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1 John Chapter
Two
1 John 2
If, on the other hand, we have even committed sin and
all, being judged according to the light, is confessed (so that the will no
longer takes part in it, the pride of that will being broken down), He is
faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all iniquity. If we say
that we have [1] (as a general truth), it shews not only that
the truth is not in us, but we make God a liar; His word is not in us, for He
says that all have sinned. There are the three things: we lie; the truth is not
in us; we make God a liar. It is this fellowship with God in the light which,
in practical daily christian life, inseparably connects forgiveness, and the
present sense of it by faith, and purity of heart.
Thus we see the christian position (ver. 7); and then the things
which, in three different ways, are opposed to the truth-to communion with God
in life.
The apostle wrote that which relates to the communion
with the Father and the Son, in order that their joy might be full
That which he wrote according to the revelation of the
nature of God, which he had received from Him who was the life from heaven, was
in order that they should not sin. But to say this is to suppose that they
might sin. Not that it is necessary they should do so; for the presence of sin
in the flesh by no means obliges us to walk after the flesh. But if it should
take place, there is provision made by grace, in order that grace may act, and
that we may be neither condemned, nor brought again under the law.
We have an Advocate with the Father, One who carries on
our cause for us on high. Now this is not in order to obtain righteousness, nor
again to wash our sins away. All that has been done. Divine righteousness has
placed us in the light, even as God Himself is in the light. But communion is
interrupted, if even levity of thought finds place in our heart; for it is of
the flesh and the flesh has no communion with God. When communion is
interrupted, when we have sinned (not when we have repented, for it is His
intercession that leads to repentance), Christ intercedes for us. Righteousness
is always present-our righteousness-"Jesus Christ the Righteous."
Therefore, neither the righteousness nor the value of the propitiation for sin
being changed, grace acts (one may say, acts necessarily) in virtue of that
righteousness, and of that blood which is before God--acts, on the intercession
of Christ who never forgets us, in order to bring us back to communion by means
of repentance. Thus, while yet on earth, before Peter had committed the sin, He
prayed for him; at the given moment He looks on him, and Peter repents and
weeps bitterly for his offence. Afterwards the Lord does all that is necessary
to make Peter judge the root itself of the sin; but all is grace.
It is the same in our case. Divine righteousness abides-the immutable
foundation of our relationships with God, established on the blood of Christ.
When communion, which exists only in the light, is interrupted, the
intercession of Christ, available by virtue of His blood (for propitiation for
the sin has also been made), restores the soul that it may still again enjoy
communion with God according to the light, into which righteousness has
introduced it. [2] This propitiation is made for the whole
world, not for the Jews only, nor to the exclusion of any one at all; but for
the whole world, God in His moral nature having been fully glorified by the
death of Christ.
These three capital points-or, if you will, two capital
points, and the third, namely, advocacy, which is supplementary-form the
introduction, the doctrine of the epistle. All the rest is an experimental
application of that which this part contains: namely, first (life being given),
communion with the Father and the Son; second, the nature of God, light, which
manifests the falsehood of all pretension to communion with the light, if the
walk be in darkness; and third, seeing that sin is in us and that we may fail
although we are cleansed before God so as to enjoy the light, the advocacy
which Jesus Christ the righteous can always exercise before God, on the ground
of the righteousness which is ever in His presence, and the blood which is shed
for our sins, in order to restore our communion, when we have lost it by our
guilty negligence.
The Spirit-now proceeds to develop the characteristics of
this divine life.
Now we are sanctified unto the obedience of Jesus Christ,
that is to say, to obey on the same principles as those on which He obeyed;
where His Father's will was the motive as well as the rule of action. It is the
obedience of a life to which it was meat and drink to do the will of God: not
as under the law, in order to obtain life. The life of Jesus Christ was a life
of obedience, in which He enjoyed the love of His Father perfectly, tested in
all things and so proved perfect. His words, His commandments, were the
expression of that life; they direct that life in us, and ought to exercise all
the authority over us of Him who pronounced them.
The law promised life to those who obeyed it. Christ is
the life. This life has been imparted to us--to believers. Therefore, the words
which were the expression of that life, in its perfection in Jesus, direct and
guide it in us according to that perfection. Besides this, it has authority
over us. His commandments are its expression. We have therefore to obey, and to
walk as He walked-the two forms of practical life. It is not enough to walk
well: we must obey, for there is authority. This is the essential principle of
a right walk. On the other hand, the obedience of the Christian-as is evident
by that of Christ Himself--is not that which we often think. We call a child
obedient, who, having a will of his own, submits himself at onc e when the
authority of the parent intervenes to prevent his accomplishing it. But Christ
never obeyed in this way. He came to do the will of God. Obedience was His mode
of being. His Father's will was the motive, and, with the love that was never
separate from it, the only motive of His every act and every impulse. This is
obedience properly called christian. It is a new life which delights in doing
the will of Christ, acknowledging His entire authority over it. We reckon
ourselves to be dead to everything else; we are alive unto God, we are not our
own. We only know Christ inasmuch as we are living by His life; for the flesh
does not know Him, and cannot understand His life.
