consecrated to
God. Under every feeling of sin and infirmity,
in all their temptations and conflicts, they may
securely trust in their indissoluble union with this




55
divine-human Personage; who himself has felt all
their necessities, and is near to them in the intimate sympathy of perfect love. Moreover, their
whole inward and outward christian life, flowing
as it does from  this sense of continual need of
redemption, will take its character from this evercontinuing mediation of Christ and their own conscious connection therewith.
The whole christian life, as ordained for the
glory of God, must be governed by its relation to
him; and this relation must everywhere show itself to be the fruit of Christ's abiding mediation.
To the christian consciousness, this will be an everpresent reality. As Christ the Holy can alone
be, in an absolute sense, the object of divine love
and complacency; so no other of the human race
can be its object, except in connection with Christ
as the perpetual mediator.  Only that wherein
Christ is found, only that which appears under his
glorified image, can truly promote the glory of
God. The glory, beaming from this heavenly relation, will throw its radiance over all the darkness that yet remains. Christian piety and all its
fruits, must have their root in this relation to
Christ as mediator. Thus Christ, in that last dis



56
course to his disciples of which John has given us
the record, says that God will bestow upon them
the Holy Spirit in answer to his prayer (John
xiv. 10); that the Father will send the Spirit in
his name (John xiv. 26); both pointing to this
perpetual mediation through Christ.  To this also
refers the prayer in his name, which he so earnestly presses upon their hearts in this discourse;
the expression " through Christ" being, in general,
equivalent to " in Christ." All this is thus placed
in its proper light. In many apostolic expressions,
the whole life of the church, and of each individual
Christian, is represented under the figure of a
sacrifice well-pleasing to God; a sacrifice which
Christ, the perpetual mediator, the eternal Priest,
offers to his heavenly Father. From this connection of christian truth we can also deduce the inference, that since everything in the christian life
is comprehended in this mediation by Christ, and
through it receives its consecration; so everything
human is in like manner to be thereby consecrated
and sanctified, to be brought into connection with
the life of Christ.  Hence the distinction between
worldly and spiritual, holy and profane, no longer




57
exists; all this is clone away by the perpetual mediation of Christ.
History teaches us to estimate aright the deep
significance of this christian truth, here developed
from  the words of the Apostle.  The entire dependence of all Christians alike upon this one advocacy, to the exclusion of every other, being
based upon this truth; we accordingly see that
whenever it became obscured in the christian consciousness, that dependence was again, as in the
ante-christian  period, transferred  to a human
priesthood and to a multiplicity of mediations,
and again the distinction between priests and laity,
between spiritual and secular, found admission.
And thus will it ever be, when this reference of
the religious consciousness in all believers, to the
one mediation through Christ, is cast into the background, is obscured or misunderstood.
The Apostle has thus shown, that at the basis
of the ever-continuing mediation by Christ, there
lies the reference to what he once wrought for the
reconciliation of man with God, to that one allsufficient offering of himself. I-e accordingly now
directs attention specially to the fact, that He is
"the reconciliation for our sins,"-referring to that




58
once-accomplished and still abiding and operative
work of redemption. For he it is through whom
man has been made free froml sin; through whom
that sin which pressed down humanity, separating
it from God and his fellowship, and intercepting
the communications of divine love, has been taken
away, has become as if it were not; so that henceforth, all mankind should appear before God as
freed from sin by this self-offering of Christ,-as
in him pure in the sight of God. This,-which
according to the divine plan, the purposes of divine grace, the yearning love of Christ who bore
all mankind upon his heart, should embrace all,is realized in those who open their hearts to its reception, who believingly appropriate the redeeming grace thus offered. It is so realized when they
first enter into christian fellowship, renouncing the
former standpoint of a life of worldliness and sin;
it is this which marks the boundary between the
old and the new life. But as John here shows,
although this boundary has been once fixed, yet
in the conflict with the remaining influence of
that former state, there is still need of the everrenewed appropriation of this reconciliation, which
is Christ himself. When this reconciliation, as the




all-sufficient agency for the progressive and ultimately complete sanctification of the redeemed,
and the constant appropriation of it as suchb, have
ceased to be recognized in their connection and
become obscured in the christian consciousness,new methods of atonement and purification have
then been resorted to, as necessary for sins committed after baptism.
But when John speaks of the reconciliation for
ouR sins, he feels constrained to guard against
every limitation of the universal reference of the
work of redemption. He calls to mind such words
of Christ as those respecting the one fold and the
one shepherd, and his vision widens to embrace
all humanity; to behold in Christ not alone the
reconciliation for those who already believe, but
for those also who as yet know nothing of Christ,
who as yet belong to the world. The reconciliation of Christ has for its object all humanity in its
estrangement from God; all which belongs to the
world, as it stands opposed to the kingdom of
God. Humanity as a whole is to be embraced in
the reconciliation with Christ, is to be thereby
separated from the world and incorporated into
the kingdom of God. The reconciliation, once in



60
stituteci by Christ, continues its uninterrupted
work until it shall have achieved this its glorious
consummation.*
The Apostle passes continually from one aspect
of this truth to another.  He exhorts them
Ch. ii. 3.]
now to confidence in Christ; now warns
them  against discouragement and despair, and
now against false confidence and carnal security.
His admonitions always keep in view both directions in -which they are liable to go astray.  Accordingly he here comes back again, to warn them
against the false confidence of a merely seeming
christianity, and to fix attention upon the characteristic markls of the true.  " And hereby we do
know that we klllnow him, if we keep his commandmnents."
In  contrast -with a professed " knowing of
Christ" which is contradicted by the life, John
represents this as the sign of a true knowledge of
Christ, viz. that we obey his commandments.
There is indeed a knowledge which belongs only
to the undclerstanding, and has nothingr to do with
the life; but such, in reference to divine things,
could not be admitted by John as real; he did not
* Compare the statement on page58. —Tr.




61
even allow it the namle of knowledge.  For as
truth according to his modes of thought is not a
mere abstraction, belonginog solely to the understanding, but is something pertaining to the inner
life, to the affections; so to him knoiwledlge, in reference to divine things, is not merely a matter of
speculation and of the understanding, but is something proceeding froml the inner life, and as such
must rmanlifest itself in the outward course of conduct.  The sum and substance of the knowledge
must be actually present in the inner life.  It
presupposes an inward fellowship of life with that
which is known; and this must stamp its own peculiar character upon the whole life. The knowledge of Christ, as the Holy One, can only exist
where there is spiritual fellowship witlh him, the
Holy One; where the soul has received into itself
his holy image, and has been pervaded by its infinence.  And where this is the case, it mlust show
itself in thle whole concluct by the test here pointed out, obedience to the commands of Christ; for
the commands of Christ are inseparable from his
own nature, from himself.  As in all which proceeds from him he but presents himself; so his
commands are but single features of the new life




proceeding from him.  Thus each one, by subjecting his life to a comparison with the commands of
Christ, may ascertain whether the knowledge of
Christ, to which he makes claim, be truth or appearance merely.  True indeed, John could not
admit, as we have before shown, that the life of
any believer could present an absolutely perfect
fulfilment of the commands of Christ.  IIe cannot,
therefore, so understand this test of christian selfknowledge; otherwise the result must in every
case be unfavorable.  But with all the imperfections which still encumber the christian life, there
yet remains a strongly marked distinction between
those with whom obedience to Christ's commands
is a matter of earnest purpose, the current of
whose whole life sets in this direction; and those
to whom the desire to obey him is in no sense the
soul of their life.  Moreover, as different degrees
obtain in the true and living knowledge of Christ,
there wrill be likewise corresponding grades of obedience to the commands of Christ.  The touchstone of all true religious knowledge, according to
this viewr of John, is the practice of it in the life.
But as his manner is, he here merely contrasts opposites in respect to their essential nature, without




63
taking into account any gradations in the outward
manifestation. How entirely opposed is the standard of judgment here established by John, to a
one-sided speculative orthodoxy, a conception of
truth as something merely theoretical, an orthodoxy of the understanding, not of the life! Orthodoxy, in the sense of John, is something which
belongs to the life. How different an aspect would
it have given to doctrinal controversies, had this
stand-point of the Apostle been rightly understood and firmly adhered to!
In order to impress the truth more strongly by
exhibiting it on both sides, John now, in
[Ch, ii. 4.
his own peculiar manner, expresses in a
negative form what he had first presented affirmatively. " He that saith, I know him, and keepeth
not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is
not in him.
In John's view, therefore, there is an inherent
inconsistency in professing to know Christ, and yet
not obeying his commands. One who does this he
regards as a liar; and declares, as the ground of
the disposition from which such conduct proceeds,
that the truth is not in him. We must here apply what we have previously remarked respecting




64
John's  conception of truth.  Plainly he here
speaks of truth as something which has to do with
the disposition, the moral feelings.  Such an one
is represented by John as, in the determining tendency of his spirit, in his affections, estranged firom
the truth; as one in whom  falsehood is the inwvardly ruling principle.  HI-e is wanting in honest
self-examination in relation to divine truth; hence,
he does not consider what is requisite in order to
make such a profession in truth, what is involved
in the claim of knowing Christ.  Thus arises first,
self-deception, unconscious hypocrisy; and from
this proceeds the conscious falsehood of seeking to
appear more than lie really is.
F'rom the proposition thus expressed in affirmative and negative form, John proceeds to
draw  the inference: " But whoso keepeth
his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him."  The
commlands of Christ are here referred back to his
word, his doctrine in general.  For John is not
here speaking of single isolated moral precepts,
but of the word revealed through Christ, embracing faith and life in their whole extent; his commands being, as we have already remarked, only




65
single features in which his life-transforming word
is developed.  Of one who thus observes this
word and applies it in practice, the Apostle says
that in him the love of God has reached its completion; that is, love to God, such as it must be
to correspond to the idea of love, is existing in
him. It forms the opposite of such a love to God
as cannot be called genuine love-; a love to God
professed in words alone, giving no evidence of itself in practice, and contradicted by the course of
life. Here also it is obvious, that although John
only presents these opposites in their generic form,
yet we are necessarily led to the idea of gradational differences in the actual life.  Whilst genuine love can manifest itself only by obedience to
the word of Christ, yet there being differences as
to the degree in which this love has penetrated
the whole life with its vitalizing influence, and
eradicated whatever is selfish; there will be corresponding differences as to the manifestation of
its power, in obedience to the word of Christ, in
the fulfilment of his commands.' We must constantly bear in mindl, tfhat it is not love to God in
a merely general and indeterminate sense which is
here presented, but love to God in the christian
5




sense, with all which is necessarily presupposed in
it as such. It is love to God in connection with
the knowledge of Christ, and having its source
therein; love to God as the Father, enkindled by
the revelation of the redeeming love of God in
Christ.  John knows indeed of no other love to
God. He beholds in man a being estranged from
God; over whom impends the divine wrath, till
succored by the redeeming love of God in the sending and sacrifice of his Son. It is through this
alone that man becomes capable of loving God as
a Father, and is constrained so to love Him. This
love is now the new principle of life; is that which,
if genuine, must of itself impel him who feels it
to fulfil the word of Christ, to obey his commands.
Thus with John, true knowledge of Christ and
true love to God are in every respect coincident;
and the actual life must furnish the test of both.
Hence he says: " Hereby we know that we are
in him."  Here the Apostle brings to view a state
of being, which has its foundation in Christ; just
as Christ is by Paul represented, as himself the
foundation on which the whole structure of the
Christian life is built, whereon it rests. Thus each
believer has his life in Christ; its root is spiritual




67
fellowship with him.  To be a christian and to be
in Christ, to be in fellowship with him and to live,
are in the view of John one and the same thing.
Christ himself is here the vital principle from
which all proceeds.  Out of him unfolds itself the
entire new life.  To know Christ, to love God as
self-revealed in Christ, to be in Christ, these are all
indissolubly connected, are one and the same; one
cannot be conceived separate fronm another.  And
thus also, as we see, obedience to the word, to the
commands of Christ, is the test whether one is
truly in a state of fellowship with Christ.
In the succeeding words, John now more particularly defines what is implied in obedience
[Ch. ii. 6.
to the commands of Christ: "' He that saith
he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk,
even as he walked."  To abide in Christ, designates something more than to be in Christ.  It
means, not merely to have entered through faith
into fellowship with  Christ, but also to persevere therein steadfastly; to hold fast, with a true
heart, what has been once received.  It is implied,
that there are such as have already known Christ
for a long time, in whom therefore fellowship with
Christ must have received a fuller development




68
as the animating principle of life   And how then
is this to make itself known? This abiding spiritual fellowship can only manifest itself, through
a life conformed to him with whom  the believer
has thus entered into fellowship.  WTe find here
the confirmation of our previous remarlk, that not
a multiplicity of single moral precepts by which
one is to regulate his outward life is here intended;
but the single commands are to be understood only
as the development and application of an inward
law, which is to embrace and transform the whole
life. There is not meant here a law of the letter,
like that of the Old Testament, which made its
claims on men in single commands: " Do this and
thou shalt live!"  But here all refers itself to that
new view of the life of holiness, whose model is
presented to the believer in Christ himself.  All
single moral demands which he makes on men (as
for instance, those grouncl-traits of Christianity
developed in the sermon on the Mount, that
MIagna Charta of his kingdom) are nothing else
than single features in which the life of holiness,
whose perfect form  he first revealed and actualized, is presented in contrast with what had been
the standard of the world.  Christ himself is in his




69
commands; and they, on the other hand, are but
single items of his self-revelation.  He utters only
that, testifies only of that, wlich he has himself
actualized in his life. And thus also here, the
Apostle speaks not of commands whose constraining force is from without, but of the spontaneous
result of the process by which the new life in
Christ is developed. There is implied an inward
germinating power, which cannot but make itself
known by such outward signs. If a man truly
abide in Christ, then must Christ with whom he
stands in fellowship, who dwells within him, be
also reflected in his life which through Christ is
formed anew.  From  the contemplation of the
life of Christ, there must form itself a new course
of life in conformity with that holy pattern, an
unconstrained fulfilment of the colimmands of Christ.
The life of each believer should be only a peculiar
aspect of the image of Christ, as the great archetype of renewed and glorified humanity.  Christ
himself, assuming as his own all that is human,
will glorify it in believers who live in fellowship
with Him; the One Christ presenting himself in
manifold forms of manifestation.  And thus, on
the conformity of the life to the model of Christ,




70
must depend the proof whether the claim of being
in fellowship with Christ is founded in truth.
As we have before seen, it is not John's object
to propound anything new to the churches,
Ch. ii. 7.]
but to awaken them to a living sense of
that which had always constituted the burden of
his instructions; to guide them in the right application of that which they already knew. What
he had always held up before them as the one
command of the Lord, the sum. and substance of
all other commands; as the foundation whereon
rested the essential nature of practical Christianity;
this is what he would have them lay to heart anew,
and this he introduces with a new personal address: "Brethren, I write no new commandment
unto you, but an old commandment which ye
had from the beginning. The old commandment
is the word which ye have heard from the beginning."
We here find confirmation of what we have before remarked, viz. that although John speaks of
commandments in the plural, yet he does not mean
a number of single commands; for he here refers
them all back to that One, which is itself no new
commandment, but has been known to them from




the first proclamation of the Gospel, and is here
designvated as the Word which they have heard
from the beginning. We are not to understand
by it merely the word as preached by John himself in these churches, but also as made known to
them by the Apostle Paul. It -was still, although
in different forms, the same word which had ever
been preached to them and received by them; and
this preached word had for its central point that
one command.
We shall now be able, of ourselves, to perceive
what John means by this one command. It is the
command which Christ bequeathed as his last legacy to his disciples,-the token by which they
should be recognized as such,-after he had instituted the holy supper as the pledge and the symbolic seal of his own ever-continued fellowship
with them, and of their consequent mutual fellowship with one another; the command namely, that
they should exercise towards each other the same
self-sacrificing love which Christ had manifested
for them, and would continue to manifest even
unto the end. (John xiii. 34, 35).  He himself
(John xv. 10, if.), sums up all single commands
in this "new commandment," as he there terms it,




in what sense we shall presently consider.  From
all this it is evident, that the Apostle cannot here
be speaking of single isolated commands, in the
sense in which they are so regarded fiom the standpoint of the Law.  For this Love is not a thing
to be enjoined by an outward la-w,is not a thing
to be placed as a single command side by side with
others.  Love is somlethingT which can be produced
only fr'om within, which manifests its presence in
the living spirit as an1 inl-tard necessity, which
contains in itself the impulse to all good and makes
all other coLmmnLands superfluous.  The aim of all
others is embraced wNithin the scope of this, and
in it are they all fulfilled; in the words of Paul,
" Love is the fulfilling of the Law."  It springs
unconstrained, firom  the iniwiard experience of redemption, fi'om  fellowship with Christ, and from
the new moral bent of life groundled therein.
Yet, after having designated it thus as the old
command, he adds: "'Again, a new comnOh. ii. S ]
mandment I write unto you."  Thus, what
he had just enjoined upon them as old, may now
it seems to him, in another aspect, be presented as
new.  But in -w"hat sense bothl old and new?  This
might be explained fiomu the relation of the new




73
dispensation to the old, in which view Christ calls
this the new command, the characteristic feature
of the new dispensation, whose sealing was set
forth in the Last Supper.  It was the old command as standing already at the head of the ten
commandments; it was the new command as actualized and made new by Christ's self-sacrificing
love for his brethren, especially by the sacrifice of
his life for them.  Thus illustrated,-love after
this pattern of Christ, ready to offer up all for a
brother's sake, —as such it is the new command.
True, nothing was enjoined by it which might
not have been found in the old command: "Love
thy neighbor as thyself."  For the expression "as
thyself," properly understood, can have reference
only to the true Self, which, from the nature of the
case, cannot be made an offering for others; which
must, on the contrary, be the gainer by all the
deeds of self-sacrificing love,-only in them, indeed, can find its own completion.  And hence, in
this love of our neighbor as ourself, might be included that unreserved, all-sacrificing love for others. But it lay therein only as a MIGHIT-BE, not
yet expressed, not developed, not known as a living principle. Nor was this effected till Christ,




by the devotion of his whole life crowned by that
final act of his death, gave the example of such a
love, and in anticipation of that closing act gave
it expression in words. In such a sense it might
be called new; new as having not before been so
understood, and new in relation to the Old Testament. It might be called new, moreover, as being
nvow freed from all which checked its development under the old dispensation, as being made
henceforth the sum and centre of all. As belonging in the germ to the Old Testament, it could be
designated as the old command; as developed into
new glory by Christ, it might be called the new.
But though such a distinction is in itself admissible, yet had it been what John intehded to express here, it would certainly have been more
clearly and definitely stated. There is, on the contrary, in the whole connection, no hint of such a
distinction based upon the relation of the New to
the Old Testament. It could only be so understoodcl, if in what precedes, the designation,'old'
were applied to what believers had already learned from the Old Testament. But,, as we have seen,
it is here applied to what is old in respect to themselves and their present christian stand-point; old




to them as being the same which they have heard
from the first announcement of the Gospel. When,
therefore, this same command is urged upon them
as new, we may infer that it is to be taken in the
same reference, viz. to the state of the church itself. In respect to the whole period since it was
first made known to them, it might be called old;
in another respect, that of the change supposed
since then to have taken place in them, in respect
to their having themselves become new, it might
be called the new command. In respect to the religious development of the church itself, it might
in one aspect be called old, in the other, new.
This conclusion is confirmed by what follows, in
which the Apostle's view is brought out still more
clearly.
The succeeding words refer to this fact, that the
command can now be presented as something new:
" Which thing is true in him and in you."  He
means to say: It is true in reference both to Christ
and the church,-that is, in reference to their mutual relation to each other,-that the old command has become to them a new one, something
new in their christian experience.  In what respect this holds true, is explained by the words




which follow: " For the darkness is past and the
true light now shineth."  John here makes a comparison between a present, new condition of the
church and a former one; and from this we see how
it is that the old command, the expression of what
was peculiar in the nature of Christianity, should
now be presented to them  as new.  It is a coilparison of their present condition,-as they had
already long been christians, and Christianity therefore should have become so much the more their
life-element,-with that of their spiritual childhood -when Christianity was as yet a new thing to
them.  Life, apart from Christianity, as it belongs
to a world estranged firom  God, is in itself and
with all its results regarded by the Apostle as the
kingdom of darkness; its opposite being the divine light of Christianity, and all that flows from
it.  When he says " the true light," lie means by
"'true," according to the import of the Greek
term, what in the highest and fullest sense corresponds to the idea.  With him " the true," when
used with a word applicable both to what is divine
and to objects of sense, means only and always the
divine.  It is implied, that the word is applicable
to the physical only in a subordinate sense; and at




that lower stage of being is but an imperfect synibol, a mere image of that., which, in the highest
and fullest sense with reference to the spirit of
man, can be predicated only of the divine. Thus,
for example, the true food for man is only that
iwihich nourishes the spirit to divine life, bearing
the same relation to the true life of the spirit, as
food in the lower realml of sense to the life of the
body.  Thus too,John contemplates Christ as himself the true light, holling the same relation to
the spiritual as the sun to the natural life.  What
he here says then is this: With those who have
been so long attached to Christianity, the darkness proceeding fiom  their former heathen state
is passing away, and the true light is now breaking.  " Now," he says, —meaningi  their present in
contrast with their formler state of heathenislm, or
wThile still affected by its remaining influence. The
light derived firom Christ, the true light, was already banishing the former darkness, they were
becoming constantly more and more enlightened.
So Paul says to his readers (Rom. xiii. 11 ff.) that
now their salvation is nearer than when they believed, that the end of the night approaches, the
day of the Lord draws near.  It is therefore true,




-both with reference to Christ, the true light
which has dawned upon their sou]s, and with reference to believers who have received this light
and been illuminated thereby, that this fundamental law of Christianity now verifies its character as the new command. To those who live in
the light of Christ, who have become at home in
the new world of Christianity, the old command
must now, in contrast with the former state of
darkness, present itself in new glory as the new
command. In new power must it be revealed to
their hearts, that BROTTIERLY LOVE constitutes the
essence of the christian life, is the essential mark
of fellowship with Christ.
That the injunction to christian brotherly love
is here meant by the new command, is imaCh. ii. 9.]
plied in the succeeding words, which indclicate the close connection between that assumed
state of the church, that living in the light, and
the exercise of brotherly love; as, in like manner,
by darkness is designated the opposite of this love,
viz. selfishness, which excludes love, which begets
hate,-the characteristic mark of the life of darkness. "He that saith he is in the light, and
hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now."




79
With John, as will readily be perceived, the
expressions " being in the light," being in fellowship with Christ as the true light, being enlightened by him, and being a christian, all mean the
same thing; just as, on the other hand, " being in
darkness," being shut out from Christ the true
light, and belonging to the ungodly world, all
have the same meaning.  HIe who claims to be a
christian, and hates him whom he should love as a
brother, proves thereby, that however long he may
have professed Christianity, he is in truth as far
from it as ever. That spirit of hatred towards
his brother is a sure token, that he has never yet
become a partaker of the divine light; that the
darkness of the world, the same spirit which governs the God-estranged world, still reigns in him.
Not inwardly, but only outwardly, seemincgly, has
he renounced the world. The light of Christ has
not yet risen in his soul; for this cannot co-exist
with such a temper of mind.
Now it is worthy of note, that John makes but
this one distinction: HIe that hateth his brother,
and he that loveth his brother.  He recognizes no
intermediate state, which, while it is indeed far
from self-sacrificing love, is far also from hatred of




80
the brethren. This is John's peculiar manner; viz.
without regarding intermediate steps and gradations in opposite moral states, to seize upon the radical point of difference, and thus contrast them in
their essential nature and principle. And with full
reason.  For either love, to the exclusion of the
selfish element, is the animating principle; or self
is made the centre of all, and selfishness governs.
N.ow in this selfishness, the opposite of brotherly
love, inheres the tendency which, when consistently
carried out, allows place to nothing that interferes
with self-interest, and regards every one who comes
in conflict therewith as an enemy, to be removed
out of the way. Accordingly, in these opposite
dispositions, viewed strictly with reference to their
radical elemlents, we find only Love to the brethren,
or Hatred of the brethren; love, which is ready
for every sacrifice, or selfishness, which may also
pass into hate.  So Christ recognizes but two distinctions,-serving God, and serving the world.
Hence John says on the other hand: "He that
loveth his brother abideth in the light,
Ch. ii. 10.]
and there is no occasion of stumbling in
him." This characteristic token of brotherly love,
must show whether we are abiding in the light.




81
He who manifests in his life such a self-sacrificing
love, reveals therein the powner of divine light,
whereby he has been made free from the former
dairkness of selfishness.  As the life of Christ was
the essence of all-sacrificing love, so fellowship
with him is reflected in a similar life of love.  We
learn from the testimony of the Church Fathers,
the Apologists of Christianity in the first centuries,
that even the heathen saw in this felloTwship of
brotherly love the unmistakeable characteristic of
the new christian life.  " They love one another,
even before they know  each other!" were the
words applied to christians, distinguishing them
fiom the heathen world as governed by hate.  Of
one in whom. brotherly love thus prevails John
says, that Arith him  there is no stumbling.  This
might be understood as follows,- a view wvhich
seems clearly to be at the basis of Luther's translation,-" he who is so heavenly-minded, gives to
another no cause of stumbling, no offence."  And
this is without doubt true, that the love which has
only the best good of others in view, and is willing
to sacrifice all rather than subject another to what
is hurtful,  ill avoidcl everything which might in
any way offend his moral feeling as a religious be6




ing, and thus become a means of spiritual injury
to him. We need only call to mind what Paul, in
the first Epistle to the Corinthians, says of christian love towards the weak. But although the
words, taken by themselves, might be so understood, yet the consistency of the figurative representation, and the contrast with the following
verse, requires another sense. The image is that
of a man walking in the light, who is therefore
safe from all danger of stumbling or falling. Accordingly it means: There is with hilm no stumbling, he himself stumbles not.  As one who
walks in the light of day sees his path clearly, and
avoids everything over which he might stumble
and fall; so does he who walks in the light of the
spirit, pass with secure step along life's way. In
this divine light he beholds the goal of his course,
and the path which leads thither, clearly before
him; and he is able to avoid everything which
might be prejudicial to the interests of his christian life, to his salvation.  Love, ill John's view, is
that which gives this security to the believer;
Love is the soul of this walking in the light.
Love bestows that true clearness of spiritual vision, by which the believer pursues his way se



83
curely to the goal; the circumspection, the true
wvisdom, necessary to shun every obstacle and danger in the accomplishment of the life-task which
God has set before him.  Love bestows that ready
instinct, which knows at every instant how to turn
circumstances to their right use, to distinguish in
all cases between right and wrong.  Love imparts
true repose, wards off the influence of passion
which would disturb the calm  judgment of the
spirit, keeps the soul steadily towards its one object, and secures it from all distracting influences.
Thus, in every respect, is verified the Apostle's assertion, that he who loves his brother cannot stumble.
From. this follows the opposite conclusion, in
reference to those in whom not love but
[Ch. ii. 11.
hate is the governing principle.  Of such
John says: " But lie that hateth his brother is in
darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth
not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath
blinded his eyes."
John here makes a distinction, between being
in darkness and walking in darkness.  The one
respects the cause, the other the effect; the one
the disposition, the other the course of life result



84
ing from it.  He who is wanting in the animating
principle of brotherly' love, and in whom hatredc
is the ruling power, being in a state of spiritual
darkness can therefore only walk in darkness; as
he to whom  the illumninating light of the sun is
wanting, or who fi'om disease of the eyes cannot
perceive it, wanclers about in l darkness, unable to
distinguish the goal whicih he is seeking or the
path which conducts to it.  Just so it is with him
who is under the dominion of selfishness, and of
hatred.  He cannot perceive the heavenly goal
towards which the christian life is tending, nor the
way thither.  In respect to these he is as one who
is blind.  Ie can form  no definite plan of life.
Destitute of that clearness and collectedness of
spirit, necessary in older to direct his course with
steady purpose towards a well-ascertained end, lhe
is every moment losiing his way; his selfish impulses hurry himu hithler and thither; his whole
course is an aimless, confused, inconstant effort he
knows not wvhy or wnhither.
Love to christian brethren and its opposite is
primarily intended hIere, as it is by Christ also in
his last discourses.  But while love is here conceived of at its highest point, and in its most imi



85
mediate sphere where its full power and glory can
best unfold; yet this by no means excludes the
universal love of man, which froml the very nature of the case is included in christian love.  It
need not be specially mentioned; since in christian Brotherly love itself isimparted the yearning
desire to draw all men within this fraternal sphere,
to convert them  all into brethren.  For to this
they are destined by virtue of their common origin, of the comlt0mon image of God in all, and of
the redemption provided for all; and Christ himself, he who gave his life for his enemies that he
might make them brethren and children of God,
is in this self-sacrificing love their model.  It is the
nature of love, in the christian sense, to efface all
limitations and distinctions.
As exhortation and promise always go hand in
hand in this epistle, John now, after having
shown what belongs to the nature of the
Christian life, addresses them  again as their spiritual Father, in order to cheer their hearts under
the sense of unlikeness to this life, under the sense
of sin.  lie calls to them  all as his children:'"I
write unto you little children, because [that] your
sins are forgiven you for his name's sake."' I-He




86
comlforts them with tlhe assurtance of sinls forgiven
through the mediation of Christ. For the name of
Christ are their sins forgiven; that is, for the sake
of what Christ is as the Son of God and the Son
of MIan, the divine-lhman Redeemer, —it being' as
such that they invoke Him  as their Mediator.
Thelre is reference here to what he had before said
of the reconciliation effected by Christ.
lIe now proceeds to remind them  of what belongs to their high estate as Christians.
Ch. ii. 13.] 
_.lWhat he would say applies indeed to the
whole church collectively.  But turnling with affectionate familiarity to the various ages in the
church, he addresses to each exactly Jlwhat is most
appropriate to it.  Thus the fathers, the young
men, and the children, are each particularly adldressed in the wordcLs: " I,write unto you, fathers,
because ye have known himt that is from the beginning.  I write unto you, young men, because
ye have overcome the wicked one.  I write unto
you, little children, because ye have known the
[Father."
The Gospel announcement, beginning with the
appearance of Christ in time, proceeded on to the
knowledge of the depths of his divine nature;




rising above the temporal manifestation to him
who was from the beginning, to the eternal, divine
Word who had appeared in the Son of MIan.
This knowledge presupposes a higher stage of
chllristian development, a longer intimacy with
christianity, and this therefore is especially ascribed to the fathers in the church. But we must
not forget, moreover, in what sense John uses
knowledge. He means by it, as we have seen, no
mere theoretical knowledge proceeding from the
understanding, but a knowledge which has its
origin in the life, which presupposes a fellowship
of life with the object of knowledge, and which
again re-acts upon the life. It is that higher and
deeper knowledge of Christ, as IHe who was from
the beginning, proceeding from a more intimate
living union with the person of Christ. This is
something more than the statement of a certain
dogmatic formula respecting the person of Christ.
Turning now to the young men of the church,
John applies to them what is especially adapted
to their age. Youth is formed for conflict; the
bold champions are from its ranks. In childhood,
the elements of inward conflict still lie hidden and
undeveloped. It knows not, at that age of un



conscious innocence, what germs of evil it carries
in its bosom, slumbering yet in the depths of its
undeveloped being, and the peace of a childish
faith still rules in the heart. But in the transition
from  childhood to youth, these, hidden contrarieties burst forth.  Desires and passions awake
in their might, and strive agaiinst the higher law
of the spirit.  The natural reason, now becoming
conscious of itself, asserts its claims, and calls in
question what at first hlad been received with
simple, childlike faith.  On every hand breaks
forth the hitlherto unconscious and concealed discord in the twofold law of man's nature.  Here
now is need of conflict, in order that the divine
seed, implanted  during a childhood developed
under the influence of christianity, (for John
here supposes a church long established in christian truth) may be preserved uncorrupt, may be
individually appropriated, and matured to fruit.
But the christian youth must maiintain the conflict; that through the conflict he may regain as
a conscious personal possession that peace, which,
in the period of early childhood, was imbibed unconsciously firom the influence of christianity, in
whose heavenly elements of life it had unfolded.




