@1Jo 2:1-29. THE ADVOCACY OF CHRIST IS OUR ANTIDOTE TO SIN WHILE WALKING IN THE LIGHT; FOR TO KNOW GOD, WE MUST KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS AND LOVE THE BRETHREN, AND NOT LOVE THE WORLD, NOR GIVE HEED TO ANTICHRISTS, AGAINST WHOM OUR SAFETY IS THROUGH THE INWARD ANOINTING OF GOD TO ABIDE IN GOD: SO AT CHRIST'S COMING WE SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED.
1. (@1Jo 5:18.)
My little children--The diminutive expresses the tender affection of
an aged pastor and spiritual father. My own dear children, that is,
sons and daughters (see on 1Jo 2:12).
these things--(@1Jo 1:6-10). My purpose in writing what I have
just written is not that you should abuse them as giving a license to
sin but, on the contrary, "in order that ye may not sin at all" (the
Greek aorist, implying the absence not only of the habit, but of
single acts of sin [ALFORD]). In order to "walk in the light"
(@1Jo 1:5,7), the first step is confession of sin (@1Jo 1:9),
the next (@1Jo 2:1) is that we should forsake all sin. The
divine purpose has for its aim, either to prevent the commission of, or
to destroy sin [BENGEL].
And, &c.--connected with the former; Furthermore, "if any man
sin," let him, while loathing and condemning it, not fear to go at once
to God, the Judge, confessing it, for "we have an Advocate with Him." He
is speaking of a BELIEVER'S
occasional sins of infirmity through
Satan's fraud and malice. The use of "we" immediately afterwards implies
that we all are liable to this, though not necessarily
constrained to sin.
we have an advocate--Advocacy is God's family blessing; other blessings
He grants to good and bad alike, but justification, sanctification,
continued intercession, and peace, He grants to His children alone.
advocate--Greek, "paraclete," the same term as is applied to
the Holy Ghost, as the "other Comforter"; showing the unity of the
Second and Third Persons of the Trinity. Christ is the Intercessor
for us above; and, in His absence, here below the Holy Ghost is the
other Intercessor in us. Christ's advocacy is inseparable from
the Holy Spirit's comfort and working in us, as the spirit of
intercessory prayer.
righteous--As our "advocate," Christ is not a mere suppliant
petitioner. He pleads for us on the ground of justice, or
righteousness, as well as mercy. Though He can say nothing good
of us, He can say much for us. It is His righteousness, or
obedience to the law, and endurance of its full penalty for us, on which
He grounds His claim for our acquittal. The sense therefore is, "in that
He is righteous"; in contrast to our sin ("if any man sin").
The Father, by raising Him from the dead, and setting Him at His own
right, has once for all accepted Christ's claim for us. Therefore the
accuser's charges against God's children are vain. "The righteousness
of Christ stands on our side; for God's righteousness is, in Jesus
Christ, ours" [LUTHER].
2. And he--Greek, "And Himself." He is our all-prevailing
Advocate, because He is Himself "the propitiation"; abstract, as
in @1Co 1:30: He is to us all that is needed for propitiation "in behalf of our sins"; the propitiatory sacrifice, provided by the
Father's love, removing the estrangement, and appeasing the righteous
wrath, on God's part, against the sinner. "There is no incongruity that
a father should be offended with that son whom he loveth, and at
that time offended with him when he loveth him"
[BISHOP
PEARSON].
The only other place in the New Testament where Greek "propitiation"
occurs, is @1Jo 4:10; it answers in the Septuagint to Hebrew, "caphar," to effect an atonement or reconciliation with God;
and in @Eze 44:29, to the sin offering. In @Ro 3:25,
Greek, it is "propitiatory," that is, the mercy seat, or lid of the
ark whereon God, represented by the Shekinah glory above it, met His
people, represented by the high priest who sprinkled the blood of the
sacrifice on it.
and--Greek, "yet."
ours--believers: not Jews, in contrast to Gentiles; for he is
not writing to Jews (@1Jo 5:21).
also for the sins of the whole world--Christ's "advocacy" is limited
to believers (@1Jo 2:1 1Jo 1:7): His propitiation extends as
widely as sin extends:
see on 2Pe 2:1, "denying the Lord
that bought them." "The whole world" cannot be restricted to the
believing portion of the world (compare @1Jo 4:14; and "the
whole world," @1Jo 5:19). "Thou, too, art part of the world, so
that thine heart cannot deceive itself and think, The Lord died for
Peter and Paul, but not for me" [LUTHER].