Now, that life is obedience: therefore he who says,
" I know him," and does not observe His commandments, is a liar, and
the truth is not in him. It does not say here, "he deceives himself,"
for it is very possible that he is not self-deceived, as in the other case of
fancied communion; for here the will is in action, and a man knows it, if he
will confess it. But the reality is not there; he is a liar, and the truth in
the knowledge of Jesus, which he professes, is not in him.
There are two remarks to be made here. First, that the
apostle takes things always as they are in themselves in an abstract way,
without the modifications that are occasioned by other things, in the midst of
which, or in relation with which, the former are found. Second, that the chain
of consequences which the apostle deduces is not that of outward reasoning, the
force of which is consequently on the surface of the argument itself. He
reasons from a great inward principle, so that one does not see the force of
the argument unless one knows the fact, and even the scope, of that principle;
and, in particular, that which the life of God is in its nature, in its
character, and in its action. But, without possessing it, we do not and cannot
understand anything about it. There is indeed, the authority of the apostle and
of the word to tell us that the thing is so, and that is sufficient. But the
links of his discourse will not be understood without the possession of the
life which interprets what he says, and which is itself interpreted by that
which he says.
I return to the text. "Whoso keepeth his word, in
him verily is the love of God perfected." It is in this way that we are
conscious that we know Him. His " word" has rather a wider sense than
His "commandments." That is to say, while it equally implies
obedience, the word is less outward. "Commandments" are here details
of the divine life. His "word" contains its whole expression-the
spirit of that life. [3] It is universal and absolute.
Now this life is the divine life manifested in Jesus, and
which is imparted to us. Have we seen it in Christ? Do we doubt that this is
love; that the love of God has been manifested in it? If then I keep His word;
if the scope and meaning of the life which that word expresses is thus
understood and realised, the love of God is perfect in me. The apostle, as we
have seen, always speaks abstractedly. If in fact at any given moment I do not
observe the word, in that point I do not realise His love; happy intercourse
with God is interrupted. But so far as I am moved and governed absolutely by
His word, His love is completely realised in me; for His word expresses what He
is, and I am keeping it. This is the intelligent communion with His nature in
its fullness, a nature in which I participate; so that I know that He is
perfect love, I am filled with it, and this shews itself in my ways: for that
word is the perfect expression of Himself. [4] Consequently we know thus that we are in
Him, for we realise that which He is in the communion of His nature. Now if we
say that we abide in Him, it is evident, from what we have now seen in the
instruction the apostle gives us, that we ought to walk as He walked. Our walk
is the practical expression of our life; and this life is Christ known in His
word. And since it is by His word, we who possess this life are under an
intelligent responsibility to follow it; that is to say, to walk as He walked.
For that word is the expression of His life.
Obedience then, as obedience, is thus far the moral
characteristic of the life of Christ in us. But it is proof of that which, in
Christianity, is inseparable from the life of Christ in us: we are in Him.
(Compare John 14:29) We know, not merely that we know Him, but that we are in
Him. The enjoyment of the perfect love of God in the path of obedience, gives
us by the Holy Ghost the consciousness that we are in Him. But if I am in Him,
I cannot indeed be what He was, for He was without sin; but I ought to walk as
He walked. Thus I know I am in Him. But if I make profession to abide in Him,
my heart and spirit to be wholly there, I ought to walk as He walked. Obedience
as a principle, and through keeping His word, and so the love of God perfected
in me knowing that I am in Him, are the formative principles and character of
our life.
In verses 7 and 8 the two forms of the rule of this life
are presented-forms which, moreover, answer to the two principles which we have
just announced. It is not a new commandment which the apostle writes unto them
but an old one; it is the word of Christ from the beginning. Were it not so,
were it in this sense new, so much the worse for him who set it forth, for it
would no longer be the expression of the perfect life of Christ Himself, but
some other thing, or a falsification of that which Christ had set forth This
corresponds with the first principle, that is, obedience to commandments, to
the commandments of Christ. What He said was the expression of what He was. He
could command that they should love one another as He had loved them. Compare
the Beatitudes.