89
Youth, called in the freshness of its power to conflict, must not shun the strife. In that divine seed
implanted in a christian childhood, youth has that
which renders victory in all those conflicts certain,
provided only it is fait.hfully applied.  HIence
John does not say: Ye will overcome the evil
one, that power in the evil one, which in all those
respects arrays itself in opposition to the divine;
but he says: Ye have overcome.  He has in viewv
such as, from  childhood up, have been developed
in fellowship with the Eedeemer; and as He has
triumphed once for all over the power of evil, his
victory has thus become their own. 2Not ~with
their own weak powers, not in reliance upon their
own strength, do they maintain  the warfare.
Through faith in the Redeemer, who has overcome the power of evil, have they already conquered.  And, in faith towards him  their Redeemer, in fellowship with him, to appropriate
through his strength his victory to themselves,this is to maintain the conflict.  Christ, the victor
over the power of Satan and of the world, strives
and conquers in them; they strive and conquer as
his instruments. The christian life, though in its nature always one and the same, yet develops itself




90
in successive stages, each having its peculiar standpoint.  John accordingly contemplates youth as
especially the season of conflict. The entire christian life is, indeed, a copy of Christ's own unremitted and ever-deepening conflict till it closed in that
last cry: " It is finished."  It must therefore be an
ever-renewed conflict, till its last death-struggle
ends in eternal peace.  Still he regarded youth as
especially the season of conflict; a conflict, however, which to the christian is immediately transformed to victory.
Finally, he turns to the age of childhood.  The
relationship of parent and child is the one most
familiar to children; and filial love, therefore,
furnishes the most easy and natural point of attachment for love to the eternal Father in Heaven.
Accordinrgly, to the children of christian families,
who from the first had learned in faith toward the
Redeemer to know God as their Father; who had
been nurtured into the filial relation to him  as
Father; to such he says, that they have known
the Father.  The term  KNOwv, we remark again,
must of course be understood here in the sense
peculiar to John.
As we naturally repeat what we earnestly de



91
sire to impress upon others, John now reiterates
what he has just said, with some additions
[Ch. ii. 14.
serving to illustrate and enforce it, and
to prepare the way for the exhortation which is
to follow. He had already said,-I write unto
you; and he now repeats, emphatically, what he
had just written.  "I have written unto you," he
adds, as much as to say: There let it stand! That
which I write unto you, is now written. It is
final. Nothing other have I to say to you; this
you must receive, as said to you once for all. "I
have written unto you, fathers, because ye have
known him that is from the beginning. 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."
It must be for a special reason, that John satisfies himself with a single address to the children;
while he feels it necessary to enforce by repetition
what h  he has said to those of maturer age, with
whom more is depending upon their own personal
agency. To what he had first said to the youth,
he here adds something more; as in their case it
might be needful to show How they had overcome
the Evil One. It is superior strength by which




92
victory is attained; and consciousness of strength
is natural to youth.  But this is apt to be connected with self-confidence, now first developed
into activity, with a conscious ability to meet all
dangers, to overcome all hindrances, to triumph over
all enemies in one's own strength.  But this selfconfidence and self-reliance, will, if unsustained  by
strength from. a higher source, soon fail in the
conflicts of life andc be put to shamle. The Apostle
directs them  to another ground of confidence,
another source of strength.  While he reminds
the younl  that they are strong, he at the same
time indicates whence this strength is to be derived, wITherein it must have its root, viz. that
divine word already received by them  and faithfully adhered to and applied by them; that word,
fast rooted in their hearts and abiding there as
an ineradicable principle.  In the divine word,
therefore, whose vitalizing power is the life of
their spirit, lies their strength. Already, through
the muight of this divine word, have they virtually
overcome the power of evil; in this word, which
no other power can withstand, is the victory given
them.  We may translate, " abideth among you,"
or "- abideth in you."  The sense is the same.  It




,93
cannot abicle among them  collectively, unless it
has been rieceived  individually into the heart.
IiTavVing thus indlicatecl all which believers need,
in order to maintain successfully the con[Ch. ii. 15.
flict with the world, the Apostle concludes
with the following exhortation: "Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world."
Thlese words have been often misunderstood, as
-if requilring for the perfection of the Christian
life a withdrawnal fiom  the Aworld, and firom  all
worldly concerns.  Manifold errors have arisen
from  this mnisapprehension, whiclh is ftr fiom the
meaning of the apostolic injunction.  The New
Testament assumes in all its teachings, that the
world and all that is in it, as proceeding from
God's creative hand exists only for his service and
glory, nwhich is the aim and end of the whole creation.  M3an, as the image of God, should have it
for his higlbest his single aim, to actualize this purpose of the whole creation Kwith a fiee and conscious will; to so use the world that all things,
each in its own way, shall subserve this purpose.
Through the redemption, and the new creation
proceedinlg therefiom, man was to become competent thus to use all things; as Christ did not with



94
draw himself from  the world and worldly things,'but b)y his mastery over them  glorifiecdi  od in the
most perfect manner.  The Apostle requires only
this: tha~t God should be the single  object of
man's unconditional love.  INo other love mlay
takle place beside it; but this unconditional love
munst wholly rule the soul and. the life, must make
all else subordinate to itself.  As Christ says (Mattt,
vi. 21), " Where your treasure is, there will your
hear't'be also."  The object of man's unconditional
love,'-lbatever it may be, dcecidles te nwhole direction and character of his life, and iulparts its own
peculiar stamp to all his actions.  Now love to God
must demonstrate its power, by giving to the nworld
and all that is in it a reference to God, by using it
to his glory.  All other love is not thlereby exclulded, but on the contra ry, is embracec  in it.
Every- object of affection is to be regarded rwith,  a
love:  proportioned -to the place assigned it by God
in tlie creation, —a love developing itself out of
love to God.   It is the nature of true love to
God, not  to withdraw firomn  the world and,worldly things; but in accordalnce writh  the purpose
assicgned  to  them   by  Gocld, to  use all to  his
glory. It is only a love to the  -orld for its own




95
sake, a love not proceeding from God and referring
all to him, which the Apostle here forbids. It is
the world, as the object of such a love, of which
the Apostle here speaks; and it is this which he
represents as standing  opposed to the love of God.
In this sense he says: "If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him."  It
is in this sense therefore we are to understand the
assertion, that love to the world excludes the love
of the Father.  That God is truly knownr and
loved as Father, can show itself only in this, viz.
that our estimation and use of all worldly things
is determined solely by this principle of filial love
to God.  Nothing can stand side by side with this
love; all else must be subordinated to it, must be
derived from it, must be grounded in it.  Whatever claims to stand beside this love, must be opposed to it. It is of such an opposition the Apostle here speaks.
John now proceeds to exhibit that general contrariety, between the direction towards
God and that towards the -world, under
three separate forms in which the love of the world
manifests itself; and this he does in such a manner, that the particular appears as the confirmation




of the more general.  " For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
-world." W'ihen the Apostle here represents the
1world as opposed to the Father, that which is of
the Aworld to that which is of the Father; he does
not mean the world in itself, which he regards as
tlhe worlk of God, but in a moral view, as connected in his mind with that tendency of the soul
which cleaves to the'world, seeking therein its own
highest good. and sundering it fiom  connection
with God.  "The world" here designates the ruling tendency of the spirit towards the world, the
entire amalgamation of the spirit with it.  So also,
in particular, it is not the things of the world in
themselves of which lie speaks, but only as that
general direction of the spirit attaches itself to
theml, manlifests itself in them, identifies itself with
them.  This, therefore, is his meaning: all those
single forms of wroldly-mindedness, with whatever
objects of the world they may stand connected, proceed firom the samle radical tendency, the amalgamation of the spirit with the world, and are opposed
to that tendency which proceeds from the heavenly
Father.




He now adduces three such forms, in which at
that time the worldly spirit chiefly manifested itself, and against which christians needed to be put
on their guard.  First, he mentions the fleshly appetites; then whatever is an object of sensual pleasure to the eye.  By the latter, many such sinful
pleasures might be understood; as, at that time,
especially the prevailing passion for heathen spectacles, with which even christians by intercourse
with the heathen world were liable to be infected,
as shown by examlples in the second and third centuries.  Many interpreters have regarded it as referring to avarice, inasmuch as the avaricious feeds
his eye on the mere sight of his gold.  What the
Apostle here says is true, indeed, of him who
makes of mammon his highest good.  But this particular reference is so little suited to the words,
that we are by no means justified in assuming it
as the Apostle's meaning. Thirdly he mentions
vanity, ostentation as exhibited in the life, state
and pomp in worldly things, show andl sllenlor
as a means of gaining consequence.  I-e means
therefore that union of the spirit with the world,
as manifested in the three forms of sensual appetite, of pleasure-seeking and frivolity, a vain love
7




98
of poamp and show.  In the sense thus intended
by the Apostle, we are to apply his language to
all the appetites and passions which make this
world their object, and of which he here gives
only these three characteristic forms.
HIe then proceeds to contrast the opposite issues
of the two radical tendencies, as illustrating
Ch. ii. 17.]
the difference of their origin and nature.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."
All that is in the world being perishable, so likewise is all the pleasure connected with it.  He
therefore wTho seeks his highest good in the perishable, will see that for which he has striven the
prey of destruction, nothing left to him but bitter
disappointment. But he who does the will of God,
and on that fixes his love, will with his love survive all that is earthly.  When all that is earthly
has passed away, he will have attained to an eternal divine life of blessedness; living forever, with
that which was the object and end of all his strivings, in a state beyond the fear of decay or death.
From  these practical admonitions John  now
passes, with a personal address to the mermbers of these churches as his children, to a




99
warning against those false teachers of a corrupted
christianity, of whom we have spoken in the Introduction.  "Little children, it is the last time:
and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come,
even now are there many antichrists; whereby
we know that it is the last time."  The christian
observer of the signs of the times, learns firon the
Apostle to apprehend these, not singly as mere
isolated phenomena, but as links of a more extended chain.  HIe learns to inquire what place
the present holds, in relation to the whole progressive development of the kingdom of God, and
from this to judge of each particular event. Thus
Christ too requires us to watch the signs of the
times, and to regulate our conduct accordingly.
We should not, with a firivolous inattention, pass
lby the events of the present time; but should
seek to recognize in them  the finger of God, the
leadings of divine wisdom, and apply them wisely
for our own direction, and for our influence upon
the age.  We should hear in them  the voice of
God, calling us now in admonitory tones to repentance, to caution and watchfulness, and now cheering us on to the exercise of hope and trust. The
word of God abounds with many such an index to




100
the right understandin, of the signs of the present
time.
The Apostle speaksl of the period in which he
was writifng  as thes last time.  So he designates
the christian period.  And it may always be so
I-regardedl as formnling thlle- epochl towards Awh-ich all
prior revelations of God tendled, and in vwhich they
were co nlsuMlmated; the -whole previous developnmen.t of the kingloimn.  of Good beingc only preparati-ve to that which is tlhe aimn fand end of all, viz.
the appearing: of Jesus as thie Itedeet er of hu1nanitv.  lHenceforth all centres upon this one ob —
ject, — t.-that Ile, neA-w elmentl introduced by Christ
into human  hiistolry, as tlhe leaven Awhich is to penetrate  all thiicu,  shouldl   develol)  and  extend
itself rmor)e ai':d more, till tlle end shall be fully
accomlplisl(dt  Ilir e(efo,.'tl  all may be re(garded.
a.s one great cpnee te-d p:rliod in the history of
h.umn.anity; reamn:, tl:o the. firal decision, which is
to follow( tlie  al ou'd  e:t,n  of Chrlist, to that last
sifting, tlhe fil Ceonsll.l -tionll  of tlle kingT1'dom11  of
God on) e —-ri, T Is pe.it-od Ilmayl tl.herefo:)tre, without
referenell     to thle cli.stioi   wellither it t(e longer or:
shorter. ever' be reritt de ail' t l l? LvAST TIMIE i-n re
spect to tl O le ]      elt,e'    tile kingdheom  of God,.
spect  (I~~~~~e N~~~l~~pl~~ie~~t




101
It is certain, however, that the Apostles connected with this designation of their own age, as
the last time, another and more limited idea. The
signs which they observed were  ushering in, as
they believed, the last time in the strictest sense 
that of the dissolution of all earthly thlings, and
the second coming of the Lord.  They were not
able to survey and compute the extent of the intervening period yet to pass away.  If in this respect the event did not answer to their expectation, we shall find in this no cause of stumbling,
nothing inconsistent with thle Spirit's promised illuinination, by which they were to be gTuided into
the whole truth made knownn by Christ, and perfectly understand it.  Though  Christ had indeed.
promised themn, that this Spirit should show them
also things to come, yet this doubtless is not to be
understood in an absolutely unconditional sense.
It was to extend just so far, as was required for
understanding' what he had taught them  of the
divine kingdom, and was by no means a prophetic
certainty respecting its lwhole future development.
An error therefore in chronology, regarding " the
last time" (properly meaning, in that general sense,
the whole time subsequent to the appearing of




102
Christ) as a period of brief duration, and the hour
of final decision as near at hand; this is by no
means inconsistent with that promised measure of
illumination by the Holy Spirit. That they should
"k now the times or the seasons" (Acts i. 7) was
not at all essential to their calling as divinely commissionedcl teachers.  Christ has himself said,that
the coming of that last period was something hidden fi'om  the angels, and from  the Son of God
himself.  The Father had reserved it for his own
decision.  It is easy to see wrhy this could not be
otherwise.  That closing period is to be ushered
in by the whole preparatory development of human history, in connection with the series of concatenated free agencies, and its coming is dependent thereon.  Hence the ability to fix its date,
implies an entire survey of all the divine arrangements for the guidance of free beings in connection
with their own free agency, from the beginning to
the end of time.  But this can be possible only to
such a foreknowledge as is grounded in divine ornniscience.  Thus Christ also, to the inquiry of his
disciples, —when the complete manifestation of his
kingdom in the world should come,-replied: "It
is not for you to know the times or the seasons,




103
which the Father hath put in his own power."
(Acts i. i.)  Christ himself here teaches, that the
ability to compute the time in that respect does
not belong to the office of his disciples, and was
not necessary to it. Thus was impressed upon
their minds the limits of the divine and human;
what they were to learn through the light of the
Holy Spirit, and how far they were still to be left
to their own guidance.
Their longing desires hastened towards the reappearing of their Lord, the coming of His kingdom in its glory. It was with them  as with the
traveller, who beholds from afar the goal of his
pilgrimage. His eye embraces at one glance the
whole intermediate space; the windings of the intervening way are overlooked, and the distant
boundary on which his gaze is fixed seemns just at
hand. It is only when he has traversed a part of
the way, that he begins to perceive how widely he
is still separated from the destined goal. So was
it with the Prophets, when they looked forward
to the appearing of the Messiah. So was it with
the Apostles, when looking for the return of their
Lord. As the traveller in space, looking away
over the intervening distance, seems to behold the




104
olject of his wanderincgs close at hand; so is it
with the travellers in time, as they glance over
the intervening periods towardls the object of their
longing expectation. Christianity seemed only the
transition, fiomn the earthly and perishable order
of things, to that which is heavenly.   Hence,
ltheir gaze being fixed alone upon that heavenly
state, they saw the earthly only as ready to vanish
away,-as the point of transition to the heavenly
ancd eternal, and therefore of very brief duration.
True, Christ in his parables respecting the kingdom
of God, as for example when he presents it under
the figure of leaven, indicates a more slow, a gradual process of development.   But these words,
like many others spoken by him, could only then
Ibe comprehended in their whole scope and significance, when interpreted by the progressive devTelopmients of history.  Not till then could it be
understood, that what the first christian age supposed would be effectedl by Christ's personal intervention at his second appearing, required on the
contrary a long preparatory process, in the gradual
spread of'the leaven of christianity among all
races of men, 7whose extension could not then be
known.




105
Christ had, moreover, in his last discourses specified many signs, which should precede that final
decision to be brought about by his second conming. But even these could not determine the exact date of its occurrence.  For as the same law
governs the whole developmlent-process of the
kingdom of God upon earth, so do the great periods in that process correspond to one another;
the same law repeats itself in a constantly ascending scale. We find the succeeding periods prefigured in the earlier, as the earlier serve to prepare
the -Away for those -which follow. That last personalcoming of Christ, for the establishment of
his kingdom, is preceded by numerous manifestations of his spiritual coming, of a new and mighty
revelation of Christ in the life of humanity, —of
a new coming of the kingdolm  of God with power.
These form the great epochs in the development
of the kingdom  of God.  By these we may distinguish the several grand divisions in the historical development of the church.  So too the signs,
which are to announce the last personal coming of
Christ, are prefigured in those which announce and
prepare the way for the successive manifestations
of his spiritual coming.  Each great division of a




106
new coming of Christ, in the progress of historical development, points to that last personal coming, serves as a type and preparation of that closin g epoch. The same law repeats itself in an ascending scale, till at length it is fulfilled for the
last time.  Thus in Christ's own discourses (Matt.
xxiv., xxv.), the signs of his first mighty spiritual
manifestation in judgment on the corrupted Theocracy, and in the first entrance of his kingdom
with power, fieed from what had previously fettered and obscured it,-these signs are so mingled
with those of his last personal coming to judge
the world and to consummate the kingdom  of
God, that the different references can with difficulty be distinguished from each other.  Hence it
mnight the more easily happen, that at the coming
in of those several great epochs in the historical
development of the church, and especially in the
first apostolic times, the signs of the present, which
were to be repeated yet many times, should be
taken as the signs of that more remote period,
which in. a stricter sense is designated as "' the last
time."
Here then, in the last discourses of Christ, we
find a law for the historical development of the




107
kingdom of God, the same to which the words of
John now under consideration are to be referred,
as are also those of Paul in his second Epistle to
the Thessalonians (Ch. ii. 4). This is an everrecurring law, in accordance with which the kingdom of God develops itself in an ascending conflict with the kingdom of evil; new manifestations
of the latter kingdom preceding and preparing the
way for new and more glorious manifestations of
the former. Evil, by a gradual process of development attains to its highest point; the kingdom
of Christ then develops itself in conflict with it;
and, at length, through a new mighty comling of
Christ, the kingdom of evil is once more subdued.
Of this law the highest exemplification will be
given at the final coming of Christ, and this is
prefigured in each of the great decisive epochs of
the church; they are all ushered in by a similar
conflict. This is a view rich in consolation; but
should serve also as an incitement to vigilance,
when in any period we see the kingdom of evil
pushing its encroachments with unwonted vigor.
This law, derived from the word of God, teaches
us what we are then to look for as about to come,
and to perceive in the present the germinating fu



108
ture, The Apostle John, observing such signs in
the conflicts at the close of the apostolic age,
Therein the succeeding stage of development was
then  preparing,, seemed already to behold the
signs of that last time.  IIe applied with propriety the law laid dowln for him by Christ himself, in reference to the conflict of the tiwo kingdoms.  But, as wne have shown, he could not and
Le need not know~, that these sig'ns should be often
repearted, till at length they should announce that
final epoch; that this lawv should  agyain  and
again find its fulfilment, till it should be perfectly
and decisively fulfilled for the last time.
John assumles it, as something  already well
known to those whoml he addresses in this letter,
that in the last time One should arise whom  he
calls Antichrist.  He could assume this as known,
partly fr'om  the  instructions  received by the
clhurces from himself, partly from  lwhat they had
previously learned through the preaching of Paul.
Doubtless their attention had often been directed
to the dangers and the significant signs of the last
time, in order that they might be fully prepared,
in all watchfulness of spirit, to meet the great impending conflict.  But John speaks of many anti



109
christs; and thence draws the conclusion that " the
last time," which was to be known as such bhy thle
appearance of Antichrist, was now near at hand.
Does he then mean, that by Anticlrist is to be
understood not some single personage, but only
the collective sum  of all antagonism to Christ;
the name being merely a personification of that in
its unity which was, in fact, distributed among
maily individuals?  By no means.  On the contrary, the many individuals rising up on every
side, in whom opposition to Christ, the anti-christian principle, makes itself apparent, —these seelm
to him  only precursors, prophetic omens of that
One in whom this principle is to reach its culminating point; who is to appear as its peculiar representative, the incarnation as it were of the antichristian principle.  Here too we shall find the
workings of one uniform law, in the developmllentprocess of the kingdom of God: viz. that in good.
and evil, there are certain personalities forming
the central point, standing as representatives of
the conflicting principles; in whom  that which
exists as scattered fragments in many individuals
unites as one great whole.  On the one hand,
those fragmentary workings of good and evil pre



110
pare tlhe way for that one great personality, in
whom they severally reach their culminating point;
on the other, it is through the agency of these
great personalities, that the principles which they
represent are diffused through a multitude of others.  Hence the Apostle, firom the numerous individuals whom he saw rising up as the organs of
anti-christianity, could justly infer the speedy appearance of that great personality, in whom the
anti-christian principle should reach its highest
manifestation.
The question now arises,-w-hat is to be understood by Antichrist and anti-christianity?  Is it in
general opposers of Christianity, of faith in Jesus
as the 3Messiah; for example, such opposers from
among the Jews and heathen     3But wvere this the
true meaning, John could not have spoken of the
advent of these antichrists as something new; for
the idea would then be entirely coincident wvith
that of the worldl, as opposed to Christianity and
in conflict with it; and in that case believers must
have alwvays lived among antichrists, and needed
no such special warning against them.  Just so
certainly as they themselves believed in Jesus as
the MIessiah, must they be the opposers of those




111
who resisted his recognition as such. There could
be nothing in this open stand against the Messiahship of Jesus, to tempt them from their fidelity to
him. We can, therefore, come to no other conclusion, than that these antichrists appeared -nnder
an assumed and deceitful garb, by means of which
they might procure admission among christians;
and if these were not firm in. their faith and clear
in their christian knowledge, might by degrees
gain an influence over them. We must regard it
as rather a disguised than an open opposition to
genuine Christianity.  And hence too, we must
regard Antichrist himself as an adversary of Christianity different from  its previous opposers; as
one possessing a peculiar power of deception,
whereby even christians might be seduced into
apostacy; as one who wins dominion over the
souls of men by blinding and deceptive arts, putting himself in communication with their religious
necessities in order thereby to delude and subjugate them; as one who knows how to instate himself, unperceived, in that relation to the human
spirit which it should hold only to Christ and to
God. Christ too, in his last discourses, points to
such a power of delusion, exercised by those who




112
set themnselves up as prophets and 3Messiahs. Hiere
also belongs what Paul says of the adversary, who
wTith self-deification should establish himself in the
temple of God.  Htence, according to the different
forms assulmed by the antichristian principle at
different periods, (when a new  spiritual coiming
of Chlrist, for a newv glorification of the church,
was about to be evolved fronm the conflict of his
kinfglorll  with the kingdom  of evil) might those
signs specified in the Holy Scriptures receive a
different interpretation.  And this not without
reason; since under these different forms was first
revealed the antichristian principle, whose culminating point was to be finally reached in that
representative personality.  Thus in the times
precedinug the Reformation, when the secularized
church, guided by the secularized Papacy, served
under the christian name as an efficient instrument
for obscuring and thwarting genluine Christianity,
-one might believe that he saw in this the visible
manifestation of Antichrist.  And latthias von
Jarnow, the Bohemian reformer before Huss, might
suppose that he saw the craft of Satan in this, viz.
that believers instead of recognizing Antichrist in
the present,-in the domination of the secularized




113
church, in the triumph of superstition even to the
deification  of the human,-were beguiled  into
seeking it in some distant period.  In our age, on
the contrary, one would be disposed to recognize
the preparatory signs of Antichrist in the self-deification of the natural reason; which, after having developed itself under the influence of Christianity, now arrays itself in arrogant self-consciousness and vain self-worship against that very Christianity, without whose aid it could never have attained to this self-consciousness.  The question,
" What is Antichrist?" will be interpreted, now
firom the stand-point of superstition and now from
that of scepticism, according as the anti-christian
principle manifests itself in the one or the other of
these forms.  Each of these interpretations will
have its share of the common truth, which the
light of the divine word imparts in the delineation
of those signs.
Before designating these antichrists more parl
ticularly, John speaks of their rise and of
[Ch. ii. 19.
their relation to the churches firom which
they had gone out.  " They wTent out from us, but
they were not of us; for if they had been of us,
they would no doubt have continued with us; but
8




114
they went out, that they migiht be made manifest
that they were not all of us." From this we learn,
that these antichrists were not such as had from the
beginning stood in a hostile attitude to the church,
but such as had gone out from the midst of the
church itself. The church had therefore carried in
her own bosom, that which now developed itself in
conflict with the spirit which formed her vital principle. The propagators of these false doctrines, by
which genuine christian truth was corrupted, and
whom the Apostle was constrained to resist, had
themselves on-ce been numbered with those whom
the church acknowledged as brethren.  Now this
was well adapted to unsettle christians in their
faith; seeing as they did the very persons whom
they had known as brethren in the faith, who had
testified of the same christian consciousness, the
same christian experiences, now turning against
that which they had once acknowledged as truth,
and inculcating as truth something entirely different. The thought might naturally arise: may
not these persons have really found their former
convictions to be erroneous, and attained to a
clearer insight which they are now desirous to impart to others? The church needed, therefore, to




115
be guarded against the prejudicial influence of
such an example. What then does the Apostle
say in explanation of this, and for the consolation
of such of his readers as mlight be disturbed by
it?  IHe tells them  that these persons, although
they had once been connected with the church in
an external relation, yet had never in heart and
soul been really united with it in the exercise of
genuine faith.  He distinguishes between genuine
and spurious me mbers of the church; between a
union merely wTith its out-ward and visible form,apart from all share in that inward spiritual act
which constitutes its vital essence, genuine faith in
the Redeeimer, —and that same outward union as
connected also with a participation in its spiritual
essence; a distinction between those in the visible
church who belong also to the invisible, and those
who by the governing direction of their hearts are
excluded fiom  the invisible church, and belong
only to the outwa-rd form.  And what does he
adduce in proof that such is here the fact? The
resu!lt,-that which has been made apparent by
the apostacy of those persons fi'om the genuine
christian truth, on which rests the essential being
of the chutrch, —by their opposition to this truth.