3. hereby--Greek, "in this." "It is herein," and herein
only, that we know (present tense) that we have knowledge of
(perfect tense, once-for-all obtained and continuing knowledge of) Him"
(@1Jo 2:4,13,14). Tokens whereby to discern grace are frequently
given in this Epistle. The Gnostics, by the Spirit's prescient
forewarning, are refuted, who boasted of knowledge, but set aside
obedience. "Know Him," namely, as "the righteous" (@1Jo 2:1,29);
our "Advocate and Intercessor."
keep--John's favorite word, instead of "do," literally, "watch,"
"guard," and "keep safe" as a precious thing; observing so as to keep.
So Christ Himself. Not faultless conformity, but hearty acceptance of,
and willing subjection to, God's whole revealed will, is meant.
commandments--injunctions of faith, love, and obedience. John
never uses "the law" to express the rule of Christian obedience: he uses
it as the Mosaic law.
4. I know--Greek, "I have knowledge of (perfect) Him." Compare with this verse @1Jo 1:8.
5. Not merely repeating the proposition, @1Jo 2:3, or asserting
the merely opposite alternative to @1Jo 2:4, but expanding the "know
Him" of @1Jo 2:3, into "in Him, verily (not as a matter of vain
boasting) is the love of
(that is towards) God perfected," and "we are
in Him." Love here answers to knowledge in @1Jo 2:3. In
proportion as we love God, in that same proportion we know Him, and
vice versa, until our love and knowledge shall attain their full
maturity of perfection.
his word--His word is one
(see on 1Jo 1:5), and comprises
His "commandments," which are many (@1Jo 2:3).
hereby--in our progressing towards this ideal of perfected love and
obedience. There is a gradation: @1Jo 2:3, "know Him";
@1Jo 2:5, "we are in Him"; @1Jo 2:6, "abideth in Him";
respectively, knowledge, fellowship, abiding constancy.
[BENGEL].
6. abideth--implying a condition lasting, without intermission, and
without end.
He that saith . . . ought--so that his deeds may be consistent with
his words.
even as he--Believers readily supply the name, their hearts being
full of Him (compare @Joh 20:15). "Even as He walked" when on earth,
especially in respect to love. John delights in referring to Christ
as the model man, with the words, "Even as He," &c. "It is not
Christ's walking on the sea, but His ordinary walk, that we are called
on to imitate" [LUTHER].
7. Brethren--The oldest manuscripts and versions read instead,
"Beloved," appropriate to the subject here, love.
no new commandment--namely, love, the main principle of walking
as Christ walked (@1Jo 2:6), and that commandment, of which one
exemplification is presently given, @1Jo 2:9,10,
the love of brethren.
ye had from the beginning--from the time that ye first heard the
Gospel word preached.
8. a new commandment--It was "old," in that Christians as such
had heard it from the first; but "new" (Greek, "kaine," not
"nea": new and different from the old legal precept) in that
it was first clearly promulgated with Christianity; though the inner
spirit of the law was love even to enemies, yet it was enveloped
in some bitter precepts which caused it to be temporarily almost
unrecognized, till the Gospel came. Christianity first put
love to brethren on the new and highest
MOTIVE, instinctive love
to Him who first loved us, constraining us to love all, even enemies,
thereby walking in the steps of Him who loved us when enemies. So
Jesus calls it "new," @Joh 13:34,35, "Love one another
as I have loved you" (the new motive); @Joh 15:12.
which thing is true in him and in you--"In Christ all things are
always true, and were so from the beginning; but in Christ and in us conjointly
the commandment [the love of brethren] is then true
when we acknowledge the truth which is in Him, and have the same
flourishing in us" [BENGEL].