In another sense it was a new commandment: for (by the
power of the Spirit of Christ, being united to Him and drawing our life from
Him) the Spirit of God manifested the effect of this life by revealing a
glorified Christ in a new way. And now it was not only a commandment, but as
the thing itself was true in Christ, it was so in His own as partakers of His
nature and in Him; He also in them.
By this revelation, and by the presence of the Holy
Ghost, the darkness disappeared, [5] passed away, and in fact the true light
shone. There will be no different light in heaven: only then the light will be
publicly displayed in glory without a cloud.
Verse 9. The life as in John i. 4, is now found to be the
light of men, only the brighter for faith that Christ is gone, for it is
through the rent veil it shines most brightly. We have had the pretension to
know Him discussed-to be in Him; now that of being in the light, and this
before the Spirit of God applies in detail the qualities of this life, as a
proof of its existence to the heart, in answer to seducers who sought to
terrify them by new notions, as though Christians were not really in possession
of life, and, with life, of the Father and the Son. The true light now shines.
And this light is God; it is the divine nature; and, as that which was a means
of judging the seducers themselves, he brings out another quality connected
with our being in the light, that is with God fully revealed. Christ was it in
the world. We are set to be it, in that we are born of God. And one who has
this nature loves his brother; for is not God love? Has not Christ loved us,
not being ashamed to call us brethren? Can I have His life and His nature, if I
do not love the brethren? No. I am then walking in darkness; I have no light on
my path. He who loves his brother dwells in the light; the nature of God acts
in him; and he dwells in the bright spiritual intelligence of that life, in the
presence and in the communion of God. If any one hates, it is evident that he
has not divine light. With feelings according to a nature opposed to God, how
can it be pretended that he is in the light?
Moreover, there is no occasion of stumbling in one who
loves, for he walks according to divine light. There is nothing in him which
causes another to stumble, for the revelation of the nature of God in grace
will assuredly not do so: and it is this which is manifested in him who loves
his brother. [6] This
closes as an introductory statement the first part of the Epistle. It contains
in the former half, the privileged place of Christians, the message giving us
the truth of our state here, and the provision for failure: that ends with
chapter 2:2; in the second half, the proofs the Christian has of the true
possession of the privilege according to the message giving obedience, and love
of the brethren, knowing Christ, being in Christ, enjoying the perfect love of
God, abiding in Him, being in the light, forming the condition which is thus proved.
Having established the two great principles, obedience
and love, as proofs of the possession of the divine nature, of Christ known as
life, and of our abiding in Him, the apostle goes on to address Christians
personally and to shew us the position, on the ground of grace, in three
different degrees of ripeness. This parenthetical but most important address we
will now consider.
He begins by calling all the Christians to whom he was
writing, "children," a term of affection in the loving and aged
apostle. And as he writes to them (chap.2:1) in order that they should not sin,
so he writes also because all their sins were forgiven for Jesus' name's sake.
This was the assured condition of all Christians: that which God had granted
them in giving them faith, that they might glorify Him He allows no doubt as to
the fact of their being pardoned. He writes to them because they are so.
We next find three classes of Christians: fathers, young
men, and babes. He addresses them each twice, fathers, young men, babes (ver.
13) fathers, in the first half of verse 14; young men, from the second half, to
the end of verse 17; and babes from verse 18 to the end of verse 27. In verse
28 he returns to all Christians under the name of "children".
That which characterises fathers in Christ is that they
have known Him who is from the beginning, that is, Christ. This is all that he
has to say about them. All had resulted in that. He only repeats the same thing
again, when, changing his form of expression, he begins anew with these three
classes. The fathers have known Christ. This is the result of all christian
experience. The flesh is judged, discerned, wherever it has mixed itself with
Christ in our feelings: it is recognised, experimentally, as having no value;
and, as the result of experience, Christ stands alone, free from all alloy.
They have learnt to distinguish that which has only the appearance of good.
They are not occupied with experience-that would be being occupied with self,
with one's own heart. All that has passed away; and Christ alone remains as our
portion, unmingled with aught besides, even as He gave Himself to us. Moreover
He is much better known; they have experienced what He is in so many details,
whether of joy in communion with Him, or in the consciousness of weakness, or
in the realisation of His faithfulness, of the riches of His grace, of His
adaptation to our need, of His love, and in the revelation of His own fullness;
so that they are able now to say, " I know whom I have believed. "
Attachment to Himself characterises them. Such is the character of
"fathers" in Christ.
"Young men" are the second class. They are
distinguished by spiritual strength in conflict: the energy of faith. They have
overcome the wicked one. For he speaks of what their character is as in Christ.
Conflict they have as such, but the strength of Christ manifested in them.