116
But does this imply, as supposed by many, that
apostacy fiom christian truth in the case of such
as have once made it their principle of life, a falling from  the state of regeneration, is a thing impossible? This can by no means be deduced firom
these words.  A  false interpretation is given to
themt by those who stretch the sense so far; who
make of the Apostle's declaration in regard to a
particular case, a principle of universal application.
The word of God guards us against such a view,
by enjoining watchfulness, even upon hill who has
made greatest advancement, so long as the conflict
of the earthly life shall endure; and by warning
him who is confident that he stands fast, to take
heed lest he fall (1 Cor. x. 12). So too the Apostle
Paul, that mature believer, speaks of his conflicts
and strivings(,-lest he, who had preached to others,
should himself be found a castaway.  Such an
apostacy cannot, indeed, be supposed to take place
suddenly.  But it may happen, that through lack
of true watchfulness over himself, or through false
self-reliance, a lack of humility, he who has once
attained to the christian state, may gradually fall
again under the dominion of that sin, which though
subdued by faith still cleaves to him; may sink




117
down again from the height to which hie had thus
risen, and so lose the divine life once received, but
not faithfully guarded and nurtured. The Apostle
John by no means denies such a possibility; he is
only asserting what was the fact in this particular
case. He only states the grounds upon which this
specific occurrence is to be explained; which by
no means justifies us in deducing from it a universal law, for the development of the christian life.
What he, says is no more than this: no such radical change has ever been experienced by these
persons of whom he is speaking. WXThat now appears, openly and visibly, had always really existed
though under concealment and disguise.  Even
while still attached to the church, they had been
strangers to the christian truth which is its vital
principle. Under the mask of a christian plofession, they had concealed the same views and feelings, which now mlanifest themnselves in open opposition to the pure christian truth.
By this explanation of the true grounds of an
occurrence, which seemed likely to perplex the
minds of many, the Apostle seeks to counteract its
influence upon those whom he addresses in this
Letter. He shows them that what so awakens their




118
surprise is nothing new, but has already been long
preparing.  He teaches them, moreover, that although the causes from which it proceeded were
indeed something to be deplored, yet that the occurrence is in itself a salutary necessity in the development-process of Clhristianity.  It served to
bring out in a clear and convincing manner the
truth, that not all who seem  to belong to the
church, belong to it in reality; to separate the genuine and spurious members from one another; to
discriminate between what is truly christian, and
what under the christian name belongs strictly to
another principle; to carry out a sifting process in
the development of the church.  With this is to
be compared Paul's declaration, thllat there must
be heresies, in order that it may be made manifest who are the genuine members of the church.
(1 Cor. xi. 19.)  That which produces heresies is
ilndeed an evil, is something, to be deplored.  But
that, being present, it should thus develop itself;
that the hidden should be brought to light, and
what is kindred in spirit coalesce in one; this is a
wholesome necessity, and is founded in the course of
development ordained by divine wisdom: as in the
diseased body, it may be necessary that the mor



119
bid elements should break forth in specific crises,
in order that they may be cast out and subdued
by the principle of healthful life. What the divine word here teaches, is a law which can be
traced through the whole history of the church.
By that divine word we are raised to a stand-point,
for the contemplation of history and of life, whence
we perceive in evil at once freedom of action, personal guilt, and that higher law of divine all-directing wisdom, to which evil itself, when it comes
forth to light, is made subservient.
What the Apostle here says,is susceptible of a
manifold application to the moral phenomena of
our own times, and may tranquillize us when disquieted and perplexed in view of them. We see
the contrariety, between christian truth and the
errors which oppose it, becoming more and more
clearly defined; the Divine and the Undivine,
Christianity and World-worship, encountering each
other more and more openly in the avowed convictions of men. To many this seems to have
broken forth suddenly; and they know not how
to account for it, that darkness should be permitted to gain such an ascendency. But a deeper
scrutiny shows us,'that what the Apostle taught




120
in regard to the moral phenomena of his own
times is true also here; viz. that the cause of these
inauspicious symptoms could have no sudden origin,
but had long existed in the hidden germ.  It is
not strange that it should fill us with disquietude
and grief, when we see those who have appeared
to us zealous advocates of the same chrlistian truth
which we profess, whom we had with reason believed to be trully of us, suddenly go over to the
camp of the enemy. Whence this change? How
could they apostatize fiom the truth, aftel havincg
received the same divine experiences of its power
as we? How could the grace of God suffer them
to fall? H-ow could that faithfulness and truth
of God deny itself? Should not I-He complete the
work which he had himself begun in them? But
the Apostle's words furnish the true solution of this
difficulty, and relieve our perplexity.  It is but
bringing to light that which was concealed. Such,
though seemingly of us, belonged not to us. Nor
had they ever held the same ground of faith, the
same divine truth with us, though making the
same profession; and whatever zeal they might
have shown for it, it was still a dead form under
which they concealed another meaning.  Their




121
views had been always the same radically, though
cloaked as yet under the christian garb, unrevealed
to others, perhaps even to themselves. Such persons, living in a less active period, when these
contrarieties had not yet broken out openly, might
have gone on quietly in their natural course of
development. Their profession w-ould indeed, as
now, have been mere pretence; they would have
had the shell only without the kernel; not the
pure element of christian truth, but its opposite,
would still have been the vital element of their
belief; but this would have been unobserved and
unknown. Now, however, in this period filled and
agitated by so many and openly manifested antichristian elements, the kindred element in them is
attracted by this influence, and is impelled to
throw off the disguise -to become conscious to
itself, and to seek for itself an open expression.
But there may be still another case. These persons who seemed to belong to us, may have been
really affected by the influence of the same christian truth which we profess. They may have enjoyed experiences of its divine power. But with
this, there co-existed in them the anti-christian
principle predominant in the age; and hence a




122
conflict of opposite tendencies.  But that in tlhem
which was allied to the anti-christian spirit of the
age, at length so gained the mastery as to overcome the genuine christian element.  And thus
they themselves became sceptical, in regard to
their own former experiences of the higher life;
and at length were carried so far, as to impugn
that for which they had once been witnesses.
They belong to that class, in the Saviour's parable
of the sower, in whom the seed of the divine word
springs up quiclly,-all the more quickly because
it takes no deep root,-and through the hostile
agency of the adverse spirit is as soon destroyed.
Of such also it may be said, " They went out from
us, because they were not truly of us." Of this
class Judas Iscariot stands as a fearful example.
He, it ma.y be, once experienced emotions of the
higher life.  He may, at times, have received divine impressions firom intercourse with the Saviour.
When Judas first numbered himself among the
disciples, Christ had already perceived what was
in him, —that carnal tendency which looked for a
temporal Messiah.  Yet he did not thrust him
away, but drew him to himself with a love which
sought to exert a saving influence upon him. The




123
other disciples, surrendering  themselves to the
Lordl, and to his purifying and sanctifying influence, were by degrees freed from the power of this
carnal spirit of the age. With Judas, on the contrary, that false spirit gained more and more the
preponderance, repressing more and more those
higher impressions, till at length they were lost to
him  altogether. Thus it was that from a disciple of the Lord, he became his most malignant
enemy and his betrayer.
Thus enlightened by the words of John, in respect to the cause and the necessity of such occurrences, we shall be enabled to regard them,
though not without grief yet without perplexity,
and even to derive profit from them for the furtherance of our faith and of our salvation.  We
see that it is a neeclful sifting. We live in an
age of sifting.  Those who have the reality
and those who have only the show, of Christianity, those who belong to God and those who
belong to the world, must be more and more
separated from each other. This time of sifting
summons each one to decide for himself between
these two contrary tendencies, no longer to be reconciled with each other, but standing out in a




124
more and more sharply defined antagonism. Each
one is summoned to put to himself the momentous
and decisive question: Under which banner shall
I fight?  He will perceive the deep significance
of the words of the Lord; "He that is not for me
is against me."  He will learn to watch vigilantly
over himself, lest the bitter root in his own nature,
furthered in its growth by the kindred but poisonous breath in the life of the age, shoot up and increase, and choke the good seed. It is plain that an
encounter with the open manifestations of the antichristian spirit merely, will not here suffice; it is the
hidden root from which they spring, against which
above all Awe must turn the sword of the Spirit.
Having thus removed the occasion of stumlbling,
thrown in the way of the weaker brethCh.ii. 20, 21.]
ten by the apostacy of these errorists,
he now leads them back into the depths of their
owan inward life pervaded by the Spirit of Christ,
in order to show them that they had means enough
for resisting these deceptive appearances, for distinguishing between the Christian and the Antichristian.  "But ye have an unction [anointing]
from the Holy One, and ye know all things.  I
have not written unto you because ye know not




125
the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie
is of the truth."'
The Apostle here presents, in contrast with
those apostates, the AIwhole body of true and steadfast believers.  Such should have no occasion to
fear the threatened danger from those falsifiers of
christian truth.  They should carry in their own
hearts the touchstone, -whereby to distinguish the
Christian fiomn the Anti-christian, the preservative
anainst the infectious influence of error.  And as
for you,-this is what lie iwould say, the emphasis
being on'" you,"-YE have the anointing from the
IIoly One, the anointing which proceeds fiom the
holy God, the Father.  IIe is here called the Holy
One, as lie thbrough wjhoml those who lbelong to
him  are made holy, filled -with his holiness, and
are thereby separated from the  unholy, unogodly
tworld, —the chosen fr'om the midst of the corrupt
world.  The name Holy One is indeed also a designation of Christ; and it miglt be referred to
him, as lie who imparts this spirit to believers.
But the preposition here used in the original
(" fronm") would naturally direct us rather to God,
as the eternal source firom wnhich this spirit proceeds. (Comp. John xv. 2G6.)  So might Jw+e judge,




126
should we take this passage by itself; but since
both views are possible, and both convey strict
truth, a comparison of it with a subsequent passage is necessary to a reliable decision.  In either
case, the difference of conception makes no alteration in -the sense.  The anointing itself consists in
that Holy Spirit which, proceeding from the holy
God, is imparted to those only who are his. It
places them  in fellowship with him, and guards
them from  all the unholy influences inherent in
the wrold, to which also belongs everything which
threatens to falsify the pure christian truth.
The word " anointing" suggests to us the ordinances of the old dispensation, from which it was
borrowed.  Kings, priests, prophets, received their
consecration to the office appointed them by God,
throungh an anointing,-the symbol of the power
imparted to them  by God through his Spirit for
the filfillnent of their calling.  By the outward
and visible was signified that which, in its fulness
and completion, was to be wrought inwlardly upon
the spirit.  No-w that which -was expressed outwardly under the old dispensation, and by a single act, is in the Neiw Testament converted wholly
into the inward and spiritual, and working from




within embraces the entire life.  That which under the old dispensation was restricted to indivicluals, entrusted in some manner with the guidance
of God's people,-irndividuals who were thereby
separated from the body of the people, —now under the new dispensation belongs to the people
of God universally.  The limitations of the Old
Testament are burst asunder by the spirit of the
New.  First of all, its founder himself,-the sovereign in God's kingdom, the Saviour, —is called
the Anointed, the Christ, as having been consecrated to his work through the fulness of the indwelling Spirit of God; -as possessing in himself
the fulness, the sum  of all those divine powers,
which were only imparted singly as special gifts to
the prophets of the Old Testamernt.  So, by virtue of their fellowship with him, are all who are
redeemed by him  made partakers of the Holy
Spirit which he imparts.  F~rom the fulness of the
divine nature, the divine power dwelling in him,
he imparts to all. This is the inward anointing,
the inward consecration whereby they are inwardly set apart from the world, as those who be-long to God through Christ.  All are admitted
without distinction to the same fellowship with




128
him, and receive from him the same inward consecration to their divine mission through the Holy
Spirit.  Henceforth there exists no more among
the people of God any such distinction, as under
the Old Testament between kings, priests, prophets, and people; but all collectively are in like
manner consecrated to God, have an equal part in
that inward consecration, in the illuminating and
sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit.  It is
one royal priestly generation, whose nobility and
high office is alike the heritage of all; all are
prophets, through that common illumination of
the Holy Spirit.  Such are the weighty thoughts
contained in that single word, that honorable designation of believers.
Believing himself justified in assuming this inward anointing in the case of those to whom he
writes, he goes on to infer fiom this, that they
already know all that he has to say to them, —all
which is requisite to an insight into the nature of
christian truth, to preservation from  error.  In
that inner fountain all can be found, if they will
only surrender themselves to that inward, heavenly teacher. He disclaims teaching any new doctrine, unknown to them hitherto. It is not as a




129
missionary to those who are yet without the pale
of christianity, and in whom the sense of the nature of christian truth is yet to be awakened, that
lie speaks. This christian truth is already known;
the Christian consciousness grounded in it, and a
fellowship of christian consciousness between him
and his leaders, already exist.  But why then
write to them  if they already know all, if the
truth which he would present is already familiar
to them?  It is to revivify the consciousness already iooted in their being; to awaken that which
slumbers; to call forth new life, new activity; to
unfold to their view what they carry in their own
breasts; to bring them into a clear and conscious
possession of what they already have.  HIe says
to them, what they should say to themselves.
Often are we thus directed, through a word spoken
by another, to something -which has long had its
dwelling in our inner life.  It unlocks the depths
of our own souls.  WTe learn by it to understand
ourselves, to perceive within ourselves the presence
of God. All genuine instruction in the truth must
aim only to direct to the One Teacher of truth, to
God himself, and to serve as his organ. The genuine teacher of truth is himself fully aware that
9




130
such is his appointed office, and he desires no other.
It matters not whether the instruction have reference to those universal truths, which each must
learn from the general revelation of God, of the
Eternal Word as the light of the spiritual world;
or to the peculiar truths of the kingdom of God,
of the Gospel, the witness of the incarnate Word,the very truths here brought to view, and experimentally known to all believers through that inward anointing of the Holy Spirit.' Thus the
Apostle is far firom wishing to make believers
dependent on himself as the teacher of truth, to
assume that it was from  him  they were first to
learn what is truth.  On the contrary, he bases
his appeal on the presence in them of the fountain
of divine truth, not possessed by him as his peculiar property, but shared in common with those to
whom his exhortation is addressed.  He presents
himself to theml as a witness of that christian consciousness which they lad in common.  It is to
this very consciousness, this inward knowledge of
christian truth, that he makes his appeal when
warning them against the errors which are spreading all around them. They need no other proof;
these errors must show themselves to be lies,




131
throulgh their contrariety with that truth which is
experimentally known to their own hearts.  By
the test of an iminnediate consciousness they will at
once perceive, that what gives itself out for truth
is but a falsification of the original christian truth,
which is to them  of all things the most certain.
This is the proof which they carry in their own
souls, the inner witness to which the Apostle
mlakes his appeal.  It is on this very ground that
he addresses them, viz.  ECATT'i they know the
truth; and can therefore accept nothing which is
not the fruit of this truth, nothing whiclh denies it,
which stands in hostility to it,-since nothing that
is false is of the truth.  This lie can properly presuppose; and lie needs only to arouse this inward
perception of christian truth, for the rejection of
the falsehoods which oppose the truth.
What now is the application to the present age,
of the important truths thus deduced firom  these
words of the Apostle?  The Apostles stood in a
peculiar relation to the churches of their own as
of all succeeding ages, such a relation as no man
could thereafter hold to cllhristians.  They were
the instrulnents,througoh whom the true image of
the Lord and of his word wTas to be transmitted to




132
all.  The christian consciousness of their own tilme
and of all times has its source in their testimony,
is developed by it and out of it.  They form  the
necessary medium betw een Christ and all succeeding generations.  If we would gain the knowledge
of Christ and of the way of salvation, we must
trust their testimony.  In this respect the church
must always remain dependent on them, always
stand in need of their teachings.  But although
the Apostle John was fully awYare of this relation
to the church, he wished not to exercise any spiritual domination, to present himself to his brethren as the teacherl by iwhom they wTere again to be
instructed.  The churchl, h aving   been once established thlloulghi the pr-eachingg of the divine word
and its reception into the inwatrd lif% call andcl
must hold fast and apply Ahat, has b)een thus receired, as its own11 independent possession. Through
that inward anointingt friom  the lToly One, of
which thle Aptostle has s:)polkeni, should all believers, indepelndlently of all other authority, stand
in immediate fellowshljip with Christ as the only
Blaster for all; and the chriistians of every age
should be thereby united, botih wAith that first
apostolic church and witll each othler.  It follows




133
from this that no one, who clainls to be a teacher
in the church, is justifiecl in making it dependent
upon himself and his single teachings, but that
all should regard themselves only as organs of this
common inward anointing; that they should only.J
lead the way to this inwlu-ard fountain of illumlination through the divine word cwhich is its source,shouldl mnake this itself an object of conscious
knowledgCre; that the only aim should be to conduct to that fountain in order to draw therefrom;
that so all which they teach may approve itself as
true by this inwarld witness.  That all may be
trained up, through this conmon inward anointing, to the malturity and independence of a personal christian consciousness -this only can be the
aim of all instruction of others and all spiritual influence over them.  It follows farther, that no believer is at liberty to forego this maturity and personal independence, bestoiwed  in  that inward
anointing, or to place himself in a'dependent relation, inconsistent with this birthrighlt, to  any
teacher whatever among men.  And should any
one attempt, through the pretence of new divine
revelations, to make the religious convictions of
others dependent on himself, or to set the teach



134
ings of human wisdom in the place of the divine
word; there will ever be found, in that inward
anointing, an element of resistance to such arrogated authority.
Another conclusion fiom the Apostle's words is
this: that the multifarious forims, in which the anti-christian spirit manifests itself, should not perplex and disquiet the believer. He has in his own
soul; in that christian consciousness, which unites
him  with the truly Christian in every age, and
with the apostolic church itself; in that inward
anointing of the Holy Spirit; the infallible instinct, the certain touchstone, to distinguish between what is of Christ and what is of Antichrist.
It is only needful that, watching over himself, he
adhere prayerfully to that inward divine voice, give
faithful heed to that sure oracle, which guides the
simple and humnble-minded through all adversities
and conflicts; so will he be secured against all the
delusions of pretended higher truth, taught by a
false conceited philosophy.  He is convinced beforehand, that whatever stands in contradiction to
that inward anointing, whatever would rob him
of his Christ, however lofty may be, the words in
which it speaks, cannot be true.  Neither will he




135
be persuaded to sacrifice that individual free consciousness, imparted in that inward anointing, to
the plea that a higher church authority is needed,
as guide and leader through these conflicts of the
christian and anti-christian principles; or that, on
this account, new prophets must arise to bring repose and confidence to wavering souls.  He knows
in himself, that he has in that, inward arnointing all
he needs; and he will permit himself to be deceived by no promise of something more certain,
more reliable, or to be drawn away from listening
to that inward divine voice, through whose teachings he knows all things.
After these preparatory remarks, John proceeds
to point out more particularly the errors
[Ch. ii. 22, 23
which he is here opposing.  " Who is a
liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?
HE is [the] Antichrist, that denieth the Father
and the Son.  Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father; but he that acknowledgeth the Son, hath the Father also."
By the teachers of false doctrine then, whom
John is here opposing, he means such as do not
acknowledge Jesus as the Alessiah.  Now this
might apply in general to all opponents of Chris




136
tianity among the Jews, to all who indeed acknownledged God as the Father, God as revealed in
the Old Testament, but not Jesus as the Messiah.
But as we have already remarked in the Introduction, this would be too general a designation to
correspond to the special characteristics given by
John. We are necessarily led to look for new enemies of genuine Christianity of a peculiar stamp,
such as mlight actually deceive those who did not
hold fast to that inward anointing of the Spirit.
But if such are meant, as actually denied that
Jesus was the MIessiah, how are we to understand
this?  The answer is at hand.  One may profess
himself in words a believer in Jesus as the Christ,
and yet his conceptions of the person of Jesus, or
of him as the Christ, may be at variance with this
profession.  Either he does not truly believe in
Jesus of Nazareth, as lie really was and has exhibited himlself in his life and history, —does not receive the true historical imlage of this Jesus as a
matter of personal conviction, but has dreamed out
for himself another Jesus; or lle does not acknowledge him as in the true sense the Christ,dloes not ascribe to him all which belongs to him as such, does
not assume the befitting relation towards him  as




137
such.  In either of these cases it might be said,
that one who holds such views denies that Jesus is
the MIessiah. That which stood before the eye of
John, was the divine incarnate Word,- in the perfeet union of the divine and h uman, as the veritable Jesus, the Christ.  He who held this Jesus
for a mere man, an enlightened  man like the
prophets, not acklnowledging him as the Eternal
Life manifesting itself in time, the fountain of divine life; or he who recognizedLin him the Son of
God but not the Son of MIan, denying the reality
of his human manifestation, and changing his divine-human history into a misty phantom; lie who
thus, with reckless self-will, separated the Son of
God and the Son of Aan, could not pass with John
as one who truly acknowledged Jesus as the Christ,
but must appear to him  a denier of the truth.
Hence, with reason, John accuses those fllsifiers
of evangelical truth, as described in our Introduction, with not acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah.
And as these persons, under a pretended profession
of belief in Jesus as the Christ, were yet inimical
to him, and by their teachings might seduce believers from him; it was so much the more necessary to warn against such, as Antichrists.




138
Thus explained, we can readily apply what John
here says to our own times.  It applies to those
who do not acknowlecdge Jesus of Nazareth as, in
the true sense, the Christ; to whom he is not that
which he should be as the Christ, the Messiah, the
Redeemer fr'om sin, the Fountain of eternal divine
life, the only Mediator between God and mlan, the
Founder and sovereign Ruler of the kingdom of
God. It applies also to such, as do not acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth in his true historical significance and reality, as presented to us in the gospel record; turning that whole record into doubt
and uncertainty, sublimating him also into a form
of mist, and leaving a mere phantom in his place;
who, rending asunder the connection  between
Christ, —Christ in himself,;-and the human historical appearing of Jesus, convert the Christ into
a mere idea, and allow it' only an accidental connection with the historical Jesus thus unsubstantializeld by their unbelief.  Hence all such, in proportion as this imay be affirmed, belong to those
wN houm John designates as the representatives of the
anti-christian spirit.
The preaching of Jesus as the Christ being the
fundamental article of faith in the apostolic church,




139
the foundation upon which the whole christian
life was to be built up, the one doctrine which
contained in itself all that was necessary to salvation; only those errors, consequently, -were regarded by John and his fellow-apostles as radical, as
belonging in their essence to Anti-christianity,
which in one way or another mutilated this one
cardinal doctrine. This furnishes the clue by which
we are now also to judge of truth and falsehood,
of what is requisite to christian fellowship and
what is irreconcilable with it, and by which we
must learn to estimate everything according to its
o vwn intrinsic value.
Not all erroneous conceptions of the person of
Jesus, are included by John in what he termus antichristian; but, obviously, only such as do not admit a recognition of Jesus as the Christ in the true
sense,-only such as involve a denial of this, though
they may not directly avow it.  This also teaches
us to distinguish carefully between conceptions of
Christ, and what is essential to the recognition of
Jesus as the Christ,w-hat is requisite in order to
present him  in the true relation to the religious
consciousness.  These conceptions may correspond
more or less to the truth; but the errors are not




140
necessarily always such as to obscure or mutilate
that which constitutes the essence of the preaching
of Christ, viz. what Christ is in relation to the religious consciousness.  In more recent times, christians have oftenl erred through neglect of such discrimination; and have supposed themselves to
differ in respect to faith in the one Jesus Christ,
as the,ground of salvation, from those with whom
they were only at strife over such conceptions of
his Person, as are of minor importance to the inward religious experience. Against this error also,
wTe are guarded by the standard of christian judgment here followed by the Apostle.
John develops still farther the great importance
to religious belief, in its widest sense, of this cloctrine of Jesus as the Christ. He shows the danger
to religious faith in general from  the denial of
Christ; the close connection between the doctrine
of Jesus as the Christ, which constitutes the peculiarity of christian faith, and the religious sentiment in general; how they stand or fall together.
It is by no means implied that the champions of
anti-christianity, whom  lie is opposing, expressly
connected with their denial of Jesus as the Christ
the denial also of God the Father.  At a later




141
period indeed we find a class, the Gnostics of the
second century, of whom this might be said; who
did not acknowledge the God revealed through
Christ as the Father of all spirits, the Creator of
the Universe, the God already made known. in1 the
Old Testament.  But it cannot be conclusively
proved that John had any such in mind. The opposite is more naturally inferablle from his words,
viz. that those of whom he is speaking professed
belief in the God of the Old Testament as the
Father; and John's reproach  is, that with them
this profession has lost its full truth and significance.  In renouncing their belief in Jesus as the
Christ, they had renounced also their belief in God
as the Father.  The same relcation holds goodl, in
respect to belief, in either case.  As John, upon.
the grounds already explained, declares of some
who professed belief in Jesus as the Christ that
they were, notwithstanding, deniers of Christ; so
also he declares of those who in words aclknowledge
God as the Father, that by denying Jesus as the
Christ they do thereby deny God as the Father.
It is this, the necessary and inseparable connection
of these two articles of faith, which is here meant.
How then is this to be understood?  We must




142
not fail to notice in the first place, that God is not
here designated merely in general as God, but as
the Father.  Now as the Father,-IIe who with
inexpressible father-love draws to himself the
beings estrangedl from him by sin,-as such he has
first revealed himself in Christ; giving his onlybegotten Son as the means of reconciling to himself, and of restoring to his fellowship which is the
eternal fountain of bliss, the alienated family of
man. In him and through him do they first recognize God as their Father; only through him are
they re-established in the filial relation to God.
The whole life of Christ is a revelation of divine
Father-love, towards the race estranged from God
by sin.  In him is first presentecl that endearing
relation, into which, by sending his Son to appear
on earth, he has entered with man. I-e, the Holy
One, could alone be absolutely the object of the
divine Father-love.  It is in the Son that the Father first reveals himself.  In the contemplation
of his life we first perceive Iwhat God is, as Father;
first learn to understand his paternal love.  It is
from him alone, the only absolutely worthy object
of the divine complacency and love, that this love
can be extended to all who are in fellowship with




143
him, and in whom Christ,-whose they are, who
dwells in them, and from whom their whole life
issues,-presents himself, yea his own self, to the
eye of the divine Father.
But certainly it was not merely this John intended to express, viz. that the knowledge of Godc
as the Father is dependent upon the knowledge
of Jesus Christ his son,-faith in God as the Father upon faith in Jesus Christ as his son. He
did not intend to say merely: that to deny the
Son, is necessarily to deny the Father as such.
In the Johannic sense, this has reference not
merely to the special relation which God, as
Father, holds to those who are justified in regarding themselves as his children; but to the knowledge of God as God, in its most general and unlimited sense. The knowledge of God is, in every
view, based upon the knowledge of Christ. In
proportion as Christ is known and understood, is
known and understood the God who reveals himself in him; as John himself says (John i. 18):
" No man hath seen God at any time; the onlybegotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father,
he hath declared [revealed] him."  By seeing
cannot here be meant bodily sight; for the Son




144
of God is here represented as he who alone can
behold the God whoml  no one hath seen. But
God could be seen through the outward sense by
no one, not even by the Son. As Spirit, he is forever the Invisible.  It is not therefore the bodily
sight, but a spiritual perception w hich is here intended; the perfect intuitive knowledge of God
as the Invisible, that is, the Incomprehensible.
The onlv-begotten Son of God could alone, by
virtue of his being one with God, truly know him
by direct intuition; and from this knowledge could,
as man, reveal him in a form comprehensible by
man. Though dimly revealed in the inner consciousness of man, who felt himself drawvn to him
by a myysterious influence; yet was God,-in his
infinite exaltation, his unfathomable nature, his
boundless perfection,-a God concealed froml man,
a God afar off. The Spirit, soaring on bold wing
in search of God, sunk down exhausted to the
earth. Often, during the ante-christian period, we
find nothing remaining save a vague feeling of the
Divine; or the idea of God, having become wholly
earthly, had given place to the deification of nature.
God was not recognized in his exaltation over the
world, as I-Ie to -whomr the world is subject; the




145
God of Heaven, who also fills the earth, wlho is at
once near and afar off. His Being was brought
down to a level with that of the world, and the
conceptions of God and of the world were commingled into one. The consciousness of God was
lost in the deification of the material world; or a
mere empty notion, an abstract idea of perfection
without actual existence, Awas substituted for the
idea of the living God. The God who dwells in
inaccessible light, into which no human spirit can
penetrate, must, in order to be truly known by
man, come down to the human and within its
finite limits. First in the revelation of the incarnate God, could the God afar off come near to
humanity. First in this image of God in human
nature, could the idea of God enter as a living and
substantial element into the moral and intellectual
being of man. Man, created in the image of God,
was through this image in himself to rise to the
Spirit who is the Father of all spirits, the eternal
archetype.  As spirit he should thus recognize, in
his essential being, that highest Spirit fiom whom
all spirits emanate, and who images himself in
them. But the image of God in man having been
marred by sin, and the connection sundered be10




146
tween the archetypal Spirit and those who are
formed in its image, man has thereby become incompetent for this knowledge.  Hence the more
he strives, while in this state of estrangement from
God, to lift himself by the mere force of thought
to himl firom whose living fellowship he is separated, the farther does he remove from him, the
greater the errors into which he falls.
Now that which had hitherto been wanting to
man, the perfect image of God in human form,
this is supplied by Christ,-the perfect man as the
image of the perfect God.  God, in his love and
his holiness, gives a perfect reflection of himself
as such in the life of Christ; for it is only in the
union of these two attributes that he can be truly
known as God. Now we can rise from the image
to the original. In the mirror of Christ we perceive God. IHere we attain to the idea of God,
thus brought near and placed within the grasp of
our spirits. The chasm which parted us from God is
closed. The deeper wve penetrate into the nature
of Christ, the more deeply do we penetrate into
the knowledge of God, whose perfect image he is.
Hence, in this view also, as the confession of the
Son involves the confession of the Father, the




147
knowledge of the Son the knowledge of the Father;
so also in the denial of the Son is involved the
denial of the Father. Losing the real Christ, man
sinks back again to that previous position, where
an infinite gulf separated his spirit from God. The
previous errors develop themselves the more powerfully, as through his apostasy from the truth he
has incurred the greater guilt; the ground of these
errors having formerly been mere ignorance of the
truth, but now a wicked denial of it. Moreover,
this same tendency of natural reason in opposition
to the Divine, —thoughli at first only mingling its
sceptical and obscuring influence with the conception of what Christ is, —must yet, true to its own
nature, go on in a progressive and more complete
development and expression of itself, extending
that influence over the religious sense in general.
And thus, in every view, is sustained the truth of
the Apostle's iwords, that he who denies the Son,
the same has not the Father; but he who confesses the Son has the Father also.
We must not overlook That is further implied
in these words; viz. that with confession, in the
true sense of the word, there must be connected
also a HAVING of that which is presupposed as the




148
object of confession, of faith, of knowledge.  Hte
who confesses the Son, in the true sense of the
word, he who knows him  and believes on him,
also II-AT'I him.  Ile stands in the most intimate
fellowship of life withl Christ, and through himn in
the same fellowship with the Father.  Through
this fellowship he knows God, as I-He can only
through this be known, through this his self-revelation ill the consciousness of suchl as inl the Son
have the Father also, -the Father, to whom none
can ever rise by mere effort, of thought, apart from
a union of the life with him.  And thus, whoever
detaches himself fiom this union Nwith Christ and
denies him, having him  no longer present in his
life, therelby renlunces (also union with the Father.
He can no longer know him whom he no longer
hAS, with whom he is no longer connected through
fellowship with Christ.
As these words of John are confirmed by the
whole history of the human spirit, since the time
they were written; so does the present age furnish
a peculiarly emphatic witness of their truth. The
study of passing events serves, in no small degree,
to elucidlte the deep meaning of these pregnant
words; as they, on the other hand, become spe



149
cially important to the higher interests of our
own times, when we learn how to apply them.
We see, that as those radical errors in the conception of Christ's person have reappeared in the same
anti-christian tendencies which John opposed, and
men have departed from the true Christ; the
same radical tendency of the natural reason gradually led on to the misapprehension and denial of
God, whom Christ has revealed to us as the Father.
It was a tendency which at first, while thus limiting and mutilating the doctrine of Christ, yet
sought to maintain its hold of the doctrine of God
as the Father, to whom it ascribed the influence
of Christianity.  But, as wre have seen, it was continually impelled by its own nature to overstep
these boundaries. First, that intimate filial relation to God as Father was lost; only the general
reference to God as the Unknown, the God afar off,
remained. Then was the God of heaven, the living
personal God, also lost. The deification of the
world,-opposing itself to everything supernatural
in the Divine, to everything which can be perceived only by faith, and cannot be apprehended
by the senses, or by the natural reason confined as
it is within the limits of the world, — widened its




150
grasp continually, and developed more and more
in denial and destruction its anti-christian power.
What at first was professedly only a matter of
knowledge, became more and more an element of
life. And thus will the declaration of John forever continue to be verified.  As Christ is the
centre around which all turns, and in reference to
the most vital contrarieties in opinion and life this
only is of account,-what is the relation to Christ;
as we have all, or lose all with him; so the distinction comes out with continually increasing clearness, between having Christ and with him having
the Father, or losing the Son and with him the
Father, and at the same time all that is divine, all
wherein the God-related spirit can enjoy possession of itself, can find its true life.
The Apostle concludes this warning by again
enforcing the exhortation, that they hold
Ch. ii. 24, 25.]
fast and faithfully preserve what they
have received; so should the gifts of grace also
remain theirs.  " Let that therefore abide in you,
which ye have heard fiom the beginning. If that
which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and




151
in the Father. And this is the promise that he
hath promised us, even eternal life."
Here again in the original Greek, tile "Ye" is
placed first (" Ye therefore," which we cannot imnitate), in emphatic contrast with those heretical
teachers. For as these, through their apostacy
from the original truth, had again estranged themselves from that fellowship with God as the Father,
which is received through Christ; so on the contrary, should the church be distinguished from
them  by a faithful adherence to that original
teaching, and by so doing abide also in fellowship
with the Son and with the Father.  What they
have received from the beginning is to remain IN
them; being something abiding, not a mere external thing, which like an empty sound had passed
by them. As they have received it into their inward life, so should it ever remain deeply imprinted in their spirits. And as it is through the
preached word, received into their hearts, that
they have attained to fellowship with the Father
through the mediating Son; the indwelling of this
truth in their hearts is made the condition,on which
they should continue to abide in fellowship with
the Son, and through him with the Father. This




152
continuing IN the Soil and the Father, we must
endeavor to apprehend in the full significance of
the term.  This IN can be exchanged for no other
word.  It declares that their life has its being in
Jesus as the Son of God, and through this, in the
Father whom  he has revealed as such, and with
-Thom he has brought theml into fellowship. In the
Gospel of John, the two things are always presented as connected with each other, as involved in each
other; viz. the abiding of believers in Christ and his
abiding in them.  The communication of Christ to
the believer, —wherein the whole christian life has
its root, —-and the continuance of this communication,  appears therefore as something dependent
lupon their suscei)tibility for this divine gift, upon
the fiee surrenders of themselves to Christ. So soon
as they, through the bent of the will, abandon
their original relation to Christ, will Christ also
depart fronl them.  All hanbgs upon the unconstrained susceptibility, the direction of the will in
man.  H-ence, Awhatever may be the enjoyment of
divine grace in the christian life, the requirement
is still bindin(g on 0man to watch unceasingly over
himself, lest through his own fault he should again
lose the heavenly gift which he has received. The