ALFORD explains, "Which thing
(the fact that the commandment is a new one) is true in Him and in
you because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is now
shining; that is, the commandment is a new one, and this is true
both in the case of Christ and in the case of you; because in you the darkness is passing away, and in Him the true light is shining;
therefore, on both accounts, the command is a new one: new as
regards you, because you are newly come from darkness into light; new
as regards Him, because He uttered it when He came into the world to
lighten every man, and began that shining which even now continues." I
prefer, as BENGEL, to explain, The new commandment finds its
truth in its practical realization in the walk of Christians in
union with Christ. Compare the use of "verily," @1Jo 2:5.
@Joh 4:42, "indeed"; @Joh 6:55. The repetition of "in" before
"you," "in Him and in you," not "in Him and you" implies that the love
commandment finds its realization separately: first it did so
"in Him," and then it does so "in us," in so far as we now "also walk
even as He walked"; and yet it finds its realization also
conjointly, by the two being united in one sentence, even as it is
by virtue of the love commandment having been first fulfilled in Him, that it is also now fulfilled in us, through His Spirit in us:
compare a similar case, @Joh 20:17, "My Father and your Father"; by virtue of His being "My Father," He is also your
Father.
darkness is past--rather, as in @1Jo 2:17, "is passing away." It
shall not be wholly "past" until "the Sun of righteousness" shall arise
visibly; "the light is now shining" already, though but partially
until the day bursts forth.
9-11. There is no mean between light and darkness, love and
hatred, life and death, God and the world: wherever spiritual
life is, however weak, there darkness and death no longer
reign, and love supplants hatred; and @Lu 9:50 holds good:
wherever life is not, there death, darkness, the flesh, the
world, and hatred, however glossed over and hidden from man's
observation, prevail; and @Lu 11:23 holds good. "Where love is not,
there hatred is; for the heart cannot remain a void" [BENGEL].
in the light--as his proper element.
his brother--his neighbor, and especially those of the Christian
brotherhood. The very title "brother" is a reason why love should be
exercised.
even until now--notwithstanding that "the true light already has
begun to shine" (@1Jo 2:8).
10. Abiding in love is abiding in the light; for the
Gospel light not only illumines the understanding, but warms the heart
into love.
none occasion of stumbling--In contrast to, "He that hateth his
brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither
he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." "In him who
loves there is neither blindness nor occasion of stumbling [to
himself]: in him who does not love, there is both blindness and
occasion of stumbling. He who hates his brother, is both a
stumbling-block to himself, and stumbles against himself and everything
within and without; he who loves has an unimpeded path"
[BENGEL]. John
has in mind Jesus' words, @Joh 11:9,10.
ALFORD well says, "The light
and the darkness are within ourselves; admitted into us by the eye,
whose singleness fills the whole body with light."
11. is in darkness . . . walketh--"is" marks his continuing STATE:
he has never come out of "the darkness" (so Greek); "walketh" marks
his OUTWARD WALK and acts.
whither--Greek, "where"; including not only the destination
to which, but the way whereby.
hath blinded--rather, as Greek aorist, "blinded" of old. Darkness
not only surrounds, but blinds him, and that a blindness of long
standing.
12. little children--Greek, "little sons," or "dear sons and
daughters"; not the same Greek as in @1Jo 2:13, "little
children," "infants" (in age and standing). He calls
ALL to whom he
writes, "little sons" (@1Jo 2:1, Greek; @1Jo 2:28 3:18 4:4 5:21); but only in @1Jo 2:13,18 he uses the
term "little children," or "infants." Our Lord, whose Spirit John so
deeply drank into, used to His disciples (@Joh 13:33) the term
"little sons," or dear sons and daughters; but in @Joh 21:5,
"little children." It is an undesigned coincidence with the Epistle
here, that in John's Gospel somewhat similarly the classification,
"lambs, sheep, sheep," occurs.
are forgiven--"have been, and are forgiven you": ALL God's
sons and daughters alike enjoy this privilege.