The third class is "babes" These know the
Father. We see here that the Spirit of adoption and of liberty characterises
the youngest child in the faith of Christ, that it is not the result of
progress. It is the commencement. We possess it because we are Christians and
it is ever the distinguishing mark of beginners. The others do not lose it, but
other things distinguish them.
In again addressing these three classes of Christians the
apostle, as we have seen, has only to repeat that which he at first said with
regard to the fathers. It is the result of christian life. In the case of the
young men he develops his idea and adds some exhortations. "Ye are strong,"
he says, " and the word of God abideth in you"-an important
characteristic. The word is the revelation of God, and the application of
Christ, to the heart, so that we have thus the motives which form and govern
it, and a testimony founded on the state of the heart, and on convictions which
have a divine power in us. It is the sword of the Spirit in our relations with
the world. We have been ourselves formed by those things to which we bear
testimony in our relations with the world, and those things are in us according
to the power of the word of God. The wicked one is thus overcome; for he has
only the world to present to our lusts: and the word abiding, in us keeps us in
an altogether different sphere of thought in which a different nature is
enlightened and strengthened by divine communications. The tendency of the
young man is toward the world: the ardour of his nature, and the vigour of his
age, tend to draw him away on that side. He has to guard against this by
separating himself entirely from the world and the things that are in it;
because, if any one love the world, the love of the Father is not in him, for
those things do not come from the Father. He has a world of his own, of which
Christ is the centre and glory. The lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life--these are the things that are in the world and that
characterise it. There are really no other motives besides these in the world.
Now these things are not of the Father.
The Father is the source of all that is according to His
own heart-every grace, every spiritual gift, the glory, the heavenly holiness
of all that was manifested in Christ Jesus, and that will be-all the world of
glory to come, of which Christ is the centre. And all this had only the cross
for its portion here below. But the apostle is speaking here of the source; and
assuredly the Father is not the source of those other things.
Now the world passes away; but he who does the will of
God, he who, in going through this world, takes for his guide, not the desires
of nature, but the will of God-a will which is according to His nature and
which expresses it-such a one shall abide for ever according to the nature and
the will that he has followed after.
We shall find that the world, and the Father with all
that is of Him, the flesh and the Spirit, the Son and the devil, are put
respectively in opposition. Things are spoken of in their source and moral
nature, the principles that act in us and that characterise our existence and
our position, and the two agents in good and evil that are opposed to each
other, without (thanks be to God!) any uncertainty as to the issue of the
conflict; for the weakness of Christ, in death, is stronger than the strength
of Satan. He has no power against that which is perfect. Christ came that He
might destroy the works of the devil.
To the babes the apostle speaks principally of the
dangers to which they were exposed from seducers. He warns them with tender
affection, reminding them at the same time that all the sources of intelligence
and strength were open to them and belonged to them. "It is the last
time;" not exactly the last days, but the season which had the final
character that belonged to the dealings of God with this world. The Antichrist
was to come, and already there were many antichrists: by this it might be known
it was the last time. It was not merely sin, nor the transgression of the law;
but, Christ having already been manifested, and being now absent and hidden
from the world, there was a formal opposition to the especial revelation that
had been made. It was not a vague and ignorant unbelief; it took a definite
shape as having a will directed against Jesus. They might for instance believe
all that a Jew believed, as it was revealed in the word, but as to the
testimony of God by Jesus Christ they opposed it. They would not own Him to be
the Christ; they denied the Father and the Son. This, as to religious
profession, is the true character of the Antichrist. He may indeed believe or
pretend to believe, that there shall be a Christ; yea, set himself up to be it.
But the two aspects of Christianity (that which, on the one hand, regards the
accomplishment in the Person of Jesus of the promises made to the Jew; and, on
the other hand, the heavenly and eternal blessings presented in the revelation
of the Father by the Son), this the Antichrist does not accept. That which
characterises him as Antichrist is that he denies the Father and the Son. To
deny that Jesus is the Christ is indeed the Jewish disbelief that forms part of
his character. That which gives him the character of Antichrist is that he
denies the foundation of Christianity. He is a liar in that he denies Jesus to
be the Christ; consequently it is the work of the father of lies. But all the
unbelieving Jews had done as much without being Antichrist. To deny the Father
and the Son characterises him.
But there is something more. These antichrists came out
from among the Christians. There was apostacy. Not that they were really
Christians, but they had been among the Christians and had come out from them.
(How instructive for our days also is this Epistle!) It was thus made manifest
that they were not truly of the flock of Christ. All this had a tendency to
shake the faith of babes in Christ. The apostle endeavours to strengthen them.
There were two means of confirming their faith, which also inspired the apostle
with confidence. First, they had the unction of the Holy One; secondly, that
which was from the beginning, was the touchstone for all new doctrine, and they
already possessed that which was from the beginning.