153
means on their part for continuing in fellowship
with Christ is, in John's view, holding fast the
doctrines originally made known to them.  By
this he does not mean merely retaining themn in
the memory, in the understanding; but so holding
them fast that this truth shall remain an indwelling and determining principle of their inner life.
As an encouragement to fidelity, he shows them
what on this condition they have a right to expect.
Ile sums up the vwhole in one all-embracing promise, —the eternal life which Christ has promised to
those who abide in fellowship with him; for, as
he has before said, in Christ has this eternal life
itself appeared personally in humanity.  There is,
for the God-related spirit, no other blessedness
than this life for which he was created, and in
which alone he can find satisfaction for all the
wants implanted in his godlike nature. It is called
The Life, absolutely, inasmuch as it is the participation in that which alone, in the truest and highest, in an unqualified sense, can be called life, the
life of God himself; as to the God-related spirit,
which can only find in God its true life, the want
of it is Death.  It is called eternal life, inasmuch
as it is in its very nature exalted above all change




154
of time, in its very nature eternal, belonging not to
the transitory temporal existence, but to eternity.
Where it has once taken up its abode, it can no
more be disturbed and interrupted by death; but,
victorious over all death, unfolds itself in progressive and glorious development forever. Hence
Christ, in the Gospel of John, speaks of it as the
fountain which gushes up into eternal life; a river,
checked by no barriers, pouring along fromn the
once imparted source, into the eternal and the infinite.  And hence it is said, that he who believes
in Christ has eternal life; in this Believing, it is
his already.  The future blessedness promised to
the christian is not, therefore, something essentially
different from what he has already received in the
earthly life through faith, and to be added from
without as something new.  In its germ  and essence, it is contained in what he already has. It
needs only to burst from the imprisoning shell, in
order to reveal itself in its own inherent glory.
John concludes by a reference to the inward
anointing of those whom he addresses,
Ch. ii. 26, 27.]
in contrast with those false teachers.
"These things have I written unto you, concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing,




155
which ye have received of him, abideth in you, and
ye need not that any man teach you: but as the
same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is
truth and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you,
ye shall abide in him."  The Apostle repeats the
assurance of his belief, that he need add nothing
new by way of guarding them against those false
teachers; he need only refer,,for adequate instruction in all things,to that inner fountain of divine
illumination, that inward anointing. This anointing is here designated, as that which they have
received from himn; and the reference might be to
the source in which it originates, to the Father by
whom this spirit is bestowed. But as the pronoun
here employed, without any more definite application, always refers in this connection to Christ,
that reference is to be retained also in this passage.
What is asserted is therefore this: the conmmunication of this Spirit is procured through the mediating Christ; as imparted through Christ, it is
said to have been received from him. Just so
this Spirit is at one time designated as he who
proceeds from the Father, whom Christ sends from
the Father, whom the Father bestows for the sake
of Christ; and at another, as the Spirit which




156
Christ imparts to those who believe on him, as the
Spirit of Christ, so that Christ's spiritual coming
to believers is a coming in and with this Spirit.
If now we proceed in accordance with Luther's
version, it is here John's first and special object to
say,-that what this inward anointing teaches respecting all things is the perfect truth without
mixture of error, and they needed therefore only
to adhere faithfullyto it. In this view, the development of thought proceeds on regularly in what
follows. Still it may be asked, whether John
would have presented so prominently (as something of special importance in itself) the assertion
that all, as this anointing teaches it, is true and
there is nothing false in it; whether it is not probable, rather, that he throws in as an independent
and accessory thought the words,-" and as it is
truth and no falsehood,"-and then proceeds (repeating the previous clause in consequence of this
interruption), "And even as it has been taught
you, so shall ye abide in him."  The'in him'
must be referred to him who is here the one object
of reference, to Christ.  In the assured trust that
the church will ever continue to yield itself to the
teachings of the Holy Spirit, and being guided by




157
his illuminating grace will ever remain true to the
doctrine which they have received, he feels assured
also that they will ever abide in fellowship with
Christ.
Pausing upon the thought thus suggested, the
Apostle now turns to them  again with a
n~~~~ [Ch. ii. 28.
personal appeal.  In a father's tone he
exhorts them to steadfast perseverance in this direction of the life, till they attain the final goal.
"'And now, little children, abide in him; that
when he shall appear we may have confidence,
and not be ashamed before him at his coming."
As the coming of Christ -was, from causes already mentioned, then expected as something close
at hand, and the eye, overleaping all that lay between, fixed itself upon that event; so the Apostle
here overlooks all which is to follow immediately after death, and turns at once to the day of
final decision.  This he calls the appealring of
Christ. In this it is necessarily implied that Chriist
now lives in his glory with the Father, he and his
glory still hidden firom  the world and manifest
only to believers; that, in his appearing, what is
now thus hidden shall be revealed.  Christ in his
glory shall then become manifest to all, as now he




158
is manifest, through the medium of faith, to the
believer.  Placing this goal before the eye of believers, the Apostle exhorts them to abide so faithfully, through the direction of their life, in that
fellowship with Christ to which they have been
admitted, that they may be able in that day to
appear before him their Judge, with a quiet and
assured conscience.  The word here employed in
the Greek, indicates an absolute unshaken confidence, as between friend and friend.  In such a
relation should believers stand to Christ.  Conscious of remaining ever faithful to him, and standing in this relation, they will not need to be
ashamed in the presence of him  to whom  their
whole life is manifest.  But the Apostle here
passes friom the second to the first person; for involved as he still is in the conflict of the earthly
life, he feels himself the necessity of watchfulness.
Hence, when speaking of the direction of the life
towards this final goal, he does not exalt himself
above other christians, but speaks as one who is
on a level with them.
This faithful abiding in fellowship with Christ,
by virtue of which believers will in that
Ch.  ii. 29.]
d.ay standc  with flltoublel    conscience




159
before the Lord, in the sense of John embraces
the entire life; including not merely opposition to
radical errors in doctrine, but to all sin by which
the christian life might be defiled. Thus a new
division now commences, with reference to the
shunning of everything sinful: " If ye know that
he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth
righteousness is born of him."
These words are more closely connected with
what follows than with what precedes; and we
must therefore here refer the pronoun, not to
Christ, but to God. The close connection between
the references to Christ and to God, renders this
transition easy, without any formal designation of
it. It here arises naturally out of the conception,
which in all that follows underlies the Apostle's
course of thought. The appellation " Righteous"
admits indeed of a reference to Christ; and as the
subject of remark now is a being of believers in
Christ, and their whole life is contemplated as
having its source in him, as derived from him
and vitalized by him, so also it might be said
that they were born of Christ. But the Apostle's uniform  manner of conception and expression decides against this view. As he is accus



160
tomed to contemplate Christ in his human manifestation, -the incarnate  ATord; HIe through whom
man is reinstated in fellowship with God, through
whom he is raised again to the filial relation to
God, and becomes the child of God; so does he
contemplate God, as the eternal, original source
of the new life imparted through Christ to the believer. It is in this view, accordingly, that he
speaks of a birth from God, in contrast with the
natural corporeal birth by which one becomes a
member of the human family; inasmuch as by this
he is lifted out of the customary current of the
world, and incorporated with the kingdom of God,
in which without divine life there can be no participation. Thus, by the Righteous, we are to understand God. lRighteousness is here synonymous
with perfect purity, with holiness. AccordinFgly,
the inference is here made, that those who know
God as the Holy One must also know, that being
througlh the kindled life imparted by him born
of him anew, and called in this sense his children,
they must make themselves manifest as such
throurgh a righteous life-walk in harmony with
him. Two things, an affirmative and a negative,
are implied in this declaration. First, that where




161
true righteousness exists, it can have been derived
only from this source; that true righteousness can
only be attained through a birth from God, as it
is only through the power of God that the ruling
power of sin can be overcome in man. So Christ
asserts, that whatever is born of the flesh needs
the moral transformation effected by the Spirit
which God imparts.  " That which is born of the
flesh, is flesh;" it corresponds to its origin, to sinful human nature as estranged from God. Secondly it is implied, that he only who leads a life
_n harmony with righteousness is born of God;
only by this sign can the birth from  God make
itself known. Where the opposite is found, it
furnishes evidence that this birth from God has
never yet taken place; that what the Holy Spirit
calls the Flesh, comprehending under this name
whatever both in the sensual and intellectual nature stands opposed to the divine influence, is still
predominant in him.  In this connection, as is
shown by what follows, the special reference is to
God.




CHAPTER  III.
Fno:ii the conviction that believers are born of
God, and thus are children of God, the
C1h. iii. 1-3.1
Apostle derives the motive necessarily
growing out of it, to avoid all that is sinful. This
leads him to speak more at large of the dignity of
the children of God, and of what is involved in it:
" Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons
of God: therefore the world knoweth us not,
because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we
the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be: bnut we know that, when he [it] shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him
as he is. And every nman that hath this hope in
him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
There can be no more intiniate and endearing
relation than that of children to their Father,
when this fully answers to its nature. How much




163
then must it imply, when creatures separated by
an infinite chasm from  their Creator, when men
estranged by sin from a holy God, are taken into
this relation to Him.  How great the love he has
manifested, by coming near and imparting himself
to them, in order to close this chasm, to bring
them  into fellowship with himself!:No higher
evidence could be given of the love of God towards
his apostate creatures. It pre-supposes the fatherheart in God, towards those whom  he adopts as
his children.  Far more is designated by it, in the
sense of the Holy Scriptures, than the relation
which God as Creator holds to his creatures. It is
only in a more general sense that God is elsewhere
called the Father of Spirits, from the peculiar relation of spirits as such to the supreme spirit, to
Him who is called, absolutely,-The Spirit; being
in their nature as spirits adapted to reflect the
image of the eternal, the supreme spirit, and therefore akin to Him, and susceptible of a fellowship
of life with Him.  It is oneness of race, a kindred
nature, that unites children with parents; so spirits
as such enjoy the special right, over all the rest of
creation, of standing in this relation to God, and
hence he is called in that more general sense their




164
Father.  But the race of man had through sin
fallen from this relation to God; had forfeited that
claim  founded in their original nature, created
after the image of God; vwere no longer partakers
in that life by which they were akin to the holy
God, and by virtue of which they might have
been worthy to be called his children.  It was
therefore necessary that He, wTho from his nature
is in the absolute sense Son of God, and who alone
is sucllh, should appear in their flesh and blood;
that he should impart himself wholly to them, give
his life for them, make himself entirely their own
and unite them as one wvith himself; that as lie is
the Son of God, so they, in fellowvship with him
and for his sake, might also become the children
of God.
But the expression is here peculiar; not, they
are children of God,-lbut shall be so called.  It
is an indiclation, how miuch is impliedl in the right
to bear this name.  The name is the sign of the
thing, the outward expression of the inwmard reality.  The name may be conferred in advance; the
right to bear it may be given, before that which
is indicated by the name attains its complete fulfilment and realization.  The son, destined to suc



165
ceed to his father's whole property, his offices and
dignities, receives with the right to bear the name
of son, the certain pledge that he shall one day
come into possession of all. So also in the right
of believers to be called the children of God, there
is more involved than in what they now, to appearance, actually are. It is their title, given to
them of God, to come one day into the full possession and use of all which is indicated by this
name, —as assumed by the Apostle in what immediately follows.  Since the outward condition
of God's children does not here correspond to the
dignity belonging to this name, to the glory indicated thereby; the Apostle therefore first directs
the attention of believers to this incongruity, that
when nm-ade aware of it by various painful experiences, they might not become unsettled in regard
to what is thus conferred on them, but rightly understand that this must be so,-that it could not
be otherwise. They are the object of hatred and
persecution to the world; they are in perpetual
conflict with it. Are they to be disquieted on this
account?  No! This is nothing less than one of
the vouchers for the great right bestowed on them
by the father-love of God, the right to be called




166
his children. It is one of the required testimonials,
that they are truly standing in this relation to God.
The dignity to which they are appointed, the glory
of which they are now  the depositories, is one
which is hidden firom the world. The world is
far from surmising the exalted stand-point in the
universe, occupied by the christian. The world
understands nothing of that by which he is influenced and animated, and bestows on it only
hatred and contempt.  And wherefore? As the
feeling with which we regard the father is transferred to the son, who follows the example and principles of his father; as hatred to the father is thus
transferred to the son; so the disposition of the
world towards the children of God, is the same as
that towards God himself. As the world estranged
firom God cannot know Him; as even when professing a zeal for Him, it honors only that, is
zealous only for that, which it has made its God,
its own self-created idols; as it knows nothing of
the true God, being estranged from him  in the
temper of the heart; so neither can it recognize
the Father in his children, the image of God in
those who bear it. It misapprehends the divine,
for the very reason that it is divine. This tem.




167
per, which separates it from God, is the source
also of its hostility to the children of God. When,
therefore, these are misunderstood, hated and persecuted by the wmorld, they must not be perplexed
and cast down on this account; but, perceiving
the causes whence such treatment proceeds, must
feel themselves ennobled by it. They must draw,
from this encounter with the world, a more deep
and living consciousness of that endearing and intimate relation to God, which places them in this
position towards the world.
But how are we to reconcile with this the prayer
offered by Christ as High Priest of his people
(John xvii. 22, if.), that the glory bestowed by the
Father upon him and by him upon believers, —a
glory consisting in the oneness of believers with
him as he is one with the Father,-may reflect
itself in their life, in their fellowship with one
another; that they may so testify of Christ, of his
divine dignity and mission, as to lead the world
to the knowledge of him; that the manner in
which God reveals himself in the living fellowship
of believers, may lead the world to perceive how
much they are the objects of divine love? How
are the two things to be reconciled, that what is




168
cause of misapprehension andcl persecution to the
world, should at the same time be the means by
which the world is to be led to recognize the revelation of God in his children, to awaken desire
after a participation in it?  In order to this, we
must distinguish a twofold character in that which
is called the world.  That which makes it such,
the source of its hostility to God and his kingdom,
-this  must be distinguished from  that which
forms in the world the transition-point to the kingdoml of Godl, the still inherent capacity in man for
receiving the divine image, the after-working of
original relationship to the Divine.  In virtue of
the first, he is only repelled by the Divine in believers, and cannot recognize in it the Divine;
while through the second, the divine glory, as
mirrored in the fellowship of christians, exerts its
attractive force to draw men to the Father, and
to the Son who reveals him,-the point of connection whereby the Father draws them  to the
Son.
It is only in the first point of view that the
Apostle here speaks of the world; and his words
have a special reference to the then existing relations of Christians to the world.  It was then as




169
Jewish or as Heathen, that the world presented
itself in opposition to Christianity and to the fellowship of believers, —to the church of God.
Something wholly new had made its appearance
among men, standing in direct contrariety to the
spirit bly which the world was governed, to its
convictions, its principles, its morals, its tastes, and
to the organizations and arrangements of life origilating therein.  It must therefore be misapprehended, hated, and persecuted by the world. The
recurrence of this same thing is still witnessed in
heathen countries, where Christianity is first introduced by missions. But it is otherwise with those
nations which have already long borne the Christian name; whose whole history and life, developed
under the influence of Christianity, are bound up
and connected therewith in an unseen, and to
many, unconscious manner; nations sustained by
Christianity as the life-element from  which the
national development and culture, the form of
national life, originally proceeded.  Christianity,
when first appearing among a people, stands distinctly opposed to the prevailing opinions, principles, manners, and social arrangements, which
had sprung from  the root of a totally different




religion. But this is not so with nations which
have, as we have said, long borne the Christian
name. 3lMuch which had its origin in Christianity,
has become a part of the common national life,
entering into its social institutions, customs. and
modes of thought. Such is that general, worldtransforming power of Christianity, forever at
work in human history, as seen in a comparison
of nations bearing the Christian name with heathen
countries whether savage or civilized, especially
as represented to us in the history of modern
missions.
Do we now, in countries where Christianity has
exerted its world-transforming power, find still
existing this same opposition between Christianity
and the world, and consequently an application
here also of the Apostle's words?  Or does that
spirit, which fills and animates the children of
God, here find a point of attachment in everything
around them, thus developed firom the all-transforming agencies of the Gospel? In regard to this
it will forever remain true, that no one can become
a child of God by natural birth, or in general,
through anything performed externally, upon the
body. On the contrary, this is a work which




171
must be wrought from within, through personal
faith, and the operations of the Holy Spirit. The
saying of our Lord: " That which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit
is spirit," declares a perpetual contrariety between
the regenerate and the unregenerate; and consequently, the opposition between the children of
God and the children of the world is one which
will forever continue. It matters not whether the
world arrays itself in open hostility against Christianity; or whether the latter has so far extended
its all-transforming power, that the world itself
has to a certain degree become affected by its influence, in many respects assimilated to it under
the outward form of Christian culture, and now
wages against it a more covert, unavowed, in part
perhaps unconscious warfare. Those who belong
to God as his children, in whom Christ has been
truly formed, who in their whole life and being
testify of him and reflect his image, whom he has
chosen and consecrated through the Holy Spirit
as his instruments in representing and extending
his kingdom, these will ever feel constrained to
maintain a conflict with all which is of the world
and not from God, in order that they may make




172
it subject to the kingdom of God, may through
tlhe sword of the Spirit subdue it to the obedience
of Christ.  Such cannot be deceived by that outward show of Christianity, in which the world,
superficially affected by its all-transforming influence, has veiled its own true character.  They will
therefore have to contend with all that is unchristian here, not less than among a people never
before brought in contact with Christianity. WVhat
then obtained whlen these words were written,
when even externally the heathen world was distinguished from  Christians dwelling in it, must
ever continue even when that external distinction
has been done away.  Hence we see the genuine
children of God, in all ages, involved in conflict
with the world.  In proportion as the Father is
not recognized in his love and holiness, must the
children, in whom that love and holiness are revealed, be misapprehended also.  They cannot
but be misunderstood.  Often are they despised,
or hatedl and persecuted; and they nmust then find
their consolation in the words here spoken, pointing to that high dignity bestowed on them by the
Father, as the true ground of this antagonism between them and the world.




173
This relation of the world to the children of
God may exhibit itself under two forms.  Those
who have been affected more or less by this general influence, diflused among a Christian people,
may be clearly conscious of the source of that superiority by which they are distinguishled from all
who belong to pagan nations; or they may unconsciously imbibe this influence as an element once
introducedl into the national development, without
aclknowledging Christianity as its source.  The
former are indeed deeply penetrated by a sense
of their obligations to Christianity.  Thougoh far
firom recognizing Christ in his divine dignity and
glory as the Incarnate Word, thley yet acknowledge him as author of the most salutary revolution
in human society.  They honor and are willing to
proomote Christianity, as the means of diffusing
throlugh the life of every people those general
moral influences which they have themselves felt.
But tlley ae ulnable, notxwithstandling, to recognize
and comprehend those who attach so much importance to Christianity, as a whole, in its own peculiar nature; who claim for it the entire life, requiring that everything should give place to the
holy condemnatory earnestness of the Gospel, that




174
everything should bow before it. The animating
and impelling principle by which such are governed, remains to them a mystery; it becomes to
them a stone of stumbling.  Hence arises an opposition between these two classes; an opposition
all the more bitter for the very reason, that those
who are conscious of that general influence of
Christianity upon the formation of their character,
suppose that with this they have all they need;
resenting it as a heavy offence if more is required
of them, if they are not regarded, on account of
what they already have, as children of God.
Those who confront them with the Gospel in all
the earnestness of its demands, are accused of putting somethin7g else in its place, of making the way
to the kingdom of God too narrow; just as the
Jews, having received so much that was akin to
Christianity from the Law and the Prophets, andcl
deeming this all-sufficient, hated him in whom they
wrere fulfilled, and reproached him as being himself an enemy to the Law and the Prophets.
If now we turn to the second case, this too we
shall find may assume a twofold form. It may be
that those who share in spiritual blessings, which
the people to whom they belong have attained




1s75
only through the educating influence of Christianity, do indeed acknowledge this agency; but they
suppose, the possession once secured, the nation
needs this influence no longer.  Though recognizing it as a means ordained by Providence for
bringing humanity up to this stage of development,
they believe that Christianity has now  accomplished its work. Its highest mission was to make
itself superfluous, —by cultivating the nations to
that state of maturity and self-dependence which
they have now attained. This is one case. In
the other, not even so much as this is conceded to
Christianity. It is not recognized as the source
of those blessings, which through its world-transforming influence have become the property of
the nations. Their connection with the agency of
Christianity is regarded merely as accidental; and
a release from  its restrictive yoke would, in the
view of such, be followed by a more complete and
happy national development. But as the fruit of
a tree can only prosper in connection with the
trunk and root, and with the fruit-producing sap
which diffuses itself from  the root through the
trunk and all its branches; so these fruits also
will soon vanish, if connection with their root,




176
which is Christianity, is no longer maintained and
kept alive in the national consciousness. Here too
will the words of the Lord be verified: " He that
hath not, firom him shall be taken that which he
hath."  What is thus torn asunder from the root
of Christianity, having become thereby something
wholly different, having been deprived of its true
nature and significance, will run more and more'into the form of decided opposition to Christianity.
The world, not being led up from that general
reformatory influence of Christianity to its true
inward nature, will throw off more and more even
its outward appearance, and the concealed hostility
will become an open one,-a result which we see
fast preparing in our own day. And thus, what
is here taught of the warfare between the children
of God and the children of the world, and should
serve as a ground of consolation in this conflict,
will again find its full application in the case of
each individual, so soon as he has made his choice
between these two adverse forces, which are every
day coming into more direct conflict.
While thus contemplating the children of God
at their present stand-point of conflict with the
world, the Apostle marks the distinction between




the present and the future.  He leads their
thoughts to that still concealed and undeveloped
future, which they bear within themselves. We
have already, he says, the inward assurance of that
which to us is above all else, of which no one can
rob us, that we are the children of God. Herein
is contained the germ of all which is to be developed in the future, in eternal life, even to the
completion of the kingdom of God; but the whole
extent of what is thus bestowed, the fulness of the
glory of the children of God, is as yet veiled even
from themselves, much more from the world which
knows them not. We indeed know already, would
the Apostle say, what we AnE; but it is not yet
revealed what we shall be. As it is said to be a
revelation of Christ, when he shall show himself
openly in his yet hidden glory; so of the children
of God, it is said that they shall be REVEALED,
when their glory, now veiled and hidden from
view, shall be brought forth to light. Of what shall
then follow, the Apostle says: " We shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is."
The question may arise, to whom is the pronoun
here to be referred, to Christ or to God? What
the Apostle says would be strictly true, and might
12




be said with perfect propriety, in either case. The
two stand in close connection also, —indeed each
is necessarily involved in the other.  For perfect
likeness to God is inseparable from  likeness to
Christ, through which as a mediate agency it is
produced; so also, to behold God stands in close
connection with beholding  Christ, through which
in like manner it is effected.  W5e must consider,
however,-not what the Apostle might in any
connection have said, not what is in itself a truly
apostolic thought and in the spirit of John,-but
what in this particular connection was present to
his mind.  The reference to God being here the
predominant one, what is comprehended in the
idea of his children being the subject of consideration, it is manifestly their relation to God which
is here before the mind of the Apostle.  To Him,
therefore, the pronoun must be referred.
As the image of the father is presented in the
son, and the son is recognized by his likeness to
the father; so the Apostle makes the full revelation of the children of God, as such, to consist in
perfect likeness to their Father.  It is implied,
therefore, that the dignity of the children of God
is still imperfect and obscured, because their like



179
ness to God is not complete,-because they do not
yet perfectly reflect the image of God their Father.
This likeness to God as their Father, must indeed
be gradually developed in their entire nature, after
the model image of Christ, whereby everything
human in them is to be transformed and glorified
into a revelation of the divine nature, is to be
made divine. All that has its origin in the old
man, and is not yet wholly overcome and rooted
out, stands ever opposed to this assimilation of
believers to God.  The perfected glory of the
children of God is therefore identical with perfect
likeness to God. That which obscures the one,
stands opposed also to the complete realization of
the other. In that one thing all is included. Complete likeness to God is, moreover, represented by
the Apostle as the consequence of our seeing
the Father as he is. We have here a promise,
transcending all that the human spirit is able to
conceive or hope; as that which is promised answers to the profoundest longings of the spirit
thirsting and fainting after God.  The immediate,
perfect knowledge of God as he is, —this bewilders
and confounds all finite conception.  It seems
irreconcilable with the infinitude of the divine




180
nature, and the narrowness of finite creatures.
Under the old dispensation, it had been said that
no mortal could behold God; the vision of God was
regarded as something, before which the elements
of human nature must dissolve away. But now
the Eternal Word,-He who was with God and
was himself God, the only begotten Son who is in
the bosom of the F'ather and has alone known or
could know him,-IIe having taken upon himself
our nature, and God having thereby entered into
this most intimate and endearing union with it;
the chasm is now closed, which divided between
God and the created spirit. Lik6 Christ himself,
shall they who stand in fellowship with him, attain through him to the immediate and perfect
vision of God, to whom even here below they are
united in faith and love.
What we possess, in this glorious prospect, we
best learn fiom contrast with two opposite errors
of human opinion, between which Christianity
alone shows us the proper medium.  The one
bearing the name of Deism, is seen in the vain
effort to reach, through the idea of an unklnown
and far off God, the tl-ue conception of that felicity, a longing after which is so deeply implanted




181
in the spirit of man. While allowing to the glorified soul progressive development in perfection,
to move onward from  world to world, it still
leaves it forever at an infinite distance fiom God;
the idea of such a perfect, immediate vision of
God is far beyond its flight.  The other error is
that of Pantheism; which, knowing not the God
who is at once near and afar off, the God everywhere present who is at the same time God in
Heaven, mingles God and the universe into one
(as does also a false mysticism); annihilating the
personality of the created spirit, it resolves it
wholly into God, thereby destroying likewise the
idea of the living God himself, lwho is not a God
of the dead but of the living.
On the contrary, the promise of the Gospel presents to us, as the aim of the created spirit ripening
to perfection, an immediate and perfect intuition
of the Divine Being, with the removal of all those
temporal bounds in -which our present conscious
ness is yet confined. It will be a knowledge of
God no longer fiagmentary, no longer borrowed
from the imperfect mirror and the broken rays of
this our temporal consciousness, but as He is in
himself, in his essential nature; a knowing of God




182
so immediate that, as the Apostle Paul says, we
shall know Him as we are known of Him, as He
is known of himself. Still, we shall remain forever
distinct from him, in a glorified personal existence;
otherwise, it would not be eternal life, but mere annihilation. What John here certifies is this: that
in the perfect intuition of God lies the ground of
our own personal perfection; that as personal existences, created in the image of God, we are to
become perfectly like him. The two are placed by
John in the closest connection; the perfect intuition of God and, as proceeding therefrom, a perfect
transformation into his image, the oneness of life
between the beholder and the beheld. The beholding of God must react upon the beholder, transforming him into that which is the object of contemplation, assimilating him to that which he beholds,
- and the perfect perception can proceed only
from affinity of life. It implies the removal from
the life as from the perception, of all which might
separate, a perfect unity between the two. Life
and perception are here entirely one. So in our
Saviour's words: it is the pure in heart who shall
see God; by which he too expresses the sum of all
blessedness. And as progress in the knowledge




183
of God, proceeding as it does from fellowship of
life with God, is dependent upon the progressive
purification and development of the christian life,
the life of likeness to God; so at the last consummating point, are perfect intuition of God and
perfect likeness to God made coincident with each
other.
Throughout this Epistle promise, and exhortation to that which is made the condition of the
promise, engrafting themselves one upon the other,
are found constantly in close connection. So also
here, upon this highest promise follows the exhortation based on the condition of its fulfilment.
The present and futurle, the beginning and end,
are united by an indissoluble bond. All which
is to be perfected in eternal life must already
be possessed here in the germ; and by an everprogressive development out of the germ, must it
attain to that final limit of complete maturity.
Since now perfect likeness to God consists in perfect holiness, it is through progressive sanctification
in this life the way must be prepared for that final
consummation, the unobstructed vision of God in
perfect likeness to him. Hence John says: that
he who has this hope towards I-Iim, the Father,



184
the hope that through Christ's promised grace,
he shall attain to that glory of the children of
God, which consists in perfect likeness to the
Father and in the perfect vision of Him as He is,
— he will be impelled by such a hope to become
holy as Christ is holy, after the model image of
Christ which is ever before his eye.  He will
purify himself, more and more, from all that obscures the reflection of that holy image; that when
made like to him who is the perfect likeness of
the Father, he may attain in him, through him,
and with him, to the vision of the Father as he is.
This exhortation is continued in the following
words.  " Whosoever committeth  sin
transgresseth also the law: for sin is the
transgression of the law. And ye know that he
was manifested to take away our sins; and in him
is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not:
whosoever sinneth, hath not seen him, neither
known him. Little children, let no man deceive
you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even
as he is righteous."
It is obvious from the Apostle's mode of expression, when urging upon Christians this earnest
striving for holiness, this shunning of all that is




185
sinful,-that he must have had cause for it in the
adverse influence which some were exerting, and
from which there was reason to apprehend a diminution of moral earnestness, a laxity of moral
judgment in the church. The Apostle is warning
his brethren against certain seducers. These were
the promoters of that externalized and formal
Christianity, of which we have spoken in the Introduction. Already, at this early period, had
such appeared in the churches. Unable to comprehend the full extent of what was included in
separation firom heathenism, they taught that no
more was required, than the abandonment of idol
worship with all that pertained to it, and a profession of faith in one God and in Jesus as the
Messiah; without recognizing that the Christian
life as a whole, in its entire consecration to God,
belongs to this separation firom heathenism. From
the Jews, chiefly, proceeded these superficial and
outward tendencies in religion, which rested in a
mere external faith, external profession, and external fulfilment of the law. These are the vain
words against which Paul warns his Ephesian
brethren (Eph. v. 6), when declaring that the
wrath of God comes upon the children of disobe



186
dience, not merely on account of idolatry, but also
of all the sins connected with it. Here now the
Apostle asserts with special emphasis, that all sin
whatever is unrighteousness (as Luther translates
it), or as it should be in accordance with the
Greek original, contrariety to law, transgression
of the divine law. We might naturally infer fiom
this, that the Apostle was dealing with such as
did not comprehend the idea of the divine law in
its whole dignity and majesty, as embracing all
which is requisite to the full realization of the
divine will, as being the full revelation of God's
holiness in the mirror of its demands on man; such
as explained the commands of God in a gross and
merely external manner, which rendered it easy
to satisfy their demands without coming thereby
any nearer to the true nature of holy living. Such
a conception of the Law is condemned by Christ
in the Sermon on the Mount. It was from the
stand-point of such a superficial conception of the
Law, that the rich young man in the Gospel (Matt.
xix. 17, if.) could suppose that from his youth he
had fulfilled all its requirements; a conception
which has often been reproduced in the church,
and with the uniform effect of making obedience




187
to the Law easy, of lowering the requirements of
Christianity to each one's life, and thus enabling
him  the more readily to appease his conscience.
In christian self-examination and self-knowledge,
all depends upon a right understanding and clear
view of the nature of the Law, which must be
ever present before the eye of the believer, as the
mirror in which to contemplate himself and his
life. The careful daily study of that holy interpretation of the Law, contained in our Lord's Sermon on the M[ount, will above all else aid us in
this duty.
Such, then, had made their appearance in John's
sphere of labor, as thus externalized and degraded
the conception of the divine Law; lowering the
standard of moral judgment, and recognizing only
in various outbreaking sins transgressions of that
law. It was necessary, therefore, that John should
oppose their influence by holding up sin in its
character as sin, —all sin as equally transgression
of the divine Law. In judging of the moral character of men, regard should indeed be had to
differences of gradation in moral development; and
of this the Apostle himself will by and by give
us occasion to speak. Yet is it of the greatest im