13, 14. All three classes are first addressed in the present. "I
write"; then in the past (aorist) tense, "I wrote"
(not "I have written"; moreover, in the oldest manuscripts and versions, in the end
of @1Jo 2:13, it is past, "I wrote," not as English Version, "I
write"). Two classes, "fathers" and "young men," are addressed with the
same words each time (except that the address to the young men has
an addition expressing the source and means of their victory); but the
"little sons" and "little children" are differently addressed.
have known--and do know: so the Greek perfect means. The "I
wrote" refers not to a former Epistle, but to this Epistle. It was an
idiom to put the past tense, regarding the time from the
reader's point of view; when he should receive the Epistle the
writing would be past. When he uses "I write," he speaks from
his own point of view.
him that is from the beginning--Christ: "that which was from the
beginning."
overcome--The fathers, appropriately to their age, are
characterized by knowledge. The young men, appropriately to
theirs, by activity in conflict. The fathers, too, have
conquered; but now their active service is past, and they and
the children alike are characterized by knowing (the fathers know Christ, "Him that was from the beginning"; the children
know the Father). The first thing that the little children realize
is that God is their Father; answering in the parallel clause to
"little sons . . . your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake," the
universal first privilege of all those really-dear sons of God.
Thus this latter clause includes all, whereas the former clause
refers to those more especially who are in the first stage of
spiritual life, "little children." Of course, these can only know
the Father as theirs through the Son (@Mt 11:27). It is
beautiful to see how the fathers are characterized as reverting back
to the first great truths of spiritual childhood, and the sum and ripest
fruit of advanced experience, the
knowledge of Him that was from the beginning (twice repeated,
@1Jo 2:13,14). Many of them had probably known Jesus in person,
as well as by faith.
14. young men . . . strong--made so out of natural
weakness, hence enabled to overcome "the strong man armed"
through Him that is "stronger." Faith is the victory that overcomes the
world. This term "overcome" is peculiarly John's, adopted from his loved
Lord. It occurs sixteen times in the Apocalypse, six times in the First
Epistle, only thrice in the rest of the New Testament. In order to
overcome the world on the ground, and in the strength, of the blood of
the Saviour, we must be willing, like Christ, to part with whatever of
the world belongs to us: whence immediately after "ye have overcome the
wicked one (the prince of the world)," it is added, "Love not the world,
neither the things . . . in the world."
and, &c.--the secret of the young men's strength: the Gospel
word, clothed with living power by the Spirit who abideth permanently in them; this is "the sword of the Spirit" wielded in
prayerful waiting on God. Contrast the mere physical strength of young
men, @Isa 40:30,31. Oral teaching prepared these youths for the
profitable use of the word when written. "Antichrist cannot
endanger you (@1Jo 2:18), nor Satan tear from you
the word of God."
the wicked one--who, as "prince of this world," enthrals "the world"
(@1Jo 2:15-17 5:19, Greek, "the wicked one"), especially the
young. Christ came to destroy this "prince of the world." Believers
achieve the first grand conquest over him when they pass from darkness
to light, but afterwards they need to maintain a continual keeping of themselves from his assaults, looking to God by whom alone they are
kept safe. BENGEL thinks John refers specially to the remarkable
constancy exhibited by youths in Domitian's persecution. Also to the
young man whom John, after his return from Patmos, led with gentle,
loving persuasion to repentance. This youth had been commended to the
overseers of the Church by John, in one of his tours of superintendency,
as a promising disciple; he had been, therefore, carefully watched up to
baptism. But afterwards relying too much on baptismal grace, he joined
evil associates, and fell from step to step down, till he became a
captain of robbers. When John, some years after, revisited that Church
and heard of the youth's sad fall, he hastened to the retreat of the
robbers, suffered himself to be seized and taken into the captain's
presence. The youth, stung by conscience and the remembrance of former
years, fled away from the venerable apostle. Full of love the aged
father ran after him, called on him to take courage, and announced to
him forgiveness of his sins in the name of Christ. The youth was
recovered to the paths of Christianity, and was the means of inducing
many of his bad associates to repent and believe
[CLEMENT OF
ALEXANDRIA,
Who Is the Rich Man Who Shall Be Saved? 4.2; EUSEBIUS,
Ecclesiastical History, 3.20; CHRYSOSTOM,
First Exhortation to Theodore, 11].