The indwelling of the Holy Ghost as an unction and
spiritual intelligence in them, and the truth which they had received at the
beginning-the perfect revelation of Christ-these were the safe guards against
seducers and seductions. All heresy and all error and corruption will be found
to strike at the first and divine revelation of the truth, if the unction of
the Holy One is in us to judge them. Now this unction is the portion of even
the youngest babes in Christ, and they ought to be encouraged to realise it,
however tenderly they may be cared for as they were here by the apostle.
What important truths we discover here for ourselves! The
last time already manifested, so that we have to be on our guard against
seducers-persons moreover issuing from the bosom of Christianity.
The character of this Antichrist is that he denies the
Father and the Son. Unbelief in its Jewish form is also again manifested:
owning that there is a Christ, but denying that Jesus is He. Our security
against these seductions is the unction from the Holy one--the Holy Ghost, but
in especial connection with the holiness of God, which enables us to see
clearly into the truth (another characteristic of the Spirit); and, secondly,
that that abide in us which we have heard from the beginning. It is this
evidently which we have in the written word. "Development,'' note it well,
is not that which we have from the beginning. By its very name it sins
radically against the safeguard pointed out by the apostle. That which the
church has taught, as development of the truth, whencesoever she may have
received it, is not that which has been heard from the beginning.
There is another point indicated here by the apostle that
ought to be noticed. People might pretend by giving God in a vague way the name
of Father, that they possessed Him without the true possession of the Son,
Jesus Christ. This cannot be. He who has not the Son has not the Father. It is
by Him that the Father is revealed, in Him that the Father is known.
If the truth that we have received from the beginning
abides in us, we abide in the Son and in the Father; for this truth is the
revelation of the Son and is revealed by the Son, who is the truth. It is
living truth if it abides in us; thus, by possessing it, we possess the Son,
and in the Son, the Father also. We abide in it, and thereby we have eternal
life. (Compare John 17:3)
Now the apostle had happy confidence that the unction
which they had received of Him abode in them, so that they needed not to be
taught of others, for this same unction taught them with respect to all things.
It was the truth, for it was the Holy Ghost Himself acting in the word, which
was the revelation of the truth of Jesus Himself, and there was no lie in it.
Thus should they abide in Him according to that which it had taught them.
Observe also, here, that the effect of this teaching by
the unction from on high is twofold with regard to the discernment of the
truth. They knew that no lie was of the truth; possessing this truth from God,
that which was not it was a lie. They knew that this unction which taught them
of all things was the truth, and that there was no lie in it. The unction
taught them all things, that is to say, all the truth, as truth of God.
Therefore that which was not it was a lie, and there was no lie in the unction.
Thus the sheep hear the voice of the good Shepherd; if another calls them, it
is not His voice, and that is enough. They fear it and fly from it, because
they do not know it.
With verse 27 ends the second series of exhortations to
the three classes. The apostle begins again with the whole body of Christians
(ver. 28). This verse appear.s to me to correspond with verse 8 of the Second
Epistle, and with chapter 3 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians.
The apostle, having ended his address to those who were
all in the communion of the Father, applies the essential principles of the
divine life, of the divine nature as manifested in Christ, to test those who
claimed participation in it; not in order to make the believer doubt, but for
the rejection of that which was false. I say, "not to make the believer
doubt;" for the apostle speaks of his position, and of the position of
those to whom he was writing, with the most perfect assurance. (Chap. 3:1,2) [7] He had
spoken, in recommencement at verse 28, of the appearing of Jesus. This
introduces the Lord in the full revelation of His character, and gives rise to
the scrutiny of the pretensions of those who called themselves by His name.
There are two proofs which belong essentially to the divine life, and a third
which is accessory as privilege: righteousness or obedience, and love, and the
presence of the Holy Ghost.
Righteousness is not in the flesh. If therefore it is
really found in any one, he is born of Him, he derives his nature from and in
Christ. We may remark, that it is righteousness as it was manifested in Jesus;
for it is because we know that He is righteous, that we know that "he who
doeth righteousness is born of him." It is the same nature demonstrated by
the same fruits.
[1] When
speaking of sin, the apostle speaks in the present tense, "we have":
when speaking of sinning, he speaks in the past. He does not take for granted
we are going on doing it. It has been a question whether the apostle speaks of
first coming to the Lord, or subsequent failures. I answer, he speaks in an
abstract and absolute way: confession brings through grace forgiveness. If it
is our first coming to God, it is forgiveness, it is in the full and absolute
sense. I am forgiven with God: He remembers my sins no more. If it is
subsequent failure, honesty of heart always confesses, then it is forgiveness
as regards the government of God, and the present condition and relationship of
my soul with Him. But the apostle, as everywhere, speaks absolutely and of the
principle.