188
portance to a right view of the true nature of
sanctification, and for that strict self-examination
which is the condition of all progress therein, that
we first understand the equal dignity of the divine
Law in all its commands; that the obedience it
requires is absolute, and embraces the whole life.
There is here no distinction between great and
small; all sin, as proceeding fiom the same fountain the depraved creature-will, that which the
Scriptures call the flesh in opposition to the spirit,
as violation of the divine will, transgression of the
divine law, is on the same level. This is the precise
point of view established by John in these words.
He then proceeds to show, how irreconcilable
is the tendency here rebuked with the nature of
faith in Jesus, as the Lord and Saviour; that this
faith cannot maintain itself without the earnest
striving for sanctification, without the shunning
of all sin; what a contradiction in the very nature
of things it would be, to desire still to remain in
the service of any sin, while professing adherence
to Jesus as the Saviour. He takes for his startingpoint: Jesus has appeared to take away our sins.
It is here represented as the highest aim of the
appearing of Christ, to take away all sin from hu



189
manity, and (the same idea under the positive
form) to found a kingdom of holiness in man.
This thought is, in itself, a sufficient demonstration,
that its origin is not of earth but of Heaven, the
demonstration of its own divinity. It is a thought
which could never have arisen in the sin-polluted
mind of man.  He who could conceive it, would
thereby already have demonstrated his superhuman greatness. To be able to express such a
thought, in the midst of a sinful race, involves the
consciousness not only of its superhuman origin,
but also of superhuman powers to achieve its realization.  It marks a new  era in history; that
henceforth, for those who appropriate to themselves the work of Christ and enter into fellowship
with him, Evil and Sin are as if they were not, as
if wholly and forever taken away.  Not only
shall sin no longer have dominion over them, but
former sin shall be as if it had not been, as if annihilated.  In regard to the expression, "to take
away our sins," a comparison with the original
Greek, and with John's language elsewhere, leads
us to refer the conception underlying it to Christ.
It is IIe, who by entering into fellowship with
man's sinful nature, and thus acquiring a living




190
sympathy with all the misery brought upon it by
sin, became conscious in his sufferings of a connection with the sin of humanity. Through his fellowship with that nature which he had adopted,
he bore the guilt by which humanity was burdened, and felt it as his own; as indicated by those
words upon the cross: " My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me!" It was thus that he took
upon himself and bore the sins of men, and therefore he is said to have taken away our sins. So
the sin of the people was, in a symbolical and typical manner, laid as it were upon the sacrificial
victim to be borne and expiated by it. But in
order that Christ might thus take away the sins
of man, it was requisite, as the Apostle subsequently indicates, that in himself there should be
no sin. He must be the Sinless, the Holy One, in
order as such to suffer for the sins in which he
had himself no share; to take them away, and set
over against themn a life of perfect holiness answering to the divine law; to be able, in the fulfilment
of that law, to do for all and in place of all, mwhat
all mankind should have done each for himself.
Since then it is as the Holy One that Jesus has
taken away the sins of men, the Apostle infers




191
that none can stand in fellowship with him, who
perseveres henceforward in the way of sin. He
declares, in the most absolute manner, that he
who abides in fellowship with him sinneth not.
To sin, and to abide in fellowship with the Holy
One, who appeared for the very purpose of taking
away sin, are things irreconcilable.  To belong
to him, is to be separated from all sin. The life
which exists in fellowship with him excludes all
sin. This assertion is subsequently repeated by
the Apostle, in order to enforce it with the strongest emphasis, in the negative form: "' Whosoever
sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him."
This seeing indicates, as we have before noticed,
not bodily sight which cannot here be nmeant, but
inward vision, a seeing with the eye of the spirit.
From the distinction here made between seeing
andclknowing, it is evident that something more is
meant by seeing Christ than by knowing him; as
indeed elsewhere John is accustomed to represent
by sight a higher stage of knowledge, that immediate spiritual perception which rises above mediate knowledge. If through the preaching of the
Gospel the knowledge of Christ has been attained,
there will follow that higher spiritual intuition of




192
Him, as manifested in his divine-human life, as
He was and is. Such a living image of Christ,
enchaining the soul, must be ever present to the
spiritual gaze of the believer.  But this can only
be the case with him, whose life-walk is in harmlony with this holy model.  He who continues in
sin, though he may outwardly have confessed
Christ, canll never truly have beheld this image;
nay-, he is still far even from klnoAwing him as the
Holy One who appeared to take away the sins of
man. Such an one, in place of the true and living
Christ, has devised for himself another and fictitious one.
Accordingly, John adds a protest against the
vain words of those who lower the demands of the
Gospel upon the christian life, representing a mere
outward profession as that whereby christians are
separated from the sinful heathen world, and entitled to contrast themselves as righteous with the
sinners of Heathenism.  HIe asserts, on the contrary, that it is only through the practice of righteousness, through a life-walk conformed thereto,
that one can prove himself a righteous man. This,
however, by no means harmonizes with the doctrine, that only through the fulfilment of righteous



193
ness, only through a course of action, one can become righteous. In all that is here said, there is
presupposed that righteousness which has its root
in fellowship with Christ, the new life proceeding
from him and formed after his holy image. What
he would enforce is this: that this inward righteousness,-originating in fellowship with Christ,
and distinguishing the new stand-point of life fiom
the former one,-can not be present without revealing itself in the outward life; that as the image of
Christ the Righteous, the Holy, is transferred to the
inner life of the believer, no one can stand in fellowship with him without showing himself, in his
life-walk, to be righteous even as Christ is righteous.
It may appear strange, that the Apostle should
so absolutely and unconditionally exclude all sin
from the christian life; should seem to assert that
it must correspond, in entire and unspotted righteousness, to the holy image of Christ.  And yet,
in what precedes he has given his readers to understand, that the christian life is one which still
needs a purifying process.  But it was here the
Apostle's first object, in opposition to that laxness
of moral views, that compromise with sin, to bring
before the mind the full scope of what is involved
13




194
in the essential nature and idea of Sin and of Righteousness; to exhibit, in its whole strictness and
majesty, the claim upon the christian life arising
from fellowship with Christ, from faith in him as
the Redeemer.  This is the same point of view
which Christ takes in the Sermon on the ]Mount.
The christian life, as such, in its essential nature
and idea as a life of righteousness after the image
of Christ, is in itself the opposite to all sin; and in
this view, no difference of moral gradation canll be
made, although in the actual life such gradations
are found to exist. It was the first object to bring
out clearly, in the full import and extent of their
contrariety, the stand-point of the old and that ol
the new man. From  such a view it will always
follow, that the determining tendency of the christian life, of the will in the christian, can be no
other than holy and averse to sin; that only the
after-workings of the former relation of sin, of the
old manh, oppose themselves to what is now his
determining and controlling tendency.
It was here then the Apostle's object to draw
the separating line between these two radCh. iii 8.]
ical tendencies, in reference to holiness and
sin, in its full breadth and force.  Hence the un



conditional contrast in which he presents those
who abide in fellowship with Christ, those who
are born of God, the children of God,-and those
who are of the devil, who make themselves
known by their lives as children of the devil.
=What then does lhe understand by the devil?
He designates him as the one who sinneth " from
the beginning."  If we take the expression,' ffrom
the beginning," in  an absolute and unlimited
sense, and follow it out to its necessary results,
we must understand by Satan a spirit in his origin
and essence the opposite to the holy God, evil in
his very nature, in his whole being and essence
the representative of evil; and consequently two
original Principles of IBeing, a good and an evil,
must be admitted.  But froml  a comparison with
the Apostle's whole mode of conception, and with
his ideas of the creation, it is clear that such a
view is wholly foreign to him; for he derives all
existence simply fiolm  God and his Word, and
consequently can recognize no Being co-existent
with God. Since, moreover, he regards God as
absolutely Light, to Awhom all dlarkness is alien,as the Holy One from whom, nothing evil can
proceed,-he must, while recognizing God as sole




creator of all existing  thifl(is  assume that all
tbhings as they proceeded fro-m.  Iinm  were crealted
good.  He cannot, therefore, adlnmit that, an  originallyv evil spirit  was, as snch,  creat;ed by God,.
And fartllter still, the Johlanlnie coniception of sin
is inc(-onsistent   itlh suchl an i.le a of a sinner  friom
the beg'inning,   of a beinlg  oigi:aially  evil.  For
the id.lea of sin impllies tralnsressio   of tl:le diine
lawJ by a spilit created  t;o fulfil thle lfaw, one in'wl'ose consciousness the diville law'was, presenlt as
a lawc for hiluself.  It is:rebellion of tl.e creatnurewAill agaiUn t the divine w     ill to  which it shXould  be
suIi)ject.  All this  is co,npi rle il.nded ( y-y Johnl in
the ide,  of sin -wlhetl predicated of' mia.  IT  all
thlhs theire is implied a spirit  eCreited  )y-  od originalliy goood, who thlrouolh   li;h-e mlisuse of( his own
firee  will rebelled atga.inst thle dlivine -wvill.  Andl
th.Lus also  t the suppositionli of (In. orligcinafly- evil.
Princ:liple is seen to'be iniadmi ssilble.    V(We must accordin-gly understan-rd -by the expressi.on, 1   sin net L
ron thl-e beoi.inni,n   not tl;iat the devil sins on
evermore frol: the  eoginnin-l of nhis existence as a,
spirit, but from  the time when, thronglh     the apostaly of  is will from  God, (   he becae  Iwhat lie is
thle Devil'; smaJrN1, through the steady  persi;st



ence of his will in a course at variance with his
original nature, a variance involved in the idea
of sin, having become his second nature, his element of life. The expression, " from the beginning," is justified moreover on this ground: that
the origin of all sin is from  the devil; that
through him sin first entered the universe, and
the first beginning of sin in the human race also
was brought about by his intervention. Hence
all sin is an imitation of Satan, a reflection of his
image, the work of the same spirit, of that selfish
tendency in the creature by which it renounced
its natural dependence on God, made itself law,
end, centre to itself, instead of referring as its destiny required the whole life to God alone, and
making him  its law, end and centre.  This tendency having first proceeded from  the Devil, he
is consequently regarded as its representative;
all which is done from this disposition is referred
back to him, and viewed as the work of the spirit
which shows itself operative in him, which first
came into being in him.  But it is characteristic
of John to seek only the practical-religious point
of view, to apprehend everything in its bearing
on the christian life, its influence upon sanctifica



198
tion,-al(n   to  refrain  from. questions relating
merely to matters of kllnowle'lge without practical
impor:tance.  Hle thlereforee pursues  no farther the
illCuiry,  what the devil orig'inall]ly -was in relation
to the rest of the spilit —orlt(.  Hle only exhibits'what is here of practical. weiglht, t -viz, t'he connection of all sin with him  f.rom. whoml  si  fi-rst proceeded —-writh that sinning  of the devil from  the
beginlming.  It is no mere matter of speculation,
it is soniething  practi call y inmportant, — important
in respect to the colnsciousnless of sin -— that we go
beyondl its present manifestlationi il man, and. behold  in Satan  its essential nature.  Thu'Is while
viewingo sin. as the act of a spirit giftedl wN.ith higher
powers, createC  o'iginally g)oodl, wee shall become
more clearl.y aware of its tlrue nature, as a revolt
of tlhe creature-Awill against the supreme will of
Gocl whic h all shoul c obey1, as a voluntary transgression of the holy law given by- God. to all. rational beingrs.  Learning thus to understanid lEvil
in its'whole fath.omless depthl, as guilty estrangemenlt firom  God, wne shatll tlelelr)y ble guarded
against the error, so  )1arejudlici:al] to moral earnestness, of regarding evil as merely an inlfilrmity, aii
overpowering  of the Rationtal by the Sensual;



199
as nothing more than a product of the sensual
nature in maln.
WVith this aim,-to show the incompatibility of
all sin with the christian life, and arouse the christian to the conscious necessity of avoiding all contact with sin, as something diametrically opposed
to the position of the child of God, to the life
which is in him,-John refers every sin, without
distinction between great and small, to the same
origin, the one radical tendency expressed in all
sins, to the devil who sinneth from the beginning.
By sinning, one puts himself on an equality with
the devil, shows himself to be one of his adherents,
to be governed by his spirit.  That which constitutes the characteristic of the devil is the operative
principle in all sin, viz. this same radical tendency
of self-will in the creature resisting the holy ordinance of God.  Since now the Apostle derives all
sin from  the devil, and in all sin recognizes the
kingdom  of the devil; as in all the evil which
reigned in the human race until Christ's appearing he sees the influence of that kingdom, the progressive working of the disorder introduced by
the devil into the world; he therefore says, that
the Son of God has appeared to undo, to destroy,




200
the works of the devil. The expressions, " to
take away the sins of men," and " to destroy the
works of the devil," are employed by John with
the same general import. After having exhibited
sin in connection with the devil, these expressions
could now be interchanged.  As he here contemplates evil, not merely as manifested on earth, but
in its more general connection with the development-history of the universe, of which indeed revelation unveils only such a fragment as is demanded for our practical religious necessities; so also
does his designation of Christ's work of redemption,
include that more general reference to the history
of the universe, and of the kingdomr of God in its
widest sense. It is here represented as the highest
aim of the appearing of Christ, to destroy all which
is the work of Satan, all evil,-the triumphant
establishment of the kingdom of God on the ruins
of Satan's kingdom.  Since then Christ appeared
to do away all sin as the work of the devil; it
clearly follows, that only he who renounces all sin
as the work of the devil can share in the work of
Christ, can receive in himself the fulfilment of the
purpose for which Christ appeared.
Whilst he thus shows the total contrariety be



201
tween the children of Gocl and the chil[Ch. iii. 9.
dren of the devil, between him that doeth
righteousness and him that sinneth, the Apostle
says: "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him; and he
cannot sin, because he is born of God." John
here first certifies a matter of fact; he states a
practical proposition, viz. that he who is born of
God,-as being born of Godl,-sinneth not. The
ground of this is stated in the declaration which
follows, that in such the seed of God remaineth.
The figure of seed, so often employed in the Scriptures, is usually taken from husbandry.  Thus in
the parables of our Lord, the word of God is compared to the seed, the soul to the ground in which
the seed is scattered, the difference of susceptibility for receiving the word of God to varieties of
soil. But this, obviously, is not the allusion here.
It is not men represented as recipients of the seed,
and deporting themselves variously in respect to
its reception; it is the believer begotten from the
seed. The allusion is manifestly to the seed in
human generation, as in John i. 13. The seed of
God is the divine life derived from God and imparted through Christ, from which proceeds the




202
new birth, regeneration, and which constitutes
those to whom it is imparted children of God.
Having by the reception of this divine life been
born of God and become children of God, so
long as the divine seed, the new divine life abides
and continues operative in them penetrating their
whole nature, they cannot but remain children of
God and manifest themselves as such. Since now
this seed fiom God stands as the exact opposite of
the life which is kindred to that of the devil, to
all -which is sinl; it is obvious that the children of
God sin not, since this new life, the very thing
which constitutes them children of God, excludes
from itself all sin. Having stated this practical
proposition, he proceeds to prove that it must of
necessity be so, that it cannot be otherwise. Such
an one cannot sin. It is in the nature of the case
impossible that he should sin, because he is born
of God; because this being born of God stands in
direct contradiction with sin. Sin cannot proceed
from it, can find no point of connection in it. As
nothing  Undivine, but only what is Divine, can
proceed fiom the divine life, so from those who
are born of God, as such, there can proceed no
sin.




203
John now places these two classes of men in
contrast with each other: " Herein is man[ah. iii. 10.
ifest who are the children of God and who
are the children of the devil."  Thus he divides
the whole human race between these two diametrically opposite classes, the children of God and
the children of the devil.  But is there, then, only
this one distinction aimong men? Is there nothing
intermediate, are there no points of transition, between the two classes? If so, it would be impossible to explain, how children of God could be
formed firom children of the devil, how a transition
firom the one class to the other could be effected.
And yet John assumes such a possibility in the
recognition of the fact, that such as served sin
and belonged to the kingodom  of Satan, to the
kingdom of the world, have through faith in Jesus
as the Saviour withdrawn therefrom, and have become children of God. By saying that the Son
of God has appeared to destroy the works of the
devil, he says virtually, that he appeared in order
to make those children of God who hitherto were
children of the devil. There must then exist a
point of attachment, whereby those who are as
yet children of the devil become susceptible to




204
the influence of the Son of God. There must
somewhere be a ground for the fact, that some remain children of the devil, while others receive the
seed of God and thereby suffer themselves to be
made children of God. Or are we to say, that this
ground lies not in the previous differences of susceptibility in men, but only iln the sovereign agency
of God; that it is alone that it is alone the work of transforming
grace whereby this difference is produced, and the
chil(dren of the devil are re-created into children
of God?  But this is in contrariety with what
John says, of the divine Father-love towards the
whole human race which it seeks to redeem, of the
scope of Christ's work of redemption which takes
in all humanity; that the object of his appearing
in humanity is to destroy all the works of the
devil, to make an end of evil universally.  It is
not therefore in the divine purpose taken by itself,
but in the treatment of it by men themselves, that
we must look for the cause why some attain, while
others do not, to a participation in that which the
love of God has proffered to all. John could not,
moreover, have spoken of a judgment everywhere
connected with the preaching of the Gospel, and
going side by side with it (as in John iii. 19), if




205
all men deported themselves alike towards the
preaching of the Gospel; if God himself, by his
almighty agency, alone made the difference between them; if this difference had not its ground
in themselves, being brought to light through the
judicial power of the Gospel by means of the
various positions taken by men in respect to it,the sifting process effected by the Gospel.  Thus
we are led. by John himself,  though he only presents in general the contrast between children of
the devil and children of God, the regenerate
and the unregenerate,-to add to this radical contrariety still another distinction, whereby it becomes possible that firom children of the devil can
be formed children of God. The Gospel of John
contains many an index to the clearer recognition
of these differences, these intervening steps. From
that being nouNx OFX GoD which can alone be effected through the agency of the Gospel, through faith
in the Son of God, is to be distinguished a preliminary state wvhich is designated as a BEING OF
GoD,-a BEING OF TIHE TRUTH (John xviii. 37);
whereby is meant that susceptibility for what is
divine, for the truth, which leads those who possess it, before they are yet born of God in that




206
higher sense, to follow the call of the Gospel when
extended to them.  To this addresses itself that
DRAWING by the Father which takes place in their
souls made thus susceptible through the bent of
the will, and by which they are led to the Son.
The judgment, the sifting attributed to the Gos —
pel, is effected simply by the development through
its agency of the already existing but hitherto
concealed diversity among men, in respect to the
bent of the will. This is exhibited in the difference of their bearing towards the Gospel, according to the difference of their susceptibility for it;
sonime hating and resisting the dawning' light, on
account of its contrariety to the darkness which
they love and do not desire to forsake, and to the
works of darkness which thus exposed are brought
into condemnation; while others joyfully accept
the light after which, consciously or unconsciously,
they had already longed.  (John iii. 20, 21.)
We have seen that in the children of God,
although their determining tendency is that which
has its origin in the birth from  God, that of the
divine life, yet all is not as yet in harmony with
this tendency.  From  that which characterizes
them as children of God,-that which belongs to




207
the animating principle in them, to their new spiritual self, their new regenerated personality,-must
be distinguished that which proceeds from the
after-working of the former state.  So also in
those, who under that general classification still
belong to the children of the devil, must be distinguished something which proceeds not from
him; something which is to be ascribed to their
original descent from God, the obscured but still
underlying image of God, which darkened though
it be has not ceased to exert its influence. And
according as men, through that in them which
is of the devil follow the spirit of the devil, or
through that in them which still proceeds from the
obscured image of God follow the leading of God,
will result a division among those who seem collectively to belong to the children of the devil.
But why then does John make only this general
distinction? For this reason: that it is of practical importance, first of all, to show in the strongest possible light the contrariety between the new
christian stand-point and the former one of the old
man, that each may be fully aware how he is to
distinguish himself from all others as a child of
God. The obliteration of this distinction has uni



208
formly exerted the most pernicious influence in
respect to the demands upon the christian life, to
the strictness of self-examination.  It is all important that we learn first to separate light and
darkness, the Divine andcl the Undivine, totally
from  each other; to repel all reconciliation and
agreement between these fundamentally opposed
directions, as viewed in the whole strength of their
contrariety.  JUnconclitional decision is here required. It is important that we learn to recognize,
in all evil, this determnining  tendency by which the
children of the devil are manifested as such, in
order that we may be secured against the danger
of yielding in any manner to the evil, even when
disguised under seeming good; lest hurried along
farther and farther we at length wholly succumb
to the power, which when first approached we did
not recognize, and which now over-masters us because we did not then sufficiently resist it.  It is
for this reason so important to our own security,
as an incitement to constant watchfulness over ourselves, that the distinction here made between the
children of God and the children of the devil,-and
this distinction as manifested in the outward life,be apprehended by us in its full force and ever




209
borne in mind as a matter of living consciousness.
If we contemplate history, not as developing itself
in gradual manifestations and with its final decisions yet concealed, but as it is presented to
the divine view; it may indeed be said, that
those who are adapted and destined, through
their still latent susceptibility, to become children of God when reached by the preaching of
the Gospel, are already present to his omniscient
eye as his children. Thus contemplating what is
gradually developed to human view, by the judicial
potency of the Gospel, as being ever open to the
eye of God, we shall be able to explain those intervening and transitional points in that general
contrariety, and to find in them a distinction
plainly involved in the Apostle's view.
To bring out this generic distinction still more
strongly, John now adds a specific mark by which
it may be recognized: "lHe that doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not
his brother."  The Apostle here resumes the general distinction, in order to trace back righteousness in the abstract, to that concrete which is always contemplated by him  as the soul of all
righteousness,-that which is in itself the fulfil14




210
ment of all righteousness, the one thing which
suffices in place of all, viz. Brotherly-Love.
This forms the transition to what follows, the
representation of love as the distinCh. iii. 11, 12.]
guishing the characteristic mark of the
christian relation: "For this is the message
which ye have heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another. Not as Cain, who was
of that wicked one, and slew his brother."
Here again, in his peculiar mode of conception,
John passes over the manifold gradations in actual life, and apprehends the moral opposites in
their most sharply defined contrariety, as it is
founded in the essential nature of the inward disposition.  With him, this root of the inward disposition is the all in all; and accordingly he contrasts hatred with the principle of brotherly love.
He recognizes no intervening stand-point. Where
loove is wanting, selfishness is the governing principle, making the individual the centre of all, referring all to itself; and hence the effort to remove
out of the way whatever stands opposed to its
own selfish interests. It can tolerate no competitor, nothing which is not subservient to itself;
and hence it becomes hatred towards another,




211
when through him these selfish interests are endangered. Hatred too, he apprehends at the culminating point of manifestation, since out of
hatred proceeds murder; and  accordingly he
names, as the representative of those motives of
conduct which are opposed to love, him who first
actualized such a disposition, and who is exhibited
in the Scriptures as the first who shed another's
blood. Thus the Apostle everywhere apprehends
moral opposites in the deepest root of the disposition. To Love, ready to surrender life for another's good, he opposes Hate, which for itself
would sacrifice the life of another. Where love
is not the animating principle, there rules selfishness with hatred in its bosom; and hatred, at the
culminating point of its manifestation, is murder.
In the germ, the disposition, murder exists there
already. The germ needs only to be fully developed in order to become murder.  In the want
of Brotherly-love, in hatred, we behold the root
whose fruit is murder. Thus the highest moral
tribunal regards not the act, but condemns in its
first germ  the disposition out of which the act
proceeds. Before this tribunal every emotion of
hatred appears as murder. John here follows the




212
standar(l of nmorailc  jl:(lgmei-nt employed by Christ
iln  the  Sermonl on  the   0l-ount1.. itn. thJus  the
eli(lldren  of God, whose atiml-tin' spiilit is love.
arie set in coltn'ast -withl- thllo(se SV o are of thel ev-il
one, t,:.e  children  of  the  dl. ev'il,  in  w'hou     hab.te
goverls as in C(aiin their.' representiative,
The  Apostle  is  Clelci by  this  to  ( Contelln-latce
Chlristians  in  tlheir cont ati-ciety to  the
Ch. iii, 1L2 —-i..1
w or li. dI   he transitio:i  Sllngoested by1)
the  contrfarliety I )ei-tween  (lain  tan(l A)].    A And
wheref'ore sle.w  be himll    Bec Cuse hl.is own wor ks
weree evil, anid  his h   te-)r   s,i,4lteous.' tarvel'
not, mly  ):lrethre. n, if t'Ihe world  h:1ate  you.".As
A.te]  is the  tyxpe  of tilhe chlildrlel  of   od, Caiil
the typ)e of tlhe  chi(i-,]lren of the  ldevi], so in tlleir
relatioll to) ecJch otlhe  is exhil,)ited- the relation of
Chl.listial-s  to  the'(wold.  As  (C..<lain   l(aterd   lnd.l li( le'e~(  Al )'- o0)nl  c(o::. n,:>l~llt of th1e   coiti'-.riLie ty be
tw'een  thle,odi,          the  1un()]od_] ly- (isj:)o:sition,   so
(ldoes the w o.)l'd(] h-late  andl inal-der the child(llel  of
G( L o l I on  account 0of  tlhe  same, conltaiet>y.      The
W()i'l(1l II dl  tlfe chi],ldren of G(odJ are, like love and
sel;fislitess, iln  )ei')pet'ual c olrict. wit   ea ch  other..[ leiice it  nieed  not  surpl)rise  (C   ri;stians  to  find
t,lherselv]es hated]  by  the  wol(l;  tlley:must, ex



213
pect it beforehand, as a consequence of the contrariety of their spirit to that of the world.  It is
the stamp of the divine life, whose impress constitutes them the opposite of the world.  Hence
the words which follow: "W e know that we have
passed fronm death unto life, because we love the
brethren.  Whoso loveth not his brother abideth
in death.  Whoso hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer bath eternal life abicling in him."  To John, the love of
God alone appeiars as life absolutely; and the
true life of the God-allied spirit can consist only
in fellowship with God, in participation in the divine life.  All life apart firom  this fellowship,the life of the spirit abandoned to itself, referring
only to itself,-being an estrangement from that
which is and can alone be the spilit's true life, and
is for the spirit Death.  The world, as estranged
from  God, has therefore fallen a prey to death.
Christians also were once, as belonging to the
world, subject to the same death.  Being separated from  the world by faith, and becoming partakers of fellowship with God through Christ,
they have passed from  death unto life.  While
yet here below, they possess in themselves this




214
true divine life; and as the seeming life of the
world, which is but death, makes itself known by
the want of love, by the selfish nature, hatred; so
on the other hand, love is the characteristic mark
of the true divine life.  Herein therefore must
the contrariety, between those who have attained
to the true life and those who are still in a state
of death, make itself rmanifest.  Hie who loves not
his brother, says John, though he calls himself a
Christian, belongs still to the world.  Love is
wanting, and therefore also the divine life whereby
the children of God are distinguished from the
world.  Such an one has not passed friom death
unto life: he abides in death, like the world to
which he belongs. What he calls faith, is not
that direction of the spirit whereby one passes
from death unto life, and is not therefore what in
the true sense can bear the name of faith.  In
John's view, it is not by assent to certain articles
of belief that genuine Christianity, the distinction
between what is Christian and what is Unchristian must make itself known,-but in the life, in
love.  Here, however, must be borne in mind the
connection of ideas peculiar to John's mode of
conception,-viz. that love proceeds only from




215
faith, is something spontaneously evolved. from
personal experience of the redeeming love of God
in Christ.  Hie asserts that where there is not
love, there can be no participation in that true
life in its nature exalted above change and death,
containing in itself the germ of a development for
eternity and hence called eternal life.  And this
he proves by substituting for NOT TO LOVFi its
equivalent, HATE; and by applying to the germ
of hatred in the heart, what is true of murder,
which is only the highest expression of hate.  He
assumes, as already known and admitted, that no
murderer hath eternal life; where this disposition
exists, eternal life can have no place. Perhaps
John here alludes to a spiritual conception of the
divine sentence, that lie who sheds the blood of
another shall die the death. To him, all life estranged from  God is death,-is the opposite to
that true divine life which already is eternal life.
What is predicable of murder is, from the standpoint of that highest tribunal which takes cognizance of the intention, to be applied to the germ
of murder already existing in hatred,-in the
want of love.
Our attention is directed to that connection be



216
tween faith ancl love, of which we have spoken, in
the verse immediately following:  "H ereCh. iii. 16.]
in perceive we the love of God, in that
he has laid down his life for us, andl we ought
also to lay down ourl lives for the brethren."
What John designates as love, is only that
which sp)rings fioln inward experience of the redeeming love of God; which feels itself constrained to imitate the redeeling love of Christ, as exhibited in his life; that love to God which pours
itself out in brotherly love, after the example of
Christ.  B y this example John brings to view the
true inwfarad nature of love, arnd the way in which
it must manifest itself in the life.  1What love is,
says he, we have already learned in the example
of Clhrist who gave his life for us.  So also with
us, must love p'ove itself to be true by our readiness to give up all, to sacrifice life itself for the
sake of the brethren.
But since everything depends on keeping the
distinction clearly marked between apCh. iii. 17, 1S.]
pearance andcl reality; since all which is
genuine can be imitated in its outward aspect, and
become mere appearance; John feels himself obliged to warn his brethren against this tendency,




217
even in regard to that which is peculiarly opposed
to all seeming, and is adapted above all else to
demonstrate the true nature and the reality of the
christian life, viz. Love.  He contrasts that brotherly-love which proves its existence by act, by
sacrifice of self, with that of which there is a mere
show in words, and where the words are convicted
of falsehood by the act.  " But whoso hath this
world's good, and seeth his brother hath need, and
shutteth up his bowels of compassion fiom hlim;
how dwelleth the love of God in him?  My little
children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue,
but in deed and in truth."  Where brotherly-love
does not exist, and show itself by acts for the relief of others' necessities, there love to God is also
wanting.
Having thus distinguished between truth and
appearance in respect to love, requiring [h.  122
that love which is truth; he now connects this with the general fact, that the whole christian life must have its root in truth,-with the universal contrariety between truth and appearance.
"And hereby we know that we are of the truth,
and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our
heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart,




218
and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart
condemn us not, then have we confidence towards
God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him,
because we keep his commandments, and do those
things that are pleasing in his sight." John has
shown, by a single example, in what way the truth
of the christian life whose essence is love, must
approve itself. This Christ has also done in the
Sermon on the Mount (Matt. xvii. 12): " Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets."  These words are by no means adapted to
express the peculiar nature of christianity as a
whole; nor should they be used for this purpose,
as has been done by some through misapprehension of the nature of the Gospel, and of the import
of these words in their connection. Were this all,
then truly Christ needed not to have come. To
enjoin the command,-this is an easy matter; but
does not bring with it obedience to the command.
The great point is, how to attain to a conformity
with this command; and all turns upon the question, from what temper of mind does the fulfilment
of it proceed. For even the wisdom of self-love
could suggest, that we must be willing to do for