15. Love not the world--that lieth in the wicked one (@1Jo 5:19), whom ye young men have overcome. Having once for
all, through faith, overcome the world (@1Jo 4:4 5:4), carry
forward the conquest by not loving it. "The world" here means "man, and
man's world" [ALFORD], in his and its state as fallen from God. "God
loved [with the love of compassion] the world," and we should feel
the same kind of love for the fallen world; but we are not to
love the world with congeniality and sympathy in its
alienation from God; we cannot have this latter kind of love for the
God-estranged world, and yet have also "the love of the Father in" us.
neither--Greek, "nor yet." A man might deny in general that he
loved the world, while keenly following some one of
THE THINGS IN IT:
its riches, honors, or pleasures; this clause prevents him escaping
from conviction.
any man--therefore the warning, though primarily addressed to the
young, applies to all.
love of--that is, towards "the Father." The two, God and the
(sinful) world, are so opposed, that both cannot be congenially loved at
once.
16. all that is in the world--can be classed under one or other of
the three; the world contains these and no more.
lust of the flesh--that is, the lust which has its seat and source
in our lower animal nature. Satan tried this temptation the first on
Christ: @Lu 4:3, "Command this stone that it be made bread."
Youth is especially liable to fleshly lusts.
lust of the eyes--the avenue through which outward things of the
world, riches, pomp, and beauty, inflame us. Satan tried this temptation
on Christ when he showed Him the kingdoms of the world in a moment. By
the lust of the eyes David (@2Sa 11:2) and Achan fell (@Jos 7:21).
Compare David's prayer, @Ps 119:37; Job's resolve,
@Ps 31:1 Mt 5:28. The only good of worldly riches to the possessor
is the beholding them with the eyes. Compare @Lu 14:18, "I must
go and SEE it."
pride of life--literally, "arrogant assumption": vainglorious display.
Pride was Satan's sin whereby he fell and forms the link between the
two foes of man, the world (answering to "the lust of the eyes") and
the devil (as "the lust of the flesh" is the third foe). Satan tried
this temptation on Christ in setting Him on the temple pinnacle that, in
spiritual pride and presumption, on the ground of His Father's
care, He should cast Himself down. The same three foes appear in the
three classes of soil on which the divine seed falls: the wayside
hearers, the devil; the thorns, the world; the rocky undersoil,
the flesh (@Mt 13:18-23 Mr 4:3-8). The world's awful
antitrinity, the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life," similarly is presented in Satan's temptation of Eve:
"When she saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise," @Ge 3:6
(one manifestation of "the pride of life," the desire to know above what
God has revealed, @Col 2:8, the pride of unsanctified knowledge).
of--does not spring from "the Father" (used in relation to the
preceding "little children," @1Jo 2:12, or "little sons"). He who
is born of God alone turns to God; he who is of the world turns
to the world; the sources of love to God and love to the world, are
irreconcilably distinct.
17. the world--with all who are of the world worldly.
passeth away--Greek, "is passing away" even now.
the lust thereof--in its threefold manifestation (@1Jo 2:16).
he that doeth the will of God--not his own fleshly will, or the
will of the world, but that of God (@1Jo 2:3,6), especially in
respect to love.
abideth for ever--"even as God also abideth for ever" (with whom the
godly is one; compare @Ps 55:19, "God, even He that abideth of old):
a true comment, which CYPRIAN and
LUCIFER have added to the text without support of Greek manuscripts. In contrast to the three
passing lusts of the world, the doer of God's will has three
abiding goods, "riches, honor, and life" (@Pr 22:4).