[2] Here
the subject is communion, and hence actual failure is spoken of; in the
Hebrews, we have seen, it is access to God and we are "perfected for
ever," and priesthood is for mercy and help, not for sins, save the great
act of atonement.
[3]
Fundamentally they are not different. This is affirmed in verse 7: "The
old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning." One
might say with perfect truth that the commandment is the word of Christ. but I
question if it could be said that the word is the commandment. And this makes
one conscious of the difference. The contrast of verses 4 and 5 is remarkable,
and has its source in the possession, and the intelligent and complete
consciousness of the possession, of the divine life, according to the word, or
its non-possession. He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; for this truth is only
that which the word reveals. And if we live of the nature of which the word of
Christ is the expression, and thus by the word know Him, we obey that word. In
another aspect, if we are in possession of this life, partakers of the divine
nature, the love of God is in us; we have the commandments of Christ, His word,
the perfect love of God, a walk according to the walk of Christ, the
communication of the life of Christ so that the commandment is true in Him and
in us, the walk in the light, the love of our brother. How rich a chain of
blessings! The pretensions here spoken of are-to know Christ, to abide in Him,
to be in the light. The proof that the first pretension is justified is
obedience. Then, if we abide in Christ (which we know by keeping His word), we
ought to walk as He walked. That the last pretension is a true one is proved by
love to our brother. In the second, the walk is maintained at all the height of
the walk of Christ, as our duty: but this walk is not presented as a proof that
we abide in Him, that we keep His word. Observe, that it is not said, "We
know that we believe "-this is not the question here- but, "We know
that we are in him." Let me add here, that the apostle never uses these proofs,
as they are so commonly used, to say, "hereby we doubt." It is quite
certain from verses 12, 13, that he treats them as all forgiven or he would not
have written, and as having the Spirit of adoption-even the youngest and
feeblest. Others sought to make them doubt; and he writes that their hearts
might be assured before God, that they might not be seduced, into doubting, as
if they had not a full Christ and a full Christianity- eternal life. It was the
means of keeping and holding fast assurance when they had it, when they might
have been shaken, not of obtaining it. They were forgiven, they were sons. When
others would make them doubt, he writes that they may be fully assured that
they have no reason to doubt.
[4]
This, I doubt not, is the true meaning of John 8:25. "In the principle of
my nature, in my being, that which I am saying to you" That which He said
was essentially and completely that which He was. That which He was is that
which He said. Now it is this life which is imparted to us; but it was the love
of God among men and in man. And this life being our life, and the word being
kept, His love is realised in us in all its extent.
[5] The
force of the word is not "has disappeared, passed away." There is
much darkness yet in the, world. As to the, light, it has actually shone.
[6] The
reader may compare here, with such instruction, what is said in Ephesians 4:17
to 5:12, where these two names of God, the only ones used to reveal His nature,
are also used to shew our path and the true character of the Christian; only
according to that which the Holy Ghost gives by Paul-the counsels and work of
God in Christ. In John it is more the nature.
[7] I
have noticed, farther on, the striking way in which God and Christ are spoken
of as one Being or Person, not as doctrine as to the two natures, but Christ is
before the apostle's mind, and He is spoken of in the same sentence, now as
God, now as appearing as man. Thus in chapter 2:28 He comes. In ver. 29 the
righteous man is born of Him, and we are children of God. But the world did not
know Him. Now it is Christ on earth. Chapter 3:2 we are children of God, but in
the same verse He appears and we are like Him. But what makes this yet more
wonderful is that we are identified with Him too. We are called children
because that is His title and relationship. The world does not know us, for it
did not know Him. We know we shall be like Him when He appears. We are given
the same place here and there. (Compare chap.5:20)
── John Darby《Synopsis of 1 John》
1 John 2
Chapter Contents
The apostle directs to the atonement of Christ for help
against sinful infirmities. (1,2) The effects of saving knowledge in producing
obedience, and love to the brethren. (3-11) Christians addressed as little
children, young men, and fathers. (12-14) All are cautioned against the love of
this world, and against errors. (15-23) They are encouraged to stand fast in
faith and holiness. (24-29)
Commentary on 1 John 2:1,2
(Read 1 John 2:1,2)
When have an Advocate with the Father; one who has
undertaken, and is fully able, to plead in behalf of every one who applies for
pardon and salvation in his name, depending on his pleading for them. He is
"Jesus," the Saviour, and "Christ," the Messiah, the
Anointed. He alone is "the Righteous One," who received his nature
pure from sin, and as our Surety perfectly obeyed the law of God, and so
fulfilled all righteousness. All men, in every land, and through successive
generations, are invited to come to God through this all-sufficient atonement,
and by this new and living way. The gospel, when rightly understood and
received, sets the heart against all sin, and stops the allowed practice of it;
at the same time it gives blessed relief to the wounded consciences of those
who have sinned.