219
others what they desire of us, in order that we
may receive the like from them.  Thus it would
only be the course of prudent calculation, far from
that which Christ established as a law for the life.
But our Lord's design in this passage, as also that
of John in the above example, is to contrast true
righteousness whose essence is love, with a pretended righteousness; and accordingly he directs
attention to the test, whereby the true nature of
love is to make itself known, as opposed to a love
merely assumed for show by such as are deceivers
of themselves. The test is this: are we constrained
by love to do for another, what we in like circumstances would desire that he should do for us?
Such is also the test of love here presented by
John.  By this test, says he,-viz. when our conduct actually harmonizes with the disposition presupposed in us as christians,-we may know that
we are of the truth.  In the mode of conception
peculiar to John, he regards truth not merely as
a matter of knowledge, but as something pertaining to the moral temper and the life. Thus, as in
the children of God he assumes a being of God,
so does he also a being of the truth. Christ calls
himself, absolutely, the truth; in him the truth




220
has appeared in a personal form, and has entered
into the life of humanity. His whole life is truth,
the only life which is perfect truth, wholly one
with itself as it is one with God. Thus believers
also, in proportion as they have received him into
themselves, are of the truth. In the -world all is
appearance; with christians all should be truth.
And the touchstone here proposed, whereby they
may know whether they are of the truth, is this:
does their life, their conduct, really harmonize with
what they acknowledge from the christian standpoint as the law of their conduct,-with what they
have professed?
If now, says the Apostle, our whole life in profession and conduct is thus of one piece, is in accord with itself, we shall be able to quiet our
hearts before God. Under the name of heart,
John comprehends all the various capacities and
modes of action belonging to the spirit, without
applying the particular designations coined by
more cultivated languages for the separate faculties. These distinctions have indeed their propriety; and so has also the neglect of such a
division, the indivisible conception and contemplation of the spirit in the totality of all its powers




221
and actions.  It indicates to us how closely all is
connected together in the life of the spirit.  This
is important for the right conception and formation
of the christian life, both as it directs the attention
to the inmost and deepest root of the spiritual life,
all being here determined by the moral basis, the
bent towTards God or the world, towards good or
evil; and also as it is the christian's work, the
task assigned him, from that hilghest principle the
one determining tendency towards God, to mould
the whole life in all its capacities and relations
into an all-embracing unity.  In this passage, by
heart John understands that faculty of the spircit,
which elsewhere is designated as the conscience.
He speaks of a quieting of the conscience before
God, inasmuch as in the conscience the voice of
God our judge reveals itself; bringing us before
the eye of God as the judge of our life, and making him present to the soul.  It is that tribunal
of conscience referred to by Paul (ERom. ii. 15),
where he speaks of the thoughts of men as accusing
or excusing their dealings one with another. And
a condition of the inner life is here presented,
wherein man can bring quiet to his conscience in
view of God the holy judge; wherein he need not




222
fear the accusings of conscience, through which
speaks the judicial voice of God: inasmuch as conscience can convict him of no discord between his
profession and his course of life, but he is conscious
to himself of fulfilling the conditions of salvation
ordained by God.
The Apostle then illustrates by contrast the
high value of such a possession, that of a quiet
conscience in harmony with itself. If our conscience convicts us of inward falsehood, makes
manifest to ourselves the contradiction between
our life and our profession; we must be convinced,
that as we cannot deceive our own hearts, cannot
falsify, or silence the voice within us, still less is it
in our power to deceive God.  God is greater
than our heart, is the Omniscient One; and what
cannot be kept concealed fioom our own conscience,
will certainly not remain hidden from  his eye,
whose all-penetrating glance nothing can escape.
The accusings of our own conscience thus reveal to
us the condemnatory sentence of God against us.
Thus the Apostle directs us to something in our
inward being, from which we can obtain the surest
knowledge respecting ourselves and our relation
to God; by which we may be guarded against all




223
corruption through the praise of others, who look
only upon the appearance, against all the deceptions of vanity and self-love; something which is
ever present, teaching us to distinguish between
being and seeming, between the real and the apparent character of our life. It summons us to collect ourselves from all the distracting influences of
the world; to withdraw  deep into our inward
selves, and there before that holy incorruptible
tribunal, to test ourselves, to judge, and to mould
our lives accordingly.
As then, says the Apostle, if our own heart condemn us, we thereby know that God so much the
more condemns us; so on the other hand, if our
heart condemn us not, this is a pledge that neither
does God condemn us. WVe have the most assured
and joyful confidence towards God as the witness
of our integrity.
A reliance upon human righteousness, as availing before God, can by no means be intended here.
This would be in contrariety with the whole teaching of the Apostle in this Letter. So far from
this, he assumes the filial relation to God grounded in fellowship with Christ as already existing,
and as being the source of that joyful confiding




224
trust, in which the believer rises to God as his
Father.  Ile is merely pointing out the conditions,
under which alone believers can hold themselves
entitled to appropriate all that is involved in that
filial relation.  It is then, and only then, when
their life in truth accords with this relation to
God as their Father, and so all in them is truth.
The Apostle then dwells particularly upon one
of the privileges belonging to that filial relation,
and in which it is specially recognized, viz. the position towards God as their Father in which believers stand through prayer,-the filial relation
in prayer.  As sons, whose filial relation has suffered no interruption, can with childlike trust and
confidence ask all from their father; so believers,
whose life is of the truth, who are conscious of no
disturbance of their filial relation to God through
unfaithfulness on their part, can ask all with childlike trust and confidence from God their Father.
And as the child knows beforehand, that the
father will grant to him  all that is conducive to
his best good; so do believers also, while in this
temper of heart asking God their Father, know
that he grants all they desire, leaves no request
unheard. It is all the same as if they already had




225
what they ask. By such a certainty of being
heard is their prayer accompanied. The ground
of this certainty, according to the Apostle, is this:
that they obey the commands of God, and, —as he
more exactly defines it,-do those things which
are well-pleasing in his sight; that is, what is
truly good, what appears such in the sight of a
holy God.  This has reference not merely to the
external act, but to that also from which alone
the practice of righteousness in external acts dlerives its true significance, the disposition of heart
from which the act proceeds.  It must be a disposition corresponding to the divine law, such an one
as God desires, well-pleasing in his sight; one
which has God for its end and aim, which has no
object but his glory. It is clear, therefore, that
the connection of prayer with the christian life as
a whole is here presupposed; that prayer is not
something isolated and distinct from the rest of the
life, but proceeds from the same holy disposition
which governs the whole life, and expresses itself
in every action.  In order that the whole life may
be of the truth, it is necessary moreover that this
disposition, this direction of the spirit towards
God, since it proceeds from fellowship with Christ,
15




226
shouldl in every work shoivw itself as something derived. throughl l him.
What we have now said removes an ol)jection,
wNhichE,'without a nmore careful consliderationl of thle
weordsIs, mig.ht arise from the unconditional promise
that every re(q.uest shall be heard.  For thle ob:)ject
oft priayer rminht be sorlethingo, whlieh wvouhld l not
really promote the salvation of him. whl:ho desires
it;  somlletlino  not in -harntmony witlh the councils
of Codl' s universal govern unellt. Shall autgioht the ein. 1be clhan ed. by the caprlice of -man?  But tLhis
difh cniLelt  is at once relieved wvhenl w-e e:onlIteupla;te
plray'   inl the connectionl herle preselnted(, prlayer
as )roceeeding fi'om. the whole -fliail relation to (-od,
fio(ltl:u:ie rIi sposition whicel (leteruinles and C.controls
thle wvhloLe life.  This is no other thlan tlhe spirit of
filial siul-b-ission to  God, of conIcord.  v)ettV-eet  the
humian   and divine iwill.  Thle condlitionl  whichl is
afterw1aXrds exrllessly in:sisted  on b)y thle Apostle,
followXs of itself frotma  this conlne(tion.  Pl'lyer too
can b)e recekonedl amtong the thingrs wel'l-pleasilng
to  G o{), only so far as sub)mission to his will accompanies every request,;   andi. ence t-he ab-)solute
prjon.nise that it shall be heard,  Mloreover, a relation so intimate  of believers, to Godl as their




22 7
Father is presupposed, that from the same fellowship with him  in which their whole life has its
root, proceed also their prayers.  The believer
prays, in fellowship with Christ, for that which
Christ himself would have prayed for in his place;
for that which the spirit of Christ, in moments of
peculiar spiritual elevation, discovers to him  as
suitable, andc impels him to ask.  The same God,
who through his Spirit inspires the prayer, grants
also tle fuillllent of it.  All has its source in the
same reference of the life to God.  This is what
Christ designates as prayer in his name; and the
hearing of such prayer is therefore promised unconditionally.
IHaving previously spoken of obedience to commands in general, the Apiostle now resolves
[Ch. iii. 23.
the whole into obedience to that one comnmand in which all is contained: " And this is his
commandient; that we should believe on the
name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another,
as he gave us coZmmIandmlent."
The law of the Old Covenant began l  y instituting commands for the conduct.  But the power
so to conduct was wanting'; and this no law could
impart to man.  Hence the Law could serve no




228
other purpose than to bring man to the consciousness of his moral inability, of his discord with God
aLid with his owni better nature, to thlle consciousness of spiritual death.  IIele now, on the cont-rary, all commands are resolved into one; andl
this has reference not to a D)orXG, but to a I:ELIEVING,-the comnlandc of the Father tllhat we should
believe on t.he name of his Son Jesus Christ;
should believe on himi- in the relation in which he
is presentecl to man by Go(d as his only-begotten
Son, as lHe through whom  alone we can come to
the Father, the Redleemer from  sin, the Lord to
whom  henceforth should belong the whole life.
So Christ, whllen asked )by tlle Jews xwIhat they
should do that they migllt work the works of God,
gave no other answer thlan this: That they should
1)elieve on him whom  God had sent; implying
that inD this was contained tlhe source and sum of
all.  (John vi. 29.)
Belief, hoxwever, is a matter of conviction. How
thlel cal-n it i)e conlmmnldedl  a maln, to.malke this or
thiat  an ol)ject of conviction to himiself?  This
stautids not within ]is own power, it d(epends not
oil hii  own will; for)' conviction. is an involuntary
thinlg.  God iwould have institutedl no such re



229
quirement, had not He, who is to be the object of
belief, so corresponded to the requirement in his
appealing and his life, as necessarily to become
the object of belief to every truth-loving, salvation-seeking spirit. In this command there is presupposed the impression, -which the whole life of
Christ must make upon him who contemplates it
in the right spirit; the impression of Christ as
designatedland accredited by God himself, through
the manner in which he dwelt in him and wrought
in him. So also in the words of Christ just referred to, this is alleged as the ground on which
God can require faith in him: "For himl  hath
God the Father sealedc;" the works which the
Father had given him to perform being the tokens
of that sealing. While it is here assumed on the
one hand, that God has thus accredited him in
whose name he requires belief, and therefore can
require it; it is also presupposed that he has so
formed the nature of men as that He cannot but
make on them this divine impression,-cannot but
reveal himself as Hie to whom their God-allied nature attl'acts them, and in whom alone they can
find satisflaction for all their higher wants; of
whom their God-relatecl nature itself bears unde



230
niable testimony, that to him they belong, that
he alone can filee them from  sin and all their
misery, can alone impart that true life which they
need. There is presupposed the original and continued connection of the God-related soul with the
God in whom it lives and moves and is; and
hence that drawirng of the Father by which the
souls of men are led to the Son. This command
of God is, consequently, no other than what arises
of itself from the relation of Christ to the human
soul. It is no arbitrary requisition. WThat is required by the truth itself, by those divine historical facts, according as they do with the capacities
and laws of human nature, with its deep-implanted
wants,-this here takes the outward form of a
command of God. All this, however, whereby
this command is shown to be the expression of an
inward divine necessity, could be presupposed as
already known, and needing no farther confirmation. For the Apostle was addressing churches
already long established in Christianity; who had
found, in their own experience, manifold evidences
of the inward necessity of this belief. To such
personal experience the Apostle makes his appeal
in many passages of this Epistle. They had long




231
known this as a command divinely enstamped
upon their souls, constraining them  to believe on
the name of Jesus.  Now as in this One command
all others are included; so of necessity, as single
commands to be enjoined each by itself, they are
made superfluous.  In that one command was bestowed, moreover, the ability to obey all others,the motive-power for the fulfilment of all which
the Law requires.  Thereby had the Law been
converted from an outward to an inward law, havinog its root in the inner life. The Apostle, therefore, expresses only that one command; wThich,
having for its basis faith in Jesus who had offered
up his life for the salvation of man, contains all
others in itself and renders them superfluous,-the
one command proceeding from  Christ himself,
LOVE OINE ANOTIIEIR!
As it is by keeping the commands of Christ
that faith in him must approve itself, so
[Ch. iii. 24.
also is this the condition of abiding in
fellowship with him.  " And he that keepeth his
commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him:
and hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the
spirit which he hath given us."  Thus it is by
obedience to the commands of Christ as contained




232
in that one command,  we attest our voluntary
abiding in fellowship with (Chtrist; this beingl the
necessary condition on our p)ar't, i;n order that we
may  continue  to  enjoy  the  communication  of
Christ, and that he mnay abid(le in fellowship with
us.  This:rec(iprocity is alway-s presupp)osed; tlhe
leepmi'ilolg of' t.he commlmandl s of ()lhrist as depelnding
u)ponil thll.-t im-utual fellowship,, and as t bei   also the
condition and the evidenlce of this contmlued fellowship.
The _Ap;:)st.le then appeals to that, ~N whereby this
conitiulledl fetllonslilp'manllifests itself to the  eonseiousisel s o0f  each;  t0 tthat interlnal fact, of c- om
scious dlivil:e  life, inparted by C.hrist thi.oough the
toly  Spli'it.   Thlat we li V e  in  fellowship  with'him, we h]u:o-w by the sspilit wuhi.clth he has given
us, -— that   invisiblle piedl'e, manifestin:lg itself to thle
inwal;l.l   e experience, of uninterrul)ted  union'wii.tlh.
bhini    Th:lls'nlen.  at)out to  paitr  ft or    IS d'lsc i
)les, no ir -le      t   Ao   e wTit. thllem  in his p)ersonal
bodilyt  p'eseiie, he promised thnt he'w'o'uld be invisit)ly n e:ir and p( i)esent among' thllem, no less tru-aly
tllhan (l,'in 1  his earltly all u.ni festation,'T. (e proof
of this hiis actiual p)resence almion, them, should be
the comntnantication to  then-l of his Spirit.  This




233
should be the medium  of union between believers and their Saviour, until vision takes the
place of faith; till that immediate view of Christ,
enjoyed by his disciples in the familiar intercourse
of his earthly life, is restored in heightened glory
to believers. It is to this inward experience that
the Apostle makes his appeal with these churches,
and to it the inward experience of believers in all
ages bears witness.  Here, then, are conjoined
two characteristic marks of fellowship with Christ
which cannot be dissevered from each other; the
one inward, perceptible to the immediate inner
consciousness, -the other belonging to the outward life, but presupposing the former, of which it
is at once the outward expression, and the condition of its continuance. The first is,-Participation
in the Spirit promised by Christ; the second, Obedience to his commands, which is the fruit of that
Spirit's agency, and in which such participation
makes itself apparent.  This being the Spirit's
work, is also, as the evidence of this work, the
condition of its continuance; all divine gifts being
conditioned upon the faithful use of what is bestowed, according to the words of Christ: Whoso
hath, to him shall be given.




CHAPTERS IV. V.
TUi ROVGIrOUT this Epistle, the exhibition of truth
and the reprehension of opposing errors alternate
the one with the other.  Here the point of transition lies iin what he had just said, viz. that in the
case of all believers, participation in the influences
of the. Holy Spirit is the pledge of continued fellowship with Christ.  This leads him, since there
was  n1muche  which falsely claimed to be from  that
spirit, to direct attention to the difference between
its genuine operations and such as were only pretended, only a deceptive imitation. This connects
itself with his previous warnings against false
teac'hers.
These teachers, as is clear from'the traits subsequently ascribed to theml, professed to enjoy the
special illumination of that Holy Spirit who is the
source of life to all christians.  They spoke with
an irresistible enthusiasm; they claimed the char



235
acter of prophets. All who assume the office of
teachers in the church, should be organs of that
Holy Spirit who is the pervading vitalizing principle of the church. As it was this Spirit, whose
vital influence is presupposed in all as christians,
without which no one could testify of Christ; so
all, who would be received as teachers in the
church, could only speak as instruments of this
Spirit, and they were fully entitled so to speak.
What they taught, however, must approve itself
as truth, by its harmony with that which the same
Spirit revealed to all. John himself, in a passage
which we have already considered, appeals to this
inward test in every believer. In the operations
of this Spirit, however, there were to be found
many gradations. It might be more the divinely
enlightened reason, with its calmly progressive
development of truth, which predominated in the
teacher's mode of instruction; or it might be more
the immediate influence of sudden inspiration by
the Holy Spirit, seizing upon the mind with irresistible power, or revealing to the inward christian
sense, in moments of extraordinary activity, new
and higher views of truth of which the recipient
felt himself constrained to testify. This latter was




236
the peculiar characteristic of the prophets, in distinction from the ordinary teachers in the church.
A like difference in the various spheres of christian
inspiration, in the gradations of the divine and
human, obtains in all periods of the church. As it
is the same Holy Spirit which governs the church
in all ages, and the unity of this Spirit connects
the church of all ages with that of the Apostles;
as the relation of human nature in all its various
powers to the Spirit which animates them, and the
laws according to which that Spirit works, remain
ever the same; so also will his influence at all
times manifest itself in the same generic forms and
with the same gradations. Hence, a careful observation of history will show, in other times, a
similar distinction between prophets and ordinary
teachers in the church, between the prophetic gift
and the ordinary gift of teaching; a distinction
between such as are to be compared with the
teachers, and such as more resemble the prophets
of the apostolic church. The apostolic church cannot indeed, nor was it intended to be, reproduced
as a whole in exactly the same literal form. Yet
since it must serve, as to its ruling spirit and its
leading principles, for the model of all subsequent




237
christian development, it were much to be desired
that we could more closely follow its example, in
distinguishing between these different gifts, and in
the training and application of them to the various
circumstances and wants of the church.
The apostolic age differed from later periods of
the church only in this: that as Christian[Ch. iv. 1-8.
ity then first made its appearance in humanity, as the divine world-transforming power,
there was a greater predominance of that immediate divine impulse and inspiration; the appearing
of prophets, and the various manifestations of the
prophetic gift, belonged more to the ordinary
phenomena of the church.  But as, from the very
first, corrupt human nature mingled its disturbing
and adulterating influence in all the manifestations
of the divine; so with this genuine inspiration
there connected itself a false one, with the suggestions of the divine Spirit those of an undivine.
Enthusiasm for the truth was counterfeited by enthusiasm for error; delusion and fanaticism had
also their own  prophets; false prophets mingled
with the true. Error in doctrine, proclaimed with
all the ardor of a false inspiration, wrought through
the influence of that enthusiasm  the more power



238
fully upon the popular mind.  Hence there was
needed for christians some decisive test, whereby
they might be secured against the influence of this
deception, and be enabled to distinguish between
true and false inspiration. This is furnished by
the Apostle in the following words: " Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are
gone out into the world.  Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God: and
every spirit that confessethi not Jesus, is not of
God. And this is the spirit of Antichrist whereof
ye have heard that it should come, and even now
is it already in the world."
Under the term  spirit, the Apostle here comprehends two things outwardly alike, but differing
in their inward and essential nature,-viz. triue
and false inspiration, what originates in the suggestions of the divine spirit, as wvell as in those of
the undivine.  He who judged by no other test
than appearance merely, must suppose he witnessed in all these outward manifestations the
same power of inspiration, revealing itself in words
of resistless fervor.  And here a trwofold error




239
might be committed.  Christians might either
yield themselves credulously to all which claimed
to be the revelation of a higher spirit, allowing
themselves to be hurried away as the blind instruments of every influence; or, detecting the suggestions of the undivine spirit and seeking to avoid
its delusions, might be thereby led to suspicion
and distrust of all such manifestations, of every
kind of inspiration. As there was a false confidence of unquestioning credulity, so might there
arise also a morbid scepticism of mistrust, whereby
the influences of the Holy Spirit might be obstructed in the church, and the kindling flame of
inspiration be at once extinguished. Against both
these errors, Paul thought it necessary to warn
the church at Thessalonica. (1 Thess. v. 19, ff.)
The same danger which then threatened the
christian life, must, by virtue of the uniform law
in christian development, be constantly repeated;
and the healthful christian spirit, alike far from
blind credulity and from suspicious and unloving
distrust, must trace out for itself the right way
between these two extremes.  This finds a special
application in times which resemble the apostolic
age; viz. when Christianity,-though not indeed




240
making its first entrance into the world, yet rising
anew  from  victorious conflict with the hostile
forces of superstition or of scepticism,-begins to
work with a new power; when a new outpouring
of the Holy Spirit is preparing the way for itself,
and gives tokens of its coming; in all times of
special religious awakening, or of a spiritual excitement which affects the religious sphere. In
such times, there will always be found some who
are caught by everything unusual; who give ear
too readily to everything which assumes the language of religious zeal; who behold the Divine in
everything which proceeds from a state of peculiar
mental excitement, and claims to be the work of
the Holy Spirit.  Others, on the contrary, detecting this infusion of foreign elements, suffer themselves to be thereby made distrustful towards all
religious awakening. Instead of trying the spirits,
they class them all together and reject all; and
thus, as far as in them lies, they extinguish also
the divine flame, and prevent the growth of that
new religious life from which a new creation was
to be developed. The warning of the Apostle not
to believe every spirit, his requirement to test the
spirits, includes a caution against both these errors.




241
In his caution not to believe every spirit, it is implied that we are not to reject all which claims to
be the voice of the Holy Spirit; but should feel a
confidence that here is in reality something divine.
Hence he requires us to try the spirits, as a means
of learning to distinguish the true from the false,
what proceeds from a divine spirit and what from
an undivine.
But though the Apostle has in view both errors,
it is here his special object to warn against the delusions of false prophets, and to furnish a test by
which these should be recognized. What he here
says tallies with his previous warning against the
seductions of false teachers. So also the mark, for
distinguishing between the true and the false, is in
both cases the same. As we have before seen, the
preaching of Jesus, as the divine-human Saviour
and theocratic King, is the centre of all. To acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, this in John's view is
synonymous with acknowledging him as He who appeared in the flesh, —the Son of God manifested in the
flesh,-the eternal Word in his humanization, —the
eternal divine life-fountain letting itself down into
human nature, and revealing itself in visible human
form,-the truly divine and human, in harmonious




242
union.  In this is involved the rejection of that
spectral sublimation of the Idea of Christ, already
mentionedl; of all which tended to separate the
only-begotten Son of God fiom Him iwho has appeared in the flesh,-to obscure the unity between
the divine and its manifestation in the flesh. That
one divine fact, John makes the centre of all.  It
was, as -e before reemlarked, the grandcl  point of controversy in that age, as it is the one around wnhich
gather all the vital questions of the present time.
HIere again there is no other test of true faith,
no other law for christian union, than steadfalst
adherence to that one fundamental fact of the appearling of the Divine-human Redeemer.  In all
Twhich proceeds firom  this belief, the influences
of the divine Spirit should  be acknowledged.
Hencee it follows, that provided faith in this one
funildnlamental fact be the soul of the christian life,
no mlinor differences of creed should be allowed to
dlisturb) christian unity; that mistakes and alloys
of chri'stian truth, which trench not on this one
funtldamental fact, should not hinder us fr'om recognizingo the divine stamp in him whose faith and
profession have  their  root therein,-that the
bonds of christian fellowship should not thereby




243
be sundered or loosened. Steadfast adherence to
this one foundation is the mark of being fromn
God, of the spirit derived from God.  Of course,
he who adheres to it is in fellowship with God, is
a partaker of the divine life, is animated and led
by the Spirit of God; and fironm it will securely
proceed the purification of the whole life, both in
knowledgfe and practice.  Thus the Saviour, comparing himself to the vine and believers to its
branches (John xv. i ft.),says that these branches
are to be more and more cleansed in order that
they may bring forth the more fruit.  That is:
believers, abiding in fellowship with him, will
thereby continue to partake of the divine life diffusecl firom him througoh all his members; and being thus, in the divinely ordained and directed
development of that life, more and more purifiedcl
from the foreign and undivine which still obstructs
it, will bring forth more and more of its fruits in
their whole life and conduct.  This then is applicable to all such, as through adherence to that
one radical fact are branches of the true vine;
and in them will be experienced, in their faith,
views, and practice, the quickening energy of that
divine life, which spreads from  the vine-stock




244
through all the branches, cleansing away all that
is foreign.
But while John presents both the affirmative
and negative aspect of this characteristic mark, it
is here his special object to enforce the negative;
to warn against all manifestations of that spirit
which does not acknowledge this radical fact, but
either denies or mutilates it.  Whoever so taught
was to be at once rejected. No other mark for
the designation of the undivine, the antichristian,
the false, should be needed for the believer.  In
all such manifestations the Apostle recognizes the
spirit of Antichrist, whose culminating point, selfdeification, was to precede the triumphant revelation of Christ in the last time.  In all which denies or mutilates this one ground-fact, he bids us
discern the tokens of that approaching Antichrist,
whose spirit is thus shown to be already in the
world and preparing for his full manifestation.
He calls upon believers to watch for, and at once
and totally to reject, all such manifestations; lest,
being gradually drawn aside from the one foundation, and yielding themselves to the delusions of
that antichristian spirit, they might at length come
wholly under its dominion.




245
IIaving thus taught how to distinguish the revelations of the spirit which is from God,
[ah. iv. 4-6.
and of that which is not from God; the
Apostle holds out a solace for believers under their
conflicts with the representatives of that ungodly
spirit: " Ye are of God, little children, and have
overcome them; because greater is he that is in
you, than he that is in the world. They are of
the world: therefore speak they of the world, and
the world heareth them. WVe are of God: he
that knoweth God, heareth us; he that is not of
God, heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit
of truth, and the spirit of error."
Truth and Error have each their peculiar history of development. As in the continued development of christian truth, the Holy Spirit is
ever revealing itself in the inward consciousness
of the believer,  that Anointing spoken of by
John; so does Error, proceeding side by side with
this revelation, mingle therewith its own disturbing and adulterating influence,-rending single
truths from their connection with the whole system of truth, and giving them the stamp of error.
These are the two currents, proceeding from the
ever operative spirit of Christ and from the spirit




246
of the world; the latter milngling with the revelations of the former its own disturbing element,
and imitating them  with a deceptive outward
seeming.  If we compare the Johannic with the
Pauline age, we shall perceive, notwithstanding
the colmmon foundation on which the church rests
and the comlllon participation of the Holy Spirit,
that each period had its own peculiar contrarieties
of truth and error.  So must we in every period
seek to distinguish,by thle light of the divine word,
rwhat proceeds from the Spirit of Christ and what
firom an unchristian Spirit of the Age, disguising
itself under the outward appearance of Christianity.  As then, the higher conception of the essential nature of our Lord Jesus Christ's person, the
truth respecting the incarnate WVord, received a
special development through John, and a wider
difusion of light onl this important subject of
christian knowledge distinguished the Johannic
age; so also was this development of christian
truth accomnpanied and corrupted by the one-sided
conception of the anti-christian spirit. Every form
of error has its time; and it is owing to the peculiarity of the time, that certain errors especially
predominate. Those who still adhere to the whole




247
simple truth, may be perplexed at seeing these
errors increasing with seemingly irresistible power,
and perverting many from the pure truth. This
was the case in the age of John. As the peculiarity of Paul's time was the judaistic tendency, mingling law and gospel together, and seeking to bind
Christianity within the limits of the old dispensation; so in the Johannic age, it was this corruption of the pure doctrine of the person of Christ.
Then were brewing the elements, which burst forth
unrestrained in the agitations of the second century.
John seeks to inspire those, who might be thus
perplexed, with courage and confidence. He begins with reminding theml that they are born of
God, that the Spirit of God dwells and works in
them, is their teacher, uses them as his instruments
to testify of the truth which he has made known
to them. Hence, conmparing them with the teachers of error, he draws the conclusion: "Ye have
overcome them."  He does not say, Ye shal overcome; but represents this as a fact already realized. Inasmuch, namely, as they are the children
of God and are led by him, they have thereby in
fact already overcome those who are animated by
the opposite spirit. It is that victory of the divine




248
over all that is undivine, which is inherent in the
very relation of the one to the other, as represented by the Apostle himself: For a Greater, a
Mightier, is. he who dwells and works in you, than
he that is working in the God-estranged world.
God is mightier than the undivine spirit, and
against him it cannot prevail. In the assurance of
the victory of God's omnipotence, over all which
arrays itself against him, they are assured that,
virtually, they have already overcome their adversaries.  This anticipated victory of christian
truth over anti-christian error, requires indeed
time for its realization.  Their faith must outstrip
the course of history; and in the assurance of faith,
they even now possess the certain decision of the
conflict.  They may look into the future with
cheerful confidence, since the final result is already
present to  their christian consciousness.  The
course of history only brings that to light, which
is inherent in the very relation of the spirit, by
which they are animated, to that which animates
their ad versaries.  These adversaries they would
never be able to overcome, had they not, by virtue of that inward relation, overcome them already.
That they have already overcome, —this is the very




249
thing which is to be made manifest. When Jesus
bids his disciples be of good cheer, it is not because
he will overcome the world, but because he has
already overcome.  (John xvi. 33.)  By his re
deeming life and sufferings he has, once for all,
broken the might of Evil. Its kingdom is henceforth as if it were not. It may still prevail in
many forms; yet this is but a passing show.
Christ, then, having once for all overcome the
world, believers are the witnesses of this his victory, the instruments by which it is to be spread
throughout the world. Now in this assurance of
having overcome their adversaries, it is implied
that they are themselves assured in the truth;
that unmoved by these assaults they stand firm,
while all around them  wavers; that they confidently look forward to the full and final triumph
of truth in the world. But it by no means follows, that their adversaries will be so overcome,
as that they themselves shall be convinced of their
errors and abandon them. For this is something
which cannot be forced upon man from without.
It depends upon his own free susceptibility, his
own free submission to that spirit which animates
the preachers of the truth. Hence they are not




250
unsettled and perplexed, when, for the moment,
error prevails to an extraordinary degree in the
world. The Apostle shows, that this cannot be
otherwise. There is, he says, no agreement possible between them and their adversaries.  VWhat
belongs to the inner nature cannot but come forth
to light; the spirit, the temper of mind, cannot
but express itself. As is the tree, so is its fruit.
Those false prophets, says the Apostle, belong in
their spirit, their inward temper, to the world.
Hence they teach what corresponds to this worldly
spirit and temper; their earthliness of mind is
mirrored in their teaching.  So long as they are
thus minded, it cannot be otherwise; and all attempts to convince them  of their errors, will be
repelled by the adverse tendency of their spirit.
By this he also explains, how it is that with so
many they find admission. The world eagerly
receives that which is kindred to its own spirit.
Thus is brought to light the essential contrariety
between those who are of God and those who are
of the world. Those who in spirit and temper
belong to the world have no susceptibility for the
divine, and cannot receive what is made known by
those who are animated by the Spirit of God, the




251
teachers of divine truth.  But, " he that knoweth
God, heareth us."  The knowing of God might
here mean that general preparatory connection
with him, of such as feel the drawing of the
Father by which they are led to the Son, and thus
show a susceptibility for the pure divine truth.
But it may also apply to those who are already
grounded in the christian faith, and remain true
to the christian knowledge which they have received; and hence are able to recognize and to
distinguish the genuine preachers of truth, by
whom they are led on still farther in christian
knowledge.  The attitude thus taken, towards
teachers of truth and teachers of error, becomes a
sifting process among christians themselves; separating those -who are truly born of God, who in
spirit form the opposite to the world, and those
who still belong to the world although externally
united to the christian church. Thus, in this sifting process, is manifested the inherent essential
contrariety between the spirit of truth and the
spirit of error, between the undivine spirit and the
spirit of God.
From  belief, the Apostle again turns to its
practical application to the life; and here again




252
he refers all back to Love, as the animating principle of the christian life. His language
rises with this view to a loftier tone: " Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God;
and every one that loveth is born of God, and
knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not
God; for God is love."
This is not a command to love. It is not the
Apostle's aim to bring before believers new motives to mutual love. His aim is this: to show
them what must necessarily follow from a certain
presupposed fact; the necessary mark of a certain
existing state; the effect which cannot fail when
the cause firom which it proceeds is actually present. He would produce in them the conviction,
that just so certainly as they are the children of
God, as life from God exists in them; so certainly
must this reveal itself in mutual love. The want
of this love would show that they were not children of God,-that life from God was not in them.
The proof he adduces, that as children of God
they must love one another, is this: love is from
God, and therefore every one who loves is born
of God. Love is here represented as something
divine, something which points back to the eternal




253
fountain of love in God, a ray of divine life. It is
love which constitutes the absolute opposite to the
life, to the stand-point, of the natural man; to that
which is supreme in him, when his whole nature
has completely developed and expressed itself.
The natural man makes Self the centre and end
of all. Love impels man to go be)yond self, to renounce self; to make the interests of othlers his
own, to share with them all that he has, to give
himself to them, to live for them.
Where now something of this impulse is present
in the soul, man thereby makes himself known
as the image of God; it is a mark of that higher
life which proceeds fiom God. Single instances
of such love may be found, we admit, even where
that life from God which John describes does not
yet exist, where the birth from God has not yet
taken place. Still, even these bear witness of a
power which is foreign to the natural man as such,
-a ray firom the primeval Source, a mark of divine
lineage. As such we cannot but recognize them,
whether derived from the new divine life introduced by Christ into the world, from the general
influence of society and education,-through which
many divine impressions from  Christ may have




254
been received, by such as have never yet opened
their hearts to his influence,-or whether we find
them existing apart from all connection with Christianity. In either case, we cannot but discern in
them  the features of that image of God, which,
though obscured by sin, still gleams out through
darkness; the marks of that original divine lineage,
of that general connection with the God in whom
we live and move and have our being.
In this passage, however, the apostle is not
speakling of such emotions, breaking forth singly
in opposition to the prevailing selfishness; but of
a state, wherein this love is the governing principle of life. This is what he designates as the
necessary mark of children of God, since love is
from God; and hence, where this love is the ruling
and animating principle, it is evidence that its
possessor has this principle fiom God, is born of
God. We have often observed, that in the Apostle's view all true knowledge of God proceeds from
the life, the fellowship of life with God. So also
here, "being born of God," and "k nowing God,"
are classed together. To the affirmative declaration he immediately subjoins the negative, drawn
from the same premises; viz. that he who loves




255
not is far from knowing God, from being in union
with him.  He had before said, that love is from
God; thereby referring to him as the primal source
of all love. But he now goes farther and says:
God is love. Love is his essential nature; God
and Love are coincident terms. Love absolutely,
whose essential nature is to love, whence therefore
all love proceeds, is the designation of God himself.
It is a thought full of meaning, which the
Apostle here expresses.  He indicates thereby,
that Love is the clearest embodiment which we
can vision to ourselves of the incomprehensible
God. It is personal spirit only that is capable of
love. To an impersonal existence love cannot be
ascribed; unless something else is understood by
the name, than what it is adapted to express.
When God is represented as Love, we are led
thereby to regard him as the Being, from whose
nature it is inseparable to reveal and to impart
himself, to diffuse beyond himself the bliss which
he enjoys. Ihasmuch as he is himself the sum of
all excellence, the highest good, he must first be
himself the object of his love. Thereby begat he
the all-perfect likeness of himself, the only-begotten Son, who is the object of his absolute love.