18. Little children--same Greek as @1Jo 2:13; children
in age. After the fathers and young men were gone, "the last
time" with its "many Antichrists" was about to come suddenly on
the children. "In this last hour we all even still live"
[BENGEL].
Each successive age has had in it some of the signs of "the last time"
which precedes Christ's coming, in order to keep the Church in continual
waiting for the Lord. The connection with @1Jo 2:15-17 is:There are
coming those seducers who arc of the world (@1Jo 4:5), and would
tempt you to go out from us (@1Jo 2:19) and deny Christ
(@1Jo 2:22).
as ye have heard--from the apostles, preachers of the Gospel (for
example, @2Th 2:3-10; and in the region of Ephesus, @Ac 20:29,30).
shall come--Greek, "cometh," namely, out of his own place.
Antichrist is interpreted in two ways: a false Christ
(@Mt 24:5,24), literally, "instead of Christ"; or an adversary of Christ, literally, "against Christ." As John never uses
pseudo-Christ, or "false Christ," for Antichrist, it is plain he
means an adversary of Christ, claiming to himself what belongs to
Christ, and wishing to substitute himself for Christ as the supreme
object of worship. He denies the Son, not merely, like the pope,
acts in the name of the Son, @2Th 2:4, "Who opposeth himself
(Greek, "ANTI-keimenos") [to] all that is called God," decides
this. For God's great truth, "God is man," he would substitute his own
lie, "man is God" [TRENCH].
are there--Greek, "there have begun to be"; there have arisen.
These "many Antichrists" answer to "the spirit of lawlessness
(Greek) doth already work." The Antichristian principle appeared
then, as now, in evil men and evil teachings and writings; but still
"THE Antichrist" means a hostile person, even as
"THE Christ" is a
personal Saviour. As "cometh" is used of Christ, so here of
Antichrist, the embodiment in his own person of all the Antichristian
features and spirit of those "many Antichrists" which have been, and
are, his forerunners. John uses the singular of him. No other New
Testament writer uses the term. He probably answers to "the little horn
having the eyes of a man, and speaking great things" (@Da 7:8,20);
"the man of sin, son of perdition" (@2Th 2:3); "the beast ascending
out of the bottomless pit" (@Re 11:7 17:8), or rather, "the false
prophet," the same as "the second beast coming up out of the earth"
(@Re 13:11-18 16:13).
19. out from us--from our Christian communion. Not necessarily a
formal secession or going out: thus Rome has spiritually gone out, though formally still of the Christian Church.
not of us--by spiritual fellowship (@1Jo 1:3). "They are like bad
humors in the body of Christ, the Church: when they are vomited out,
then the body is relieved; the body of Christ is now still under
treatment, and has not yet attained the perfect soundness which it shall
have only at the resurrection" [AUGUSTINE,
Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Homily 3.4].
they would . . . have continued--implying the indefectibility of
grace in the elect. "Where God's call is effectual, there will be sure
perseverance" [CALVIN]. Still, it is no fatal necessity, but a
"voluntary necessity"
[DIDYMUS], which causes men to remain, or else go
from the body of Christ. "We are either among the members, or else
among the bad humors. It is of his own will that each is either an
Antichrist, or in Christ"
[AUGUSTINE]. Still God's actings in eternal
election harmonize in a way inexplicable to us, with man's free
agency and responsibility. It is men's own evil will that chooses the
way to hell; it is God's free and sovereign grace that draws any to
Himself and to heaven. To God the latter shall ascribe wholly their
salvation from first to last: the former shall reproach themselves
alone, and not God's decree, with their condemnation (@1Jo 3:9 5:18).
that they were not all of us--This translation would imply
that some of the Antichrists are of us! Translate, therefore, "that
all (who are for a time among us) are not of us." Compare @1Co 11:19,
"There must be heresies among you, that they which are approved may be
made manifest among you." For "were" some of the oldest manuscripts
read "are." Such occasions test who are, and who are not, the Lord's
people.