Commentary on 1 John 2:3-11
(Read 1 John 2:3-11)
What knowledge of Christ can that be, which sees not that
he is most worthy of our entire obedience? And a disobedient life shows there
is neither religion nor honesty in the professor. The love of God is perfected
in him that keeps his commandments. God's grace in him attains its true mark, and
produces its sovereign effect as far as may be in this world, and this is man's
regeneration; though never absolutely perfect here. Yet this observing Christ's
commands, has holiness and excellency which, if universal, would make the earth
resemble heaven itself. The command to love one another had been in force from
the beginning of the world; but it might be called a new command as given to
Christians. It was new in them, as their situation was new in respect of its
motives, rules, and obligations. And those who walk in hatred and enmity to
believers, remain in a dark state. Christian love teaches us to value our
brother's soul, and to dread every thing hurtful to his purity and peace. Where
spiritual darkness dwells, in mind, the judgment, and the conscience will be
darkened, and will mistake the way to heavenly life. These things demand
serious self-examination; and earnest prayer, that God would show us what we
are, and whither we are going.
Commentary on 1 John 2:12-14
(Read 1 John 2:12-14)
As Christians have their peculiar states, so they have
peculiar duties; but there are precepts and obedience common to all,
particularly mutual love, and contempt of the world. The youngest sincere
disciple is pardoned: the communion of saints is attended with the forgiveness
of sins. Those of the longest standing in Christ's school need further advice
and instruction. Even fathers must be written unto, and preached unto; none are
too old to learn. But especially young men in Christ Jesus, though they are
arrived at strength of spirit and sound sense, and have successfully resisted
first trials and temptations, breaking off bad habits and connexions, and
entered in at the strait gate of true conversion. The different descriptions of
Christians are again addressed. Children in Christ know that God is their
Father; it is wisdom. Those advanced believers, who know Him that was from the
beginning, before this world was made, may well be led thereby to give up this
world. It will be the glory of young persons to be strong in Christ, and his
grace. By the word of God they overcome the wicked one.
Commentary on 1 John 2:15-17
(Read 1 John 2:15-17)
The things of the world may be desired and possessed for
the uses and purposes which God intended, and they are to be used by his grace,
and to his glory; but believers must not seek or value them for those purposes
to which sin abuses them. The world draws the heart from God; and the more the
love of the world prevails, the more the love of God decays. The things of the
world are classed according to the three ruling inclinations of depraved
nature. 1. The lust of the flesh, of the body: wrong desires of the heart, the
appetite of indulging all things that excite and inflame sensual pleasures. 2.
The lust of the eyes: the eyes are delighted with riches and rich possessions;
this is the lust of covetousness. 3. The pride of life: a vain man craves the
grandeur and pomp of a vain-glorious life; this includes thirst after honour
and applause. The things of the world quickly fade and die away; desire itself
will ere long fail and cease, but holy affection is not like the lust that
passes away. The love of God shall never fail. Many vain efforts have been made
to evade the force of this passage by limitations, distinctions, or exceptions.
Many have tried to show how far we may be carnally-minded, and love the world;
but the plain meaning of these verses cannot easily be mistaken. Unless this
victory over the world is begun in the heart, a man has no root in himself, but
will fall away, or at most remain an unfruitful professor. Yet these vanities
are so alluring to the corruption in our hearts, that without constant watching
and prayer, we cannot escape the world, or obtain victory over the god and
prince of it.
Commentary on 1 John 2:18-23
(Read 1 John 2:18-23)
Every man is an antichrist, who denies the Person, or any
of the offices of Christ; and in denying the Son, he denies the Father also,
and has no part in his favour while he rejects his great salvation. Let this
prophecy that seducers would rise in the Christian world, keep us from being
seduced. The church knows not well who are its true members, and who are not,
but thus true Christians were proved, and rendered more watchful and humble.
True Christians are anointed ones; their names expresses this: they are anointed
with grace, with gifts and spiritual privileges, by the Holy Spirit of grace.
The great and most hurtful lies that the father of lies spreads in the world,
usually are falsehoods and errors relating to the person of Christ. The unction
from the Holy One, alone can keep us from delusions. While we judge favourably
of all who trust in Christ as the Divine Saviour, and obey his word, and seek
to live in union with them, let us pity and pray for those who deny the Godhead
of Christ, or his atonement, and the new-creating work of the Holy Ghost. Let
us protest against such antichristian doctrine, and keep from them as much as
we may.