256
Such is the import of Christ's own language, in
his prayer as High Priest of his people.  (John
xvii. 24.)  Knowing himself to be one with that,
Eternal Effluence of the divine glory; and feeling
himself called as man to a share in that glory, because of the Eternal Word dwelling in and animating himn; he speaks in that prayer of the glory
which the Father's love had bestowed upon him,
before the foundation of the world.  This love
moved him, for the purpose of revealing and imparting himself, to bring into existence the whole
creation; in which every being is by itself a revelation of God as Love, while each enjoys its own
appropriate measure of happiness. IHlence too he
created, as the aim and end of all creation beside,
rational beings for whose sake he would thus reveal
himself; who were themselves adapted in their
nature to receive this his revelation from without,
to become partakers of his self-communication,
to enter into fellowTship with hin, to receive into
themselves his image, and to reflect it in their conduct. Love moved him, when man had estranged
himself from this his highest destiny, to send the
dearest object of his love, the only-begotten Son
himself, to appear in human nature; and to be



257
stow him in whom he thus appeared, wholly upon
man. He too, as being the all-perfect image of
him in whom God had from eternity mirrored
himself, now becomes the absolute object of his
love in humanity; that love which extends itself
from him who is the eternal Effluence of the divine
glory, upon him who is the Effluence of that glory
in time and in humanity. He is therefore called,
absolutely, the beloved Son of the Father,-He
in whom the Father is well-pleased. This can be
said of no other; since only that which perfectly
presents to the Father his own image, that wherein
he beholds himself, can be absolutely the object
of his complacency. And from him the love of
God extends itself to all who stand in fellowship
with him, who reflect his image as it is more and
more actualized in them, and who to the Father's
all-foreseeing eye appear as already bearing his
image, as entirely one with him. In him we have
the perfect revelation of God as Love; in his
whole manifestation, in his life and death, we learn
to know God as Love.
To the revelation thus made in humanity, of
God as Love, the Apostle then refers in
[ah. iv. 9-10
the succeeding words. "In this was
17




258
manifested the love of God towards us, because
that God sent his only-begotten Son into the
world, that we might live through him. Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation [reconciliation] for our sins."
Herle, overlooking all else, John fixes his eye
upon that highest fact, in which the love of God
reveals itself most gloriously; his love towardc
those, who after being by this love made capable
of its highest communications, being created in its
image, had rendered themselves unworthy of it.
To a world of sin, thus alienated from the God of
love, he gave that highest gift,-Him who is
called, as no other can be, the Son of God,-that
through him he might bestow on the sinful race
of man that high destiny for which it was created,
and which it had lost through its own guilt; to
impart to the dead in sin that true blissful life,
which should endure forever. In this fact, says
John, we perceive the true nature of love. It
was not our love to God, that called forth a return of love in him. His own love moved him to
that high'est proof of love, to send his Son into
the world, that those who were alienated from




259
him by sin, and through sin arrayed against him
the Holy One, might be rescued from  this state
of ruin,-to send him to be the reconciliation for
our sins. From these words it is evident, that we
are not so to conceive of this reconciliation, as if
God the hater of men as sinners had now, at
this particular time, become reconciled to them
through Christ. On the contrary, the work of
reconciliation presupposes that love in God, which
moved him to adopt this plan, to be actualized at
an appointed period; the eternal love of God as
the ground, not the result, of this reconciliation.
Hence also, the New Testament never speaks of a
reconciliation of God with man, but only of a
reconciliation of man with God; indicating that
God, as love, ever desires to impart himself to
man, that the hindrance is in man himself. To
those who are estranged from  God by sin, he
must, from  the relation which they consciously
hold to him, appear as the angry Judge, whose
just vengeance they have incurred. Since then,
no man was capable of raising himself out of
himself into another relation to God, the hindrance must first be removed by God himself;
and the medium, through which this was effected,




260
is called by John the reconciliation for sin, the
sin-offering for man.
It is plain, therefore, that the changed relation
to God of which man becomes conscious, presupposes a divine act independent of himself, whereby this has been made possible.  To this also
pointed the sin-offerinog in the Oldc Testament, to
which John seems to allude.  It was intended to
awaken in the human spirit the conviction, that
no man is of himuself able to close that gulf, which
separates the sinner from God.  As God is love,
so also is He holiness; as is tautight by John when
he says, that God is Light, excluding all calrkness,
-meaning that he is 1Holiness, excluding all evil.
As The HIolyr, he reveals himself in a moral government of the world corresponding to his holiness.  This requires a perfect actualization of the
holy law by luan; only on this condition, can the
holy God impart himself to humanity in the revelations of his love, can come into fellowship with
it, can become to it the fountain of bliss, of eternal life.  But to this stands opposed the universal
prevalence of sin in man.  Hence Christ, the 1Holy,
must perform for all what they cannot themselves
perform; mnust restore harmony in God's nmoral




261
government, by himself satisfying its demands on
man. In the laws of this moral government, the
connection of sin with misery as the punishment
of sin, was forever fixed. Christ as man, in actualizing the holy law, submitted himself to its
conditions in this respect also,-to this connection
of sin and misery, which weighed down the human race. In his suffering, he took upon himself
their guilt and made it his own; his all-devoting
love entered into the whole feeling of man's guilt
and wretchedness; as expressed in that cry, when,
in the fulness of his sympathy for humanity, he
felt himself one with it in its load of guilt: My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me! All
which men had to bear he took upon himself, and
in his holy life and sufferings, imparted to them
all that was his. This it is which constitutes the
turning point in the relation of man to God; that
whereby sin ceases to be the separating wall between man and God, —the reconciliation (expiation) for sin, as it is termed by the Apostle.
Herein we perceive the true nature of holy love.
Having thus spoken of the revelation of God's
love in  the reconciliation effected by
[Ch. iv. 11.
Christ, the Apostle again makes a per



262
sonal appeal to believers: "Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another."  Such
love in God, the Apostle would say, must beget
in those who have experienced it a return of love.
But this love, enkindledl by the revelation of the
redeeming love of God, must manifest itself in mutual love, on the part of those who are conscious of
being objects of God's love, of having experienced
it in themselves.  From the consciousness of this
love of God to believers, must necessarily spring mutual love towards each other. It is one holy flame
of love, passing over from God to man, and extending itself to their mutual relation to one another.
In connection with the declaration that God is
himself love, the Apostle sets forth the
Ch. iv-. ls.]
high import of love as the bond of fellowship between God and man: " No man hath seen
God at any time. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, andc his love is perfected in us."
In the words, "no one hath seen God," must be
contained the reason, why it is only through love
we can be certain of his dwelling in us.  " Us," we
may regard as meaning the whole body of the
church.  " Seeing," we may first take in the sense
of bodily sight. WTe become conscious of the pres



263
ence of a visible being, by seeing him among us. But
the invisible God cannot be so united with us. He
cannot dwell visibly among us; there can be no
visible manifestation of deity, such as was expected
by the Jews and was once desired by Philip. (John
xiv. 8.)  What John would say, therefore, is this:
No one has ever seen God by the bodily sense; a
denial which, in John's mode of expression, involves the assertion that he cannot thus be seen.
It follows, therefore, that the church can be
united to the invisible God only by a spiritual
bond; and only thereby can have the assurance
that he abides with and in them, that he dwells
in continued fellowship with them.  And this
spiritual bond is Love. As God is love itself, and
all love radiates from him; so must the union of
the church with him be manifested hereby, that
he works in them as the spirit of love, that Love
rules in them as the animating principle.
If, however, we compare other expressions of
John, it becomes a question whether the word
"; seeing" is to be taken here in the sense of bodily
sight. He is accustomed, as we observed above,
to express by the original Greek word, likewise a
spiritual beholding, perfect, immediate knowledge.




264
In this sense he says (John i. 18), " No man hath
seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."  If now we take the word " see" as it
is plainly used in this passage, it involves still more
than what we have said: viz. that no man has
ever had an immediate perception of God, has
ever attained to perfect knowledge of him, neither
can he thus be known by men on earth. We cannot therefore be assured of union with him, by his
having become to us an object of perfect knowledge. Did it depend on that, he would remain
forever beyond our reach. The incomprehensible
Essence, no one has known or can know. But as
God is love, we are assured of union with him and
of his dwelling in us, by his abiding self-revelation
among us as love; through love we abide in union
with him who is love. In love we have his true essence, so far as it can be the object of perception to
man on earth. Union with God through love precedes that perfect vision of God, promised us for
the life which is eternal. In this union with God
through love, we have already more than we are
able to develop in the form of knowledge.
Herein, then, is contained the weighty truth:




265
that only through love we can become conscious
of God, can be convinced of the reality of his being
and nature,-love being in itself the reflection and
the product of his nature. And hence the more a
man has shut his heart against love, the more he
is sunk in selfishness, the less can he know of God.
But genuine love to God, that which is enkindled
by the revelation of God's love to believers, and
has God for its source, can only attest itself as
such by the mutual love of believers for each
other, since this is its necessary working and effect.
That God, through his indwelling and vitalizing
love, abides in union with believers, means
[Ch. iv. 13.
the same as that his Spirit dwells in them:
for his Spirit, imparted to believers through Christ,
is itself the fountain of love which can originate
only in God, the Spirit which dwells and works in
God himself as love. They cannot be conscious
of a fellowship of spirit with him, if love, the mark
of that spirit, shows not its living agency among
them.  IHence the Apostle appeals to their experience of the influences of the Spirit imparted by
God,-the token and pledge, that as they continue
to surrender themselves to fellowship with God,
God likewise abides in inseparable fellowship with




266
them. " Hereby know we that we dwell in him
and he in us, because he hath given us of his
Spirit."
He now returns to that, which he ever contemplates as the ground of the whole Chrisah. iv. 14-16.]
tian life and of salvation, the ground
of the whole church and of all its divine inward
experiences, since upon this depends all and with
this is given all,-the testimony respecting the
Son of God, whom the Father has sent as the Saviour of the world. Of this he bears testimony,
with the confident assurance of an eye-witness:
" And we have seen and do testify, that the Father
sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." But
with those who had been so long acquainted with
Christianity, he needed not to appeal merely to
his own sight and experience. They were not to be
dependent upon his personal testimony. The fact,
to which he bore witness, must long since have
fully attested itself, in their own conscious experience of fellowship with God attained thereby.
But he would, again and again, impress it upon
their hearts, that firm adherence to this fact must
ever be the ground of all true fellowship with
God. For faith he then substitutes confession;




267
since faith must approve itself by an open confession of the Son of God, without fear or shame,
in opposition to the world which ignores him
and hates his followers. "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth
in him, and he in God."  Assuming in christians
this fellowship with God, which is the fruit of true
adherence to faith in Jesus as the Son of God, he
speaks not merely fiom his own personal experience, but as if uttering the experience of all;
"And we have known and believed the love that
God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwvelleth in God, and God in him."
The Apostle recognizes a reciprocal relation between knowledge and faith.  The divine fact,
which is the object of faith, must be in a certain
manner known in order to be believed. But it is
by receiving through faith this divine fact into the
heart and making it properly our own, that we
first become truly acquainted, in the experiences
of the inner life, with the object of faith; and
therefrom develops itself the true knowledge of
that object, not as something external to the spirit,
but as being through this inward experience a part
of itself. In the spirit enlightened by faith, knowl



268
edge is developed; and faith, through the knowledge derived from this inward experience, receives
in turn a higher import.  We believe in the love
of God toward us, because we know it by this inward experience.  This is the kind of knowledge
here meant.  But in thtus knowing  God's love for
us, we come to know God himself; and in that
way in which he can most perfectly be known, for
his nature is love.
AlbiinMg  in love is represented by the Apostle:
as the condition and the token of abiding in fellowship with God. By love he doubtless mteans,
as the connection shows, primarily the love of God
as revealing itself in Christ the Saviour of the
wnorld, and. maaking itself felt in the hearts of believers; and as then, by the light of faith becorming an oblject of knowledge. They attain to a
conscious k1nowledge of that which is their lifeelemlent. -But their hearts cannot be filled with
this overflowing love of God, without producing
in return that love to God, and to the brethren,
which has its root therein.
The Apostle then characterizes the habitual
temper of mind, which exists where
h. iv.abidin  in the love of God  as
this.qbiic]no in thle love of Godl~ has




269
reached its maturity.  " Herein is our love made
perfect, that we may have boldness [joyfulness]
in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are
we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but
perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath
torment.  IIe that feareth, is not made perfect in
love." This fellowship of life with God has for its
fruit, a confidence in him, undisturbed by fear.
By the Aword which Luther here translates "joyfulness" is indicated such a relation to another,
as allows us to walk with him in free familiar converse, to tell him without reserve all that is in o'wr
hearts, to turn to him in all our concerns witL
perfect confidence. Such a state of joyful assured
confidence, clisturbed by no fear no apprehension, in which under all circumstances and necessities we turn to God, is the one here indicated.
Particularly is excluded fear in view of a future
judgment of the holy God, before whom  no sin
can find allowance.  To him wmbho stands in this
relation to God, the day of judgment is indeed
ever present; and it is no false or light-minded
security by which he is raised above it. But that
final decision has for him  no such terrors, as for
those who have in God a stern judge to fear; who




feel themselves estranged from him by sin, and
are therefore conscious of the wrath of God. He
looks towards that day witlh joyful confidence, for
he knows that he has no judgment to fear; that
through the love of God revealed to him in Christ,
of which he has the assurance in his inner being,
he is exempt from judgment. True, he is conscious
of still inhering sin.  He has a sharper eye to
detect its presence, than those who have made less
advancement in the development of the christian
life. But even sin has for him lost its sting.  He
knows that God has forgiven him; and as he feels
and knows himself to be united through love with
the God who is love, he is certain also that this
still inhering sin can no longer separate him from
God; and that God, through the Spirit which he
has given him, will purify him more andl more,
will carry on the begun work to its completion.
It is not the believer's own worthiness, or perfectness, which John regards as the ground of this
confidence. Were that the foundation of his trust,
it would rest on a very frail support, soon betraying its worthlessness under the temptations and
conflicts of the earthly life. It has an immovable
foundation,-the revelation of the love of God in




2t1
Christ, through which the believer knows himself
to be one with Christ. Christ is indeed in heaven,
and the believer still belongs outwardly to earth.
Yet, through his oneness with Christ, who is to
him as present as if still living on earth, he is conscious that he stands in the same relation to God
as Christ himself; that, belonging to Christ as a
member of his body, he can no more be separated
from God than Christ himself; that in him he has
become the object of divine love, divine complacency. And thus, in Christ's relation to God, he
has the pledge of his own. This is the immovable
ground of his confidence.
The Apostle here contrasts two religious states.
The one is this fellowship of love, of sonship to
God which has its root in Christ; when as a child
of God, mall is conscious of holding the same relation to him, which Christ as Son bears to the
Father. In the other, God is viewed as the stern
judge, the object of fear; the apprehension of divine punishment weighs down the spirit.  So
elsewhere in the New Testament, the filial relation
to God and the slavish relation are contrasted with
each other. It is true, indeed, that where this
fellowship of love has already commenced, doubts




272
and apprehensions, arising from the former slavish
relation, may still mingle in it their disturbing influence. But the Apostle points out a stage of
the christian life so high, where love has so gained
the preponderance, that fear is wholly banished.
No terrors of impending punishment disturb the
joyful confidence in God. He would, indeed, by
no means banish that holy awe, which impels him
who lives in the consciousness of still inhering sin,
to watch continually over himself, to shun everything which might mar his fellowship with God.
He will be led to do this, by the power of that
very love in which his life has its root; and in
this there is no " torment," at that high stage of
the christian life, where all is possible to Love.
In order to impress on christians the obligation
of brotherly-love, John again reminds
Ch. iv. 19, 20.]
them, that through God's love to them
their own love was first enkindled; and then goes
on to show, that in love to God is necessarily in
volved love to the brethren.  "We love him. because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God,
and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that
loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how
can he love God whom he hath not seen 2"




273
The appeal thus founded on that conscious
christian fellowship, to which both he and his
readers have been admitted, presupposes this love
to God as something possessed in common, originating as it does in their common experience of
God's redeeming love. But so certainly as this
love exists among them, will it reveal itself as
such in its effects. It is easy to say, I love God;
the point is, that this love should manifest itself
by its unmistakable signs in the life. The witness
to this presence of God's love in men, is Brotherly-love.  He who says he loves God, and yet
hates his brother, is called a liar, since his professions are proved by his acts to be lies; for in
John's view, hatred of one's brother and love to
God mutually exclude each other. We must here
remember, that with John there is nothing intermediate betwen love and hate; it is either love
to the brother, or hatred of the brother. With
him therefore, "to hate the brother," and " not to
love," are one and the same; since where love is
wanting, the selfish disposition already contains
the germ of hate.
But is it not strange that John should ask:
How can he who loves not the visible brother,
18




274
love the invisible God? For he always regards
love to God as the primary, and love to the
brother as the derived affection; self-sacrificing
brotherly-love as originating in love to God, that
alone being able to overcome the selfish principle
in man.  But if from the cause, we may deduce
its necessary and spontaneous effect; so on the
other hand, from the effect we may reason back to
the cause, and regard the effect as evidence of the
cause. Love to God is in itself an invisible act,
seen only by him who looks upon the heart; but
the effects of this love, as they appear outwardly,
are seen by man.  Whether there is true love to
God must be determined, therefore, by the presence or absence of Brotherly-love.  Hence John's
conclusion: How can I believe that he truly loves
God, in whom I see not the visible evidence of
this love? The visible here bears witness of the
want of the invisible.  And moreover, man as a
creature of sense, is more readily affected by the
visible than by the invisible.  If we conceive of
love as a capacity inherent in the God-related nature of man, and pointing back to its primal
Source in God who is Love; yet, for this capacity
to raise itself to the Invisible One, more is required




275
than to awaken it into action through the impression made by his visible image in man. How is
the invisible object of love to exert an influence
upon him, whom the visible leaves unaffected?
Such being the necessary connection between
these two relations of love, the Apostle
[Ch. iv. 21, v. 1.
adds: "And this commandment have
we from him, That he who loveth God, love his
brother also. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is
the Christ, is born of God: and every one that
loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him."
This necessary connection between love to God
and Brotherly-love, John deduces from their common sonship to God, from the equal relation of all
to God, and their inward relationship of life to
one another.  IIe begins with faith,-faith in its
true import.  By faith he understands, not what
James calls a dead faith.  It is not the mere admission of certain historical facts, as one believes
any historical narration of the past, without being
at all affected thereby in his inner life. It is not
the tenacious adherence to certain articles of faith,
received into the understanding and memory as a
matter of custom; in regard to which the liabil



276
ity to doubt is less, the less there is felt of a living
interest in them, the less their influence penetrates
below  the mere  surface  of the spirit.  Faith,
in the Johannic sense, presupposes all that is in
volved in the acknowledgment of Jesus as the
Christ, in knowing him for ourselves as such.  It
implies the recognition of the Crucified One, as
Sovereign in the kingdom  of God, as IRedeemer
frome sin.  There is, therefore, implied that cleep
conviction of sin andc longing for deliverance from
it, that deep feeling of the necessity of redemption,
without which faith in the Redeemer is not possible.  There is implied faith in his resurrection, as
the divine attestation that Jesus the Crucified is
the Redeemer of sinful man, and Soverleign in the
kingdom of God; in his ascension to heaven, by
virtue of that glorified divine life, exempt from
the conditions of mortality, to which he has attained; in his continued fellowship, in this his
glorified  superearthly state, with  believers on
earth.  In this faith there is presupposed true
spiritual fellowsship  with  Christ.  For faith is
nothing else than that conviction, which, having
passed through every stage, from  the sense of sin
to  the acknowledgment of Jesus in every re



vealed relation, embraces in itself the sum  of
all; the act whereby the soul, renouncing itself,
and joyfully accepting the offered union with this
Jesus as its Redeemer and Lord, gives itself
wholly away to him, that it may belong no more
to itself but to him alone. Hence, of every one
who believes in this sense, John says, that he is
BORN OF GOD. This he regards as something
which cannot proceed from the life inherent in the
spirit itself; which can only be the result of a divine power entering the heart, a work of God in
man, a divine fact. Where this has taken place,
there must exist a divine life; for it is that whereby the being, hitherto wholly centred in himself
and sunk ill earthliness, receives a new existence
wnhose fountain and root is in God, becomes in the
true sense a new man born of God. As man, by
natural birth, enters the world and takes his place
among the beings Awho belong to it; so by this fact
is he raised to a wholly new, a higher existence.
As by natural descent, the son derives from his
father a being like his own and reflects his image;
so the believer, by virtue of this new spiritual
birth from God, by virtue of this new divine life
which he has in common with God his Father, is




278
called a son of God. And thus he reflects, by
virtue of this divine life, the Father fiom wholm
it proceeds. Hence John says that he who loves
God, from whom this divine life is derived, must,
on the ground of this same descent, this relationship and likeness, love him also who is born of
God, in whom  exists this same divine life. In
love to the Source of the divine life, is necessarily
included love to all who are partakers with us in
this life. All who are united in this fellowship as
children of God, must for that reason feel drawn
towards each other, must understand and love
each other, as in no other relation among men.
" By this we know that we love the children of
God, when we love God, and keep his
Ch. v. 2, 3.]
commandments.  For this is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments."  As love
to God must manifest itself in love to the brethren,
so must it also in obedience to the divine commands. All these are, indeed, summed up by John
in the one command whose requirement is love,
which is the fulfilment of all.
He then shows what it is which imparts to believers strength to fulfil all these comCh..  "And his commandment-5.'Isanrcl.   " And  his conmmnncdmpnfts   ale




279
not grievous [difficult]. For whatsoever is born of
God, overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that
believeth that Jesus is the Son of God 2?"
These are the highest of all commands, those instituted by Christ himself, and by him alone perfectly fulfilled; the commands developed by him
in the Sermon on the Mount, the ground-traits of
an all-transcending holiness, such as has been
reached by no system of human ethics, and before
which every human spirit must bow in deep humility. And yet we hear John saying, that these
commands are not difficult. But as the highest
of all moral requirements, they should be the
most difficult of all. How then are we to understand it, when John says that these commands are
not difficult? He must himself have learned by
experience, that they are not hard to obey. Not
in the commands themselves, not in their relation
to other moral commands, must lie the ground of
his assertion; but in the changed position of man
towards the divine law. What was once difficult,
nay impossible; this has now, by virtue of his
moral transformation, become easy. He himself




280
assigns as the reason, that all which is born of
God overcomes the world. From  the fact then,
that believers have received strength to overcome
the world, he deduces the consequence that these
commands are no longer difficult for them, difficult as they may be for him who has not received
that strength.  We can therefore infer from this,
what is requisite for fulfilling these commands,
which is the victory over the world. Only in conflict iwith the world can they be fulfilled.  What
makes their fulfilment difficult to man, is the entanglement of the spirit in the world; the power
of the world over the spirit, the worldly bias, the
earthliness of spirit, whereby is stifled the higher
God-related nature of man, which accords with the
divine law and for which that law exists. The
power of the world, is the power of all that is not
of God. To him whose spirit is ruled by the
world, who feels himself drawn to the world and
finds in it his highest good, to him the commands
of God appear difficult. Since now, in the strength
of that divine life which believers have received
the power is given which overcomes the world
John says that all which is born of God overcomes
the world; and since, through this world-conquer



281
ing power, all hindrances to the fulfilment of the
commands are easily overcome, he says that for
believers these commands are not difficult.  They
possess the power whereby the difficult is made
easy. So Christ invites to himself those who feel
weighed down, who cannot breathe freely, by
reason of the burden of the Law, saying": " Ay
yoke is easy and my burden is light;" made light
by fellowship with *him, by the power which he
imparts.
John then shows what it is, by which believers
are freed from the power of the world, tr'ansformed
from  children of the world to children of God,
made partakers of the divine life, and thus enabled
to overcome the world. This is faith in Jesus as
the Son of God. It is worthy of note that he
does not say: faith is that Mwhereby we attain the
victory over the world; nor, faith is that which
will overcome the world.  IHe says: faith is itself
the victory, which has overcome the world. In
these words lies a deeper meaning, whose full import we must endeavor to unfold.
Faith is itself a victory already achieved over
the world; it has its being only as a victory attained in conflict with the world. For when the




282
divine drawing in the heart of man, the drawing
of the Father to the Son, incites him to the exercise of faith; the whole world then rises against
him, to hinder him  from attaining faith.  What
in man is of the world and is in union with the
world, resists the incipient faith. Hence the manifold counter-influences, which make it at first so
hard to believe. Hence the power of those doubts,
which withstand faith.  Thus faith itself is a victory over the, wvorld. And having thus come into
being through victory over the world, having once
for all overcome the world; in it there resides
the divine power, against which the world can
effect nothing.  Faith, once for all, has overcome
the world; and therein is given the victory which
in all succeeding conflicts with the world, attests
itself by the fulfilment of the divine commannds.
The whole subsequent christian life, if it holds fast
the faith in its quiet healthy process of development, is nothing else than a continuation of the
victory over the world once attained in faith. As
Christ, in the words already quoted, says not that
he WILL but that he IIAs overcome the world (John
xvi. 33), and bids believers rejoice in this assurance; so faith, by virtue of fellowship with




Christ, shares in this his victory over the world.
Since now there exists no other power through
which the world can be overcome, it necessarily
follows, that only he overcomes the world, who
believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
From this we learn the important lesson, that
all true reformation of the world can proceed only
from this faith, from the energy of the clivine life
residing therein.  Ve cannot, therefore, but be
distrustful of all attempts to cure the evils of the
world, which build not upon this one foundation.
Even though they may accomplish many single
reforms, yet a radical cure of the disease is not to
be effected by such means.  For that which is
everywhere the obstacle to the fulfilment of the
divine commands, —the world, which stands opposed to all that is of God, —that remains unweakened in its strength, the fountain whence all
evil continually springs anew. Though at single
points the world seems to be overcome, it avails
nothing. The world may be overcome by the
world, and its power remain as before; it has but
assumed another form. The conquest of the world,
as a whole, can be achieved only through faith in
Jesus as the Son of God, only through the might




284
of his Spirit; and this must first be effected before
the world can truly be overcome in all its single
forms of evil. So Christ himself represents all
attempts to extirpate evil from humanity and from
the individual man as futile, if the inward might
of evil be not first broken by the power of the
mightier, which is Christ,-by the finger of God.
(Luke xi. 20, comp. Matt. xii. 28.) Hence he says
of such attempts to subdue and banish evil otherwise than by his Spirit, that though apparently
producing by other agencies effects similar to those
of the Gospel, they are yet not for him but against
him. So far from laboring with him, in the one
divine work of founding the kingdom of God in
its unity among men, their tendency is to lead
men away from this unity, away from the kingdom of God. This is the most corrupting of all
delusions, under the most dangerous of all disguises; professing, by apparently similar results
which proceed from another spirit, to supply the
place of that work which can be effected only by
Christianity.
John then adduces three tokens, by which Jesus
as the Son of God has revealed himself;
Ch     indicatingv. 6-.]the same time three comindicating at the same time three com



285
bined relations, in which he presents himself to
the christian consciousness, as the One incarnate
Son of God. " This is he who came by water and
blood, Jesus the Christ; not in water only, but in
water and blood. And it is the Spirit which beareth witness, for the Spirit is the truth. For there
are three that bear witness: the Spirit, and the
water, and the blood; and the three have reference to the One."
While thus presenting the three tokens by which
Jesus as the Son of God has revealed himself, it is
at the same time his object to combat those, who
(like that Cerinthus and others of whom we have
spoken in the Introduction) did not rightly recognize the connection of the divine and human in
the person of Christ, the unity of his divine-human
person, of his life and of his work, —rending asunder that in him which should be conceived of as
one. From the heavenly Christ, who descended
from the higher spirit-world and was the true redeeming Spirit, they separated Jesus, who in their
view was a mere man, and with whom as man this
higher Spirit connected itself at his baptism. The
dove, which then descended upon him, they re* As translated by Neander.-Tr.