20. But--Greek, "And." He here states the means which they as
believers have wherewith to withstand. Antichrists (@1Jo 2:18),
namely, the chrism (so the Greek: a play upon similar sounds),
or "anointing unguent," namely, the Holy Spirit
(more plainly mentioned
further on, as in John's style, @1Jo 3:24 4:13 5:6), which
they ("ye" is emphatical in contrast to those apostates, @1Jo 2:19)
have "from the Holy One, Christ" (@Joh 1:33 3:34 15:26 16:14): "the
righteous" (@1Jo 2:1), "pure" (@1Jo 3:3), "the Holy One"
(@Ac 3:14) "of God"; @Mr 1:24. Those anointed of God in Christ alone can resist those anointed with the spirit of Sata
n,
Antichrists,
who would sever them from the Father and from the Son. Believers have
the anointing Spirit from the Father also, as well as from the Son;
even as the Son is anointed therewith by the Father. Hence the Spirit is
the token that we are in the Father and in the Son; without it a man is
none of Christ. The material unguent of costliest ingredients, poured
on the head of priests and kings, typified this spiritual unguent,
derived from Christ, the Head, to us, His members. We can have no share
in Him as Jesus, except we become truly Christians, and so be in
Him as Christ, anointed with that unction from the Holy One. The
Spirit poured on Christ, the Head, is by Him diffused through all the
members. "It appears that we all are the body of Christ, because we
all are anointed: and we all in Him are both Christ's and
Christ, because in some measure the whole Christ is Head and
body."
and--therefore.
ye know all things--needful for acting aright against Antichrist's
seductions, and for Christian life and godliness. In the same measure as
one hath the Spirit, in that measure (no more and no less) he knows
all these things.
21. but because ye know it, and that, &c.--Ye not only know what is the truth (concerning the Son and the Father, @1Jo 2:13), but also are able to detect a lie as a thing opposed to the truth. For right (a straight line) is the index of itself and of what is crooked [ESTIUS]. The Greek is susceptible of ALFORD'S translation, "Because ye know it, and because no lie is of the truth" (literally, "every lie is excluded from being of the truth"). I therefore wrote (in this Epistle) to point out what the lie is, and who the liars are.
22. a liar--Greek, "Who is the liar?" namely, guilty of the lie
just mentioned (@1Jo 2:21).
that Jesus is the Christ--the grand central truth.
He is Antichrist--Greek, "the Antichrist"; not however here
personal, but in the abstract; the ideal of Antichrist is "he that
denieth the Father and the Son." To deny the latter is virtually to deny
the former. Again, the truth as to the Son must be held in its
integrity; to deny that Jesus is the Christ, or that He is the Son of
God, or that He came in the flesh, invalidates the whole (@Mt 11:27).
23. Greek, "Every one who denieth the Son, hath not the Father
either" (@1Jo 4:2,3): "inasmuch as God hath given Himself to us
wholly to be enjoyed in Christ" [CALVIN].
he--that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. These words
ought not to be in italics, as though they were not in the original: for
the oldest Greek manuscripts have them.
hath--namely, in his abiding possession as his "portion"; by living
personal "fellowship."
acknowledgeth--by open confession of Christ.
24. Let that--truth respecting the Father and the Son, regarded as a
seed not merely dropped in, but having taken root (@1Jo 3:9).
ye--in the Greek standing emphatically at the beginning of the
sentence. YE, therefore, acknowledge the Son, and so shall ye
have the Father also (@1Jo 2:23).
from the beginning--from the time of your first hearing the Gospel.
remain--Translate as before, "abide."
ye also--in your turn, as distinguished from "that which ye have
heard," the seed abiding in you. Compare @1Jo 2:27, "the anointing
abideth in you . . . ye shall abide in Him." Having taken into
us the living seed of the truth concerning the Father and the Son, we
become transformed into the likeness of Him whose seed we have taken
into us.
25. this is the promise--Eternal life shall be the permanent
consummation of thus abiding in the Son and in the Father (@1Jo 2:24).
he--Greek, "Himself," Christ, "the Son" (compare @1Jo 1:1).
promised--(@Joh 3:15,36 6:40,47,57 17:2,3).
26. These things--(@1Jo 2:18-25).
have I written--resumed from @1Jo 2:21 and @1Jo 2:14.
seduce you--that is, are trying to seduce or lead you into error.
27. But--Greek, "And you
(contrasting the believing readers with
the seducers; the words 'and you' stand prominent, the construction
of the sentence following being altered, and no verb agreeing with 'and
you' until 'need not') . . . the anointing," &c.
(resumed from @1Jo 2:20).
received of him--(@Joh 1:16). So we "are unto God a sweet savor
of Christ."
abideth in you--He tacitly thus admonishes them to say, when tempted
by seducers, "The anointing abideth in us; we do not need a teacher [for
we have the Holy Spirit as our teacher, @Jer 31:34 Joh 6:45 16:13]; it
teaches us the truth; in that teaching we will abide"
[BENGEL].
and--and therefore. God is sufficient for them who are taught of
Him; they are independent of all others, though, of course, not
declining the Christian counsel of faithful ministers. "Mutual
communication is not set aside, but approved of, in the case of those
who are partakers of the anointing in one body" [BENGEL].
the same anointing--which ye once for all received, and which now
still abides in you.
of--"concerning."
all things--essential to salvation; the point under discussion. Not
that the believer is made infallible, for no believer here receives the
Spirit in all its fulness, but only the measure needful for keeping him
from soul-destroying error. So the Church, though having the Spirit in
her, is not infallible (for many fallible members can never make an
infallible whole), but is kept from ever wholly losing the saving truth.
no lie--as Antichristian teaching.
ye shall abide in him--(@1Jo 2:24, end); even as "the anointing
abideth in you." The oldest manuscripts read the imperative, "abide in Him."
28. little children--Greek, "little sons," as in @1Jo 2:12;
believers of every stage and age.
abide in him--Christ. John repeats his monition with a loving
appellation, as a father addressing dear children.
when--literally, "if"; the uncertainty is not as to the fact, but
the time.
appear--Greek, "be manifested."
we--both writer and readers.
ashamed before him--literally, "from Him"; shrink back
from Him ashamed. Contrast "boldness in the day of judgment,"
@1Jo 4:17; compare @1Jo 3:21 5:14. In the Apocalypse (written,
therefore, BENGEL thinks, subsequently), Christ's coming is represented
as put off to a greater distance.
29. The heading of the second division of the Epistle: "God is
righteous; therefore, every one that doeth righteousness is born of
Him." Love is the grand feature and principle of "righteousness"
selected for discussion, @1Jo 2:29-3:3.
If ye know . . . ye know--distinct Greek verbs: "if ye
are aware (are in possession of the knowledge) . . . ye discern or apprehend also that," &c. Ye are already aware that God ("He"
includes both "the Father," of whom the believer is born (end of
this verse, and @1Jo 3:1), and "the Son," @1Jo 2:1,23)
is righteous, ye must necessarily, thereby, perceive also the
consequence of that truth, namely, "that everyone that doeth
righteousness (and he alone; literally, the righteousness such as
the righteous God approves) is born of Him." The righteous produceth
the righteous. We are never said to be born again of Christ,
but of God, with whom Christ is one.
HOLLAZ in
ALFORD defines
the righteousness of God, "It is the divine energy by whose power
God wills and does all things which are conformable to His eternal law,
prescribes suitable laws to His creatures, fulfils His promises to men,
rewards the good, and punishes the ungodly."
doeth--"For the graces (virtues) are practical, and have their being
in being produced (in being exercised); for when they have ceased to
act, or are only about to act, they have not even being"
[ÆCUMENIUS].
"God is righteous, and therefore the source of righteousness; when
then a man doeth righteousness, we know that the source of his
righteousness is God, that consequently he has acquired by new birth
from God that righteousness which he had not by nature. We argue from
his doing righteousness, to his being born of God. The error of
Pelagians is to conclude that doing righteousness is a condition of
becoming a child of God" [ALFORD most truly]. Compare
@Lu 7:47,50: Her much love evinced that her sins
were already forgiven; not, were the condition of her
sins being forgiven.