286
garded as a symbol or embodiment of this Spirit.
Thenceforth this Spirit, through the man Jesus
revealed the hidden God and announced divine
truth; it bestowed on him the power of working
miracles; but before his Suffering, it forsook him
and withdrew again into its own higher regions.
To them also, as to the Jews, The Crucified continued to be an offence. They could not understand the mystery of his sufferings; suffering had,
in their conception, no place in the work of redemption. They could acknowledge a divinely
teaching, a divinely working, but not a suffering
Christ. To them, the life of Christ was not a
divine-human life from its very beginning. On
the contrary, the Divine, whereby Jesus was to be
distinguished from all other messengers of God,
had at that definite point of time suddenly taken
up its temporary abode in him, and had again in
a like manner departed from him. The Divine,
in the servant-form of the incarnate Son, fiom his
birth to the crowning point of self-abasement in
his suffering, — the crowning point also of his moral
glory,-was something which they could not comprehend. They sundered the high from the low,
instead of recognizing the truly high in the low.




287
In opposition to such, John now declares Jesus to
be the Christ, as revealed not merely in water at
his baptism, but also in his Suffering. By water
we must not here understand, as some have done,
the baptism instituted by him. It is the baptism
to which he himself submitted; and at which the
dignity of Jesus, as the Son of God, shone forth
in the manner described by John in his Gospel.
Since the blood has immediate reference to the
person of Jesus, being the designation of his Suffering; the water also must designate something
which has a personal reference to himself, viz. his
baptism.  Accordingly, there is here set forth the
one reference of his baptism and his Suffering,that it was the same Jesus, who in his baptism
and in his Suffering manifested himself as the Son
of God, the Christ. Both must combine in order
to make him known as the Son of God; both belonged to his redemption-work.
Still a third witness, a third token by which
Jesus reveals himself as the Son of God, is introduced by John; the witness of the Spirit, the
Spirit absolutely, the divine or holy Spirit.
In accordance with the relation of the three
ideas to each other,-as by the water we nmust




288
understand something precedent to his Suffering,
and by the blood the Suffering which followed his
baptism,-so by the Spirit's witness must be understood something subsequent to both. It must
be, therefore, those manifestations of the Holy
Spirit, which followed the triumphant ascension
of the suffering Christ, that continued working of
this Spirit, which since its first outpouring has testified, wherever the Gospel is preached, of Jesus
as the Son of God; that divine Witness, to which
Jesus himself appeals in those last discourses recorded by John.  Upon this testimony John lays
special stress.  It was indeed the witness which
must be added to the two other tokens, in order
that the Jesus who was baptized and had suffered,
might be accredited, in a manner perceptible to
all, as the Son of God. Hence he emphatically
adds: " The Spirit is the truth."  Truth itself, as
revealed in the divine workings of the Spirit of
God, of him who is The True,-this cannot lie.
And these three bear witness. The Spirit (now
placed first by John, since by it the two other
witnesses are confirmed) the Water, and  the
Blood, all have reference to one and the same ob



289
ject, and all concur in revealing and accrediting
Jesus as the Son of God.
The reading, followed in the above translation
and explanation, must certainly be regarded as the
true one. It has the authority of the oldest manuscripts in its favor, while the commonly received
reading has grown out of explanatory additions to
the text. It is also favored by the connection, in
which these additions appear as something wholly
foreign and discordant; for in this connection, the
writer is concerned only with facts occurring on
the earth, as signs and evidences that Jesus has
revealed himself as the Son of God,-not with witnesses in heaven.  Such a reference to the latter
woulcld have wholly distracted the reader's attention, from that which it was the sole object of
John to set forth in this passage.
In our own age, as already remarked in the Introduction, are repeated those same tendencies,
by which are sundered the divine and human in
the person of Christ, and the one is exalted at the
expense of the other. The divine-human Christ,
as manifested from the beginning, in the words of
eternal life uttered by him as a public teacher
after his baptism, in his miracles, and in his suffer19




290
ings, is not recognized in his unclivided unity.  To
such tendencies, wherever found, these words of
the Apostle are applicable.  They apply also to
the case of those, who do not recognize as actually
true and real the harmonious imacge of this Christ
presented in the Gospel record, and convert the
true historical Christ into a vague form  of mist.
If his baptism and his sufferings are events of the
past (though in their import and influence still
making themselves ever present) yet it is otherwise with the witness of the Spirit.  This is something belonging not merely to the pa>t. True, in
the wonderful period when John wrote this, it was
manifested in an extraordinary manner. Yet in
that unceasing, connected agency -with which it
continues to work through all time, it still remains
a present witness for ourselves. The church being
the perpetual organ for the operations of tile Spirit,
the progress of its history has been continually
adding, even down to our own time, a succession
of new witnesses to those of the past, through
which wev as christians live in connection with that
witness of the Spirit in the apostolic age. The
more widely Christianity diffuses itself among the
savage races of humanity; the more various the




291
modes in which it reveals its all-subduing all-transforming power, and the forms which it calls into
being from the moral putrescence of human life; the
more often it goes forth victorious from the conflict with superstition and unbelief, to new and
still more glorious conquests; so much the more
is revealed the witness of this Spirit, which is the
Truth. If the same Spirit, which then imparted to
the preachers of the Gospel the power to testify
of Christ through their word, their life, and their
blood, is now working through them in a greater
number of nations than at any period since the
apostolic; if through this Spirit, martyrs have
again been raised up among heathen nations to
seal their faith with their blood, as seen of late in
the Isle of Madagascar; this is but the continued
and renewed witness of that Spirit.  What is
now being wrought, through foreign and domestic missions, is part of that same witness, and connects itself with all which had been testified by
that Spirit, and which it continued to testify,
when these words were written.  And on this
will we ever take our stand, in opposition to those
who seek- to veil the historical Christ in a cloud
of mist: that the Spirit, which is the Truth, testi



292
fies of him whose image they would obscure, of
that Jesus who, in water and in blood, revealed
himself as the Son of God.
He then shows how much is involved in this
divine witness, in the emphatic words: " If
Ch. v. 9.]
we receive the witness of men, the witness
of God is greater: for this is the witness of God,
which he hath testified of his Son."
That which he has called the witness of the
Spirit, is here designated as testimony given by
God himself; and this divine witness is contrasted
with all human testimony, which is ever liable to
mislead.  If we receive anything as true, upon the
testimony of men whom we have reason to believe,
how can we but follow this unerring witness of
God?  So is this continuous divine witness, extending through all times, something more reliable
than human testimony. This factual witness of
God himself, everywhere seen in the practical
workings of the Gospel, shows us the same image
of his Son delineated in the Gospel narrative, and
thus attests it to be true, beyond all reach of
doubt. It testifies of the same Christ mirrored in
the Gospel history. It is, as John says, the Father's
witness of the Son. This, in the preceding passage,




293
had been represented as belonging to the present.
It is now spoken of as something completed, the
witness which the Father has already given of the
Son. Looking back upon the past, on these operations of the Spirit as a whole, he regards them as
a testimony already closed. But as extending into
his own time, they are a present witness. And
thus we also, fronm the stand-point of our own age,
may appeal to it as something at once past and
present.
The Apostle then shows that it depends on man
himself, to receive or to reject this testi[Ch. v. 10.
mony; and that when received, it is necessarily converted from an outward to an inward
witness.  "He that believeth on the Son of God,
hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not
God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth
not the record that God gave of his Son."
For him, who through that outward witness of
the Spirit has been led to believe on the Son of
God, it is no longer mere outward testimony. It
has become a part of his own inner life. What
God first testified to him from without, is now by
means of his faith testified inwardly to his own
living consciousness. He bears the divine witness




294
in himself. It is the Spirit's testimony in his
heart.  Through his own inward experience of
the divine life is it certain to him, that Jesus is
the Son of God.
But he who believes not God in his testimony
of his Son, has thereby made him a liar. By this
very unbelief, he practically declares those divine
facts, which testify of the Son of God, to be false
witnesses, and in effect makes God a liar. If through
the operations of his Spirit God thus testifies of
his Son, and yet he is not received as the Son of
God; what is this but saying, that God contradicts
himself, while thus by these divine facts accrediting him as his Son who is not so?  Unbelief cannot recognize God in his workings, as him that is
true. It stamps the divine as the undivine.  It
can see in the ways of God nothing but contradiction.
From these words of John we may deduce a
truth most important for our own age.  That
Jesus is the Son of God, as he has declared himself in his history, is attested by no resistless
proofs, for such as will not recognize the witness
in what God has wrought through the Gospel;
for such as, having no susceptibility in themselves




295
for receiving it, do not yield themselves with an
humble and receptive heart to the witness of the
Spirit, that it may thereby become to them  an
inward  witness.  It is the individual character
and disposition that must here mLake the decision.
It belongs to the individual will to decide, whether
one will yield himself to that witness of the Spirit.
or rather than this, will account God in his workings a liar.
Having thus spoken of the testimony whereby
Jesus is accredited as the Son of God,
the Apostle now shows more particu- [C
larly what is its import in reference to believers.
what this attestation that he is the Son of God
implies, and assures to them.  " And this is the
record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and
this life is in his Son. HIe that hath the Son, hath
life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life."
Through this witness, whereby Jesus is accredited as the Son of God, he is made known as the
One who alone can impart a true, eternal, divine
life of bliss to man. By sending to us his Son,
God has in him bestowed on us the fountain of
this eternal life. Hence this witness includes also




296
that gift of eternal life.  In the Son is grounded
this eternal life; all life, apart from fellowship
with him, being only death.  It follows, that he
who has received the Son, has in so doing experienced in himself that true life; while he, who
througch unbelief shuts himself out from  Christ,
shuts himself out from  the fountain of true life,
and from that life itself.
To reavwaken this in their consciousness, he repeats, is the object of his epistle.  This is
to him  the first and the chief thing.  In
it is included all which is necessary for the inner
man; since this true divine life comprehends in
itself, all which man needs for time and eternity.
It is the exhaustless source of satisfaction to the
spirit, so formed, so constituted in its very nature,
that it can satisfy itself wnith nothing less than
God; can find its true life, its true happiness, only
in that fellowship with hinm  which   is bestowed
alone through his Son.  "These things have I
written unto you, that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, who believe on the name of the Son
of God."'
This then was the Apostle's oblject, that believ* As translated by Neander.-Tlr.




297
ers might know how much has been bestowed
upon them in their faith. True they must, as
believers, have known this from the beginning;
but then, in human life, all things slide so easily
into the mechanical form of habit! The cunrrent
of life sweeps us along; and though one may indeed abide in the faith, yet he may lose more and
more the vivid consciousness of the treasure therein imparted to hin. Hence he must ever draw
anew from the divine life-fountain opened to him
through faith; the consciousness of that which he
has therein received, must be continually revived
and invigorated; and from faith must the knowledge of that, which was first received in faith,
continually develop itself anew. There can be no
halting here. Unless the fountain of faith is itself
dried up, there must proceed from it a progressive
development. Hence he writes to those who have
already long believed, as if they were now first to
learn, that by believing in Jesus as the Son of
God they became partakers of eternal life. Their
joy in that divine possession was to be continually
renewed and increased. They were again and
again to be reminded, that no power of earth can
bestow  upon them  anything higher, anything




298
more; to be thus warned against the treacherous
arts of those false teachers, who sought to unsettle
them in their faith, commending to them  something else as the truth or as a higher truth; to be
thereby established in this faith, under all temptations and conflicts.
IHe then proceeds to remind them of one especial blessing, the fiuit of this relation
Ch. v. 14, 15.]
to God into which they have entered
through faith.  "' And this is the confidence that
we have in him, that if we ask anything according
to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that
he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we
have the petitions that wve desired of him."
Thus John regards it as the fruit of faith, that
God is no longer to them  a God afar off. The
chasm  is now closed which separated man from
his Creator, —from  Him who is over all worlds,
God in his infinitude, in his incomprehensibility,
in his holiness.  They now hold a filial relation to
him, enjoy continual intercourse with him, in all
their necessities can turn to him with filial confidence as to a father and friend. In him they have
ever at hand one in whom help, counsel, and comfort are to be found.  It is this living relation to




299
God as our Father,-continually mediated through
faith in Christ as the Son of God, through conscious fellowship with himnl,which constitutes true
Christianity as a matter of the life. To this childlike confidence, leading us to prayer and enjoyed
in prayer, the Apostle attaches a high import.
Prayer he makes the soul of the whole christian
life. Having previously said, that prayer in the
name of Christ is ever heard by the Father; he
now adds the condition, that we pray according to
his will. The one is involved in the other, as we
have already shown. He who prays in the name
of Christ, is moved and guided by the Spirit of
Christ in prayer. He can ask for nothing, but that
which is in accordance with the will of God; can
with assurance ask only that, which the Spirit of
Christ makes known to him in prayer, as corresponding to the Father's will. When this certainty
is wanting, his prayer will always be accompanied
with the condition, that the desire arising in his
soul and taking the form of prayer, may have for
its object something which the Father approves.
From this we are not to conclude, however, that
prayer in itself can have no definite effect, since
whatever is grounded in the will of God must




300
happen in any case. Nor are we to suppose that
prayer, by bringing man into this living relation
to his Source of being and his Father, therein
alone accomplishes its whole work upon the inner
life; that its whole influence is seen in the holy
temper of mind which it produces, and which
naturally flows from the elevation of the soul
above itself and the world to God, entering into
living intercourse with him, and losing itself in
him. It is true indeed, that herein consists one of
the chief blessings of prayer; but this is not all
which prayer effects. And even this effect would
not be fully realized, if prayer were not something
more than the mere objective contemplation of the
Divine. For it presupposes the assured consciousness, that the relation to God into which we enter
by prayer is a living personal relation, as of one
individual person with another, in which both are
mutually acted on; that he perceives that, which
our spirit in directing to him its feelings and
thoughts would have him perceive. In this it is
necessarily implied, that our prayer for a definite
object will not be in vain. This the Apostle indicates, when he speaks of a hearing of prayer.
Prayer is the soul's necessity, breathed forth to




301
God with filial confidence and submission, in the
consciousness of that living relation to him as
father; it must therefore, in rising to God, find
satisfaction in reference to that which is the object of want. True indeed, prayer cannot in the
proper sense constrain the will of God, —a thought
which is excluded by the very nature of this filial
relation to him. But the actualization of the divine will excludes not intermediate causes; and
among the chief of these is prayer. Passing beyordcl the outward and finite of the earthly world,
as presented in space and time; beyond the
natural connection of phenomena; as an invisible
spiritual force, it penetrates with its agency to the
very heart of the invisible world.  Itself the
breath of love, its workings are in unison with the
laws of the invisible kingdom of love. It belongs
not to that which can be mechanically estimated,
— like all that is highest, and deepest, and innermost. Prayer is the highest act of the Godrelated spirit, entering into that living relation to
God for which it was created. Prayer, grounded
in fellowship with Christ as here represented by
John, presupposes that power derived from God,
whereby the soul is winged for this its loftiest




302
flight, whence it receives this its highest energy
of burning aspiration.  This power tends back to
the Primal Source from which it flows.  It is a
special gift, bestowed on man as a membler of the
invisible world, whereby he may lay hold on the
invisible. It is one of his homeborn rights; enjoyed already here, as pertaining to that heaven
-where he belongs, and which shall one day be his
home.  So certainly will prayer be heard, that
christians, while they pray, should be inspired
with the assurance that what they ask is virtfially
received already.
From all for which as christians we may pray,
John now selects a single object of prayer.
This must, therefore, appear to him to be
specially connected with the peculiar nature of the
christian life.  "If any man see his brother sin a
sin whlichl is not unto death, he shall ask, and he
shall give him  life for them  that sin not unto
death.  There is a sin unto death: I do not say
that he shall pray for it."
True prayer as grounded in fellowship with
Christ, must proceed from  the christian life as a
connected whole. That which is the animating
principle of the whole christian life, must also be




303
the animating principle of christian prayer.  The
prayer of love, is that which binds all christians
together as brethren.  Hence the Apostle singles
out that sympathy of fraternal love, which expresses itself in prayer.  As this sympathy must
first respect the spiritual necessities, which to each
are his own highest concern, and as the need arising from sin must seem to each his brother's greatest need; so will his sympathy expressed in prayer,
his ardent desire to help, have special reference to
this need, which he feels himself constrained to
bear with his brother.  It may indeed happen,
that those who are strict toward themselves practise the same strictness toward others also, despising and repulsing them, when they see in them
any sin.  But this is not that zeal in sanctification,
which is in harmony with the christian life.  Conscious as he is himself, that he owes all to redeeming grace, that the divine life in himself is still
mingled with much that is impure; the christian
cannot but be lenient in his judgment when he
sees others fall, while he thus feels his own weakness, his own continual need of redemption. And
here, especially, is shown the power of that love,
which feels as its own the brother's need.  Ac



304
cordingly, John calls upon christians first of all,
to help with their prayers the brother who has
fallen into sin. He assures them, that to the fallen brother,-in whom the divine life has been impaired through sin, who by yielding to temptation
has fallen from the unity of this divine life,-that
to such an one God will restore this divine life in
its original vigor. They may thus, through the
intercession prompted by love, become instruments
in restoring to life a fallen brother. Could they
render him a higher service of love!
But how are we to understand John's limitation
of this requirement, in the exception, emphatically
repeated, of sins which are unto death? Should
not then the claim for help be greater, the greater
the brother's spiritual need.? Should limits be
set to that gushing love, which pours itself out in
intercession? Should not prayer for the brother
be so much the more required?  To make this
clear, it is only necessary to understand what kind
of prayer John has in view; what he presupposes
as the condition on which prayer is heard, and
how he distinguishes from other sins the sin which
is unto death.
True, the divine life, in its essential nature, ex



305
eludes all sin,-as John has already shown. Sin
and death, according to the Holy Scriptures, are
closely connected ideas. But the divine life in believers, as we have already seen, develops itself
in continual conflict with the after-workings of the
earlier life of sin. Numerous disturbances of the
divine life may thereby ensue, interruptions of the
christian development, which yet do not undermine
this life itself as the controlling principle, but only
repress it at particular times and in certain manifestations. The ruling tendency of the will is still
directed towards holiness.  Sin is hated and abhorred; and though its after-workings are still felt,
it is only as something foreign cleaving to the true
self, whose animating and controlling principle is
love. In such a case it is only necessary, when one
falls under single temptations, to call again into
action the controlling element of the divine life existing in him, in order to overcome the principle
of sin. It is of such cases the Apostle speaks,
where there is true repentance and longing after
continued sanctification; and hence, where the conditions and the susceptibility are not wanting, for
that which is to be obtained through a brother's
intercession. It is of such persons he speaks, who
20




306
are in a state of grace, and have not apostatized
from their christian calling; who still deserve the
name of christian brethren, and hence have a claim
upon all the aids of christian love, which one
brother can render to another. An intercession
is meant, which in the nature of the case can respect only such persons; and it is presupposed
that all, who are connected by the bond of christian brotherhood, will mutually intercede for one
another.
It may be, however, that an individual has fallen
into such a state, as absolutely excludes the presence of the divine life in hiLm; an evidence that he
who seemed to have passed from death unto life,
has again fallen under the power of death. Such
an one may never in reality have attained to the
true life. The essence of living faith, as delineated
by Jolhn, may have been ever wanting in him. He
may have only seemed to be a christian, without
being truly so; having received only the baptism
of water, not the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Christ may never have been actually formed in
him; and at most, he may have experienced only
transient emotions of the higher life.  Or it may
be that such an one, after having truly received




307
through living faith a divine life and become a
new man, has fallen from this state, has estranged
himself from it, and sunk back again into his former position. This could not indeed happen at
once; but yet, - through want of watchfulness
over himself, through negligence and sluggishness
in the conflict with after-working sin, through a
false security, a presumptuous reliance upon grace
or a false self-reliance, —it might be brought about
gradually, and through many downward stages.
Now where such a state existed, it showed itself
in acts; in such sins as no one, who remained true
to the christian relation and faithfully applied the
imparted means of grace, could possibly have committed.  Such persons were excluded from  the
fellowship of the church, in accordance with the
principles of church relationship in that age; as
is assumed to be necessary by the Apostle Paul,
in a case like this occurring in the Corinthian
church.  John could not mean, that it was forbidden to pray for such as had thus fallen. For in
regard to the first case, —there is no ground apparent, why those who had not yet been truly
converted, and at most had felt only occasional
impulses towards Christianity, might not become




308
susceptible to the farther operations of grace and
be brought under their influence.  Or if we take
the second case,-of such as had culpably lost the
life imparted by grace; we can find no reason,
why they might not have regained it through
true repentance. It is true indeed, that this was
rendered far more difficult by their misuse of the
means of grace, and by the increased moral blindness induced through their own fault,-which is
referred to in the sixth chapter of the Epistle to
the Hebrews. When John calls Christ the Reconciliation and the Intercessor for the sins of the
whole world, he certainly meant not to exclude
one belonging to either of these two classes, provided only that repentance could be reawakened.
In this connection, however, he is speaking of
intercession for christians, for such as have not
trifled away the forgiveness of sins through Christ.
Hence, in this connection, those must be excepted
who have fallen into what John calls "'sin unto
death," in the sense explained; for in their case
such intercession "would be inappropriate, since in
them the conditions and the susceptibility for it
were wanting.  Had he not made this distinction,
he would have given the false impression, that




309
one who commits such sins may still abide in
Christianity; as if christians and those who are
not christians could be known, the one from the
other, by no distinctive signs in their life-walk.
He would thus have required the church to regard
such persons as still christian brethren, since they
were to be embraced in the common supplication
for all christians. He would have made those
persons themselves more secure in their sins, and
led them to a false reliance on the intercession of
others. With christian love, the unsparing condemnation of sin must go hand in hand. A love,
which overlooked all distinction among sins, would
have been no true love.
How unlike John it would have been, to withhold from one ever so debased the consolation of
forgiveness through Christ, and to withdraw from
him the sympathy of his love, is seen in the beautiful tradition, (which there is no reason to discredit) of that fallen christian youth, who had become chief of a robber-band, and who by John's
love was rescued and brought back to the Lord.
But while he thus demands even for the sins of
brethren the offices of christian sympathyh. v. love,  18.
thy and love, he deems it important to




310
avoid thereby effacing the essential contrariety
between the christian life and sin, and to summon
the christian to continued conflict with sin. " All
unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto
death. We know that whosoever is born of God,
sinneth not: but he that is be(gotten of God, keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him
not."
He deems it necessary to add this warning, lest
some might be led, by the distinction which he
had made among sins, to think too lightly of any
sin; lest christians should suppose they had done
enough, if they only avoided such outbreaking
sins. Here again he refers to the fact, that the
Principle in all sin is the same. All transgression
of the divine law, all which proceeds from the Selfish in man, as Sin, is in its radical principle one
and the same thing. It is only in reference to the
outward manifestation, that such a difference among
sins can be made, that the sin unto death can be
distinguished from other sins. To this end he reiterates the truth, that the divine life stands in
contradiction with ALL sin; and that one, as born
of God and possessing that divine life which is
opposed to all sin, keeps himself separate from all




311
sin. Such an one, faithfully cherishing the divine
life which he has received, and watching over himself, has nothing to fear from temptations to evil:
he has the power to withstand Satan in all his influences. There is nothing in such an one on which
he can fix his hold. As he was compelled to retire
from the Redeemer himself, finding no access to
him with his temptations; so will he be compelled
to leave unharmed, those who stand in fellowship
with the Redeemer.  Herein are included two
things: first, the duty of all such as have become
partakers of the divine life, to guard against all sin
whatever, without regard to gradational differences; and secondly, the proof of the fact, that
such as have fallen into sins which are unto death
are not born of God. From this it is evident, that
if they were actually born of God, they could only,
by neglecting to watch over themselves, have
again fallen a prey to the power of evil, which
they must otherwise have withstood.
This leads the Apostle to exhibit yet once more,
before he closes his epistle, the essential
[Ch. v. 19, 20.
contrariety between christians as born
of God, and the sinful world. " And we know that
we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wick



312
edness. And we know that the Son of God is
come, and hath given us an understanding that we
may know Him that is true: and we are in Him
that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ."
The Apostle, now about to take leave of his
readers, once more impresses on their hearts what
christians must ever hold in living remembrance,
if they would not prove faithless to their calling,their relation to the world. As born of God, as
partakers of the divine life, they form the opposite
to the world, of which Johnl says, that it lies under the dominion of Evil. The divine life in them
constitutes the entire and irreconcilable opposite
to the evil which reigns in this world. Out of the
fulness of the divine life in his own soul, the aged
John looks back upon a long life, during which he
had witnessed the constant progress of evil in the
world, developing itself in an ever-ascending scale.
He must now look to his near departure out of
this world, whence he was to be called into the
home of the Good, to Christ. But his spiritual
children he left behind in this world of wickedness,
exposed to the taint of its corruptions. I-Ie reminds them, that by virtue of the divine life within
them, they should constitute the opposite to this




313
wicked world. Hence they should be ever watchful over themselves, guarding against all inward
contact with the wickedness which is in the world,
and by the power of their inward divine life preserve themselves pure from its contaminating influence; ever bearing in mind their position and
calling, to maintain a conflict with the evil of the
world, to be themselves the salt of the world.
As The True, John designates him who alone is
to be called God.  The world knows him not,
is in a state of estrangement from him. It is included in the very idea of the world as such, that
it gives to another the honor which belongs to
God alone, that it serves false gods. But believers
are, in their inward life and spirit, separated from
the world by this,-that the Son of God has come,
and has given to them the perception, whereby
they know the true God. John here assumes that
man, as he is by nature, in his natural tendencies,
cannot by the natural understanding attain to the
knowledge of God; that the spirit must first be
freed from the worldliness in which it is ensnared,
a new God-related sense must be awakened, in
order that he may thereby, with the eyes of the
spirit enlightened, know the true God. John him



314
self, though he had been brought up in Judaism,
and taught fiom early life the knowledge of God;
yet ranks himself here with Gentile believers, as
one to whom the Son of God first imparted that
inwnard sense, whereby he might know God. He
thus implies that he knew him not before; that
the light of the knowledge of God first dawned
upon him, when Christ called himn from the world
to himself. Hiere too is recognized the fundamental truth, that it is only through the Son the
Father can be truly known. Hence it is evident,
that one may acknowledge God, may think that
he knows him, may have a kind of dead faith in
him; while yet he is far from knowing him, wanting that God-related sense through which only he
can be truly known.'From him that hath not,'
says our Lord,' shall be taken even that which he
seemeth to have.' So may those, who have only
this dead knowledge of God, this form without
life, find it wholly swept away by the overpowering force of the spirit of the world. And being
thus made conscious of their lack of any principle
superior to the world, whereby they can withstand its power, and of their wretchedness in this
state of estrangement from God and subjection to




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the world; they may be led to seek for that new
inward sense, which the Son of God can alone impart, and whereby alone they can attain to the
knowledge of the true God.
This true knowledge of God has its root in the
life, in fellowship with God; and this can be mediated only through his Son. Hence John reminds
his christian brethren, that they are in the true
God; that they live in fellowship with him, by
virtue of their union with his Son; that it is therefore only in this abiding union they can persevere
in fellowship with God, and retain the knowledge
of the true God. Thereby alone will they be
kept separate from the world, and guarded against
its influences. The Holy Scriptures do indeed
recognize, even in this our fallen state, a certain
BEING ri  GOD, as the inalienable inheritance of
the God-related, God-descended spirit. So Paul,
in the seventeenth chapter of the Acts, says:'In
him we live, and move, and have our being.' But
that consequent drawing from God and towards
him, grounded in this moral relationship to him,
leads not to that living, true knowledge of God,
which can sustain itself in conflict with the world.
Such a consciousness of the unknown God, of the




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God afar off, soon gives way before the overwhelming tide of the world; in the midst of a world
lying in wickedness, it becomes blinded and confused through the influence of worldly temptations. Man cannot, by this dawn of a higher consciousness within him, maintain his faith in his
own divine origin, and in the God of whose being
it admonishes him. The scattered rays, whose
light has penetrated the darkness of a world lying
in wickedness, are again obscured; from the world
ascends an impenetrable cloud, which enwraps his
spirit, and forms a separating wall between him
and the Divine. All else is unavailing, unless that
divine drawing lead his submissive spirit to the
Son, to be by him made free, and endowed with
that inward sense whereby the true God is
known.
John now closes this truly noble Epistle, with
the admonition: that, persevering in
Ch. v. 20, 21.]
h. v. 20, 21.nion with Him the only true God,
through his Son, and in that fellowship of eternal
life received from him, they keep themselves pure
from all contamination with Idol-gods.  "This is
the true God, and eternal Life. Little children,
keep yourselves from Idols."




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It might be a question, whether the word' This'
referls here to God, or to the incarnate Son in
whom he has revealed himself.  In either case, the
practical import of the words is the same. The
connection, however, leads us to regard the reference to God as the promin.ent one, since God is afterwards contrasted with Idols. The Apostle has
just been contemplating Christ as the Mediator
of this fellowship with God.  Hence we must suppose, that in conclusion he sets forth this one prominent thought: This God, with whom believers
thus stand in fellowship through Christ, is the only
true God, and hence is the primal source of eternal life; through hil alone, therefore, we can become partakers of eternal life, in which is contained the Sum1  of all Good, as the highest good
for the God-related spirit.  In him, therefore, we
have all which we need for time and eternity. It
is true indeed as we have seen, that Christ as the
only-begotten-Son of God, is called by John the
eternal Life which was with the Father, and which
has appeared on earth in order to impart itself to
man.  With these words he commenced this Epistle. But it is also appropriate, that in closing he
should point to the Primal Source, to IHim who is




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himself that eternal Life, which has poured itself
forth into the only-begotten-Son, and through him
into humanity.
But in order to hold fast this highest posses:
sion, christians must guard themselves from all
contam1nination with the idols worshipped by a
world lying in wickedness. This admonition was,
in its present form, intended for such as lived in a
world devoted to Idol-worship. Was then this
admonition intended only for that age? Has it
no application to our own time? If we well consider what John understands by that knowledge
of the true God, which can be attained only
through the inward sense derived from him and
imparted by the Son; it will thence be evident,
that where this sense is wanting, and with it that
true knowledge of God, the human spirit, though
it may profess to believe in God and suppose itself his worshipper, is yet far from him, and is a
-worshipper of idols. The world as such ever has
its idols, to whom it gives the honor due to the
true God alone. In a world which lies in wickedness, the children of God will ever be surrounded
with idols; and they can insure the possession of
their highest good, only by remaining true to




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their God, by keeping themselves aloof from all
contact with the idols of the world. Specially appropriate is the application to our own age, whose
ruling tendency is deification of Self and deification of the World; an age of conscious apostacy
from the only true God,-of a conscious idolatry
of the World and Self. For us, especially, there
is need of the warning with which John closes his
Epistle: The God whom  Christ has revealed, is
the true God and eternal Life; beware of taking
part in the Idol-worship of a world lying in
wickedness!
TILE END.