Commentary on 1 John 2:24-29
(Read 1 John 2:24-29)
The truth of Christ, abiding in us, is a means to sever
from sin, and unites us to the Son of God, John 15:3,4. What value should we put upon
gospel truth! Thereby the promise of eternal life is made sure. The promise God
makes, is suitable to his own greatness, power, and goodness; it is eternal
life. The Spirit of truth will not lie; and he teaches all things in the
present dispensation, all things necessary to our knowledge of God in Christ,
and their glory in the gospel. The apostle repeats the kind words, "little
children;" which denotes his affection. He would persuade by love. Gospel
privileges oblige to gospel duties; and those anointed by the Lord Jesus abide
with him. The new spiritual nature is from the Lord Christ. He that is constant
to the practice of religion in trying times, shows that he is born from above,
from the Lord Christ. Then, let us beware of holding the truth in
unrighteousness, remembering that those only are born of God, who bear his holy
image, and walk in his most righteous ways.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 1 John》
1 John 2
Verse 1
[1] My
little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
My beloved children — So
the apostle frequently addresses the whole body of Christians. It is a term of
tenderness and endearment, used by our Lord himself to his disciples, John 13:33. And perhaps many to whom St. John now
wrote were converted by his ministry. It is a different word from that which is
translated "little children," in several parts of the epistle, to
distinguish it from which, it is here rendered beloved children. I write these
things to you, that ye may not sin - Thus he guards them beforehand against
abusing the doctrine of reconciliation. All the words, institutions, and
judgments of God are levelled against sin, either that it may not be committed,
or that it may be abolished.
But if any one sin —
Let him not lie in sin, despairing of help.
We have an advocate — We
have for our advocate, not a mean person, but him of whom it was said,
"This is my beloved son." Not a guilty person, who stands in need of
pardon for himself; but Jesus Christ the righteous; not a mere petitioner, who
relies purely upon liberality, but one that has merited, fully merited,
whatever he asks.
Verse 2
[2] And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world.
And he is the propitiation — The atoning sacrifice by which the wrath of God is appeased.
For our sins —
Who believe.
And not for ours only, but also for the sins
of the whole world — Just as wide as sin extends, the
propitiation extends also .
Verse 3
[3] And
hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
And hereby we know that we truly and savingly
know him - As he is the advocate, the righteous, the propitiation.
If we keep his commandments — Particularly those of faith and love.
Verse 5
[5] But
whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know
we that we are in him.
But whoso keepeth his word — His commandments.
Verily in him the love of God — Reconciled to us through Christ.
Is perfected — Is
perfectly known.
Hereby — By
our keeping his word.
We know that we are in him — So is the tree known by its fruits. To "know him," to be
"in him," to "abide in him," are nearly synonymous terms;
only with a gradation,-knowledge, communion, constancy.
Verse 6
[6] He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he
walked.
He that saith he abideth in him — which implies a durable state; a constant, lasting knowledge of, and
communion with, him.
Ought himself —
Otherwise they are vain words.
So to walk, even as he walked — In the world. As he, are words that frequently occur in this epistle.
Believers having their hearts full of him, easily supply his name.
Verse 7
[7]
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.
When I speak of keeping his word, I write not
a new commandment - I do not speak of any new one.
But the old commandment, which ye had — Even from your forefathers.
Verse 8
[8]
Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in
you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
Again, I do write a new commandment to you — Namely, with regard to loving one another. A commandment which, though it
also was given long ago, yet is truly new in him and in you. It was exemplified
in him, and is now fulfilled by you, in such a manner as it never was before.
For there is no comparison between the state of the Old Testament believers,
and that which ye now enjoy: the darkness of that dispensation is passed away;
and Christ the true light now shineth in your hearts.
Verse 9
[9] He
that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even
until now.
He that saith he is in the light — In Christ, united to him.
And hateth his brother — The very name shows the love due to him.
Is in darkness until now — Void of Christ, and of all true light.
Verse 10
[10] He
that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of
stumbling in him.
He that loveth his brother — For Christ's sake.
Abideth in the light — Of God.
And there is no occasion of stumbling in him — Whereas he that hates his brother is an occasion of stumbling to
himself. He stumbles against himself, and against all things within and
without; while he that loves his brother, has a free, disencumbered journey.
Verse 11
[11] But
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.
He that hateth his brother — And he must hate, if he does not love him: there is no medium.
Is in darkness — In
sin, perplexity, entanglement. He walketh in darkness, and knoweth not that he
is in the high road to hell.
Verse 12
[12] I
write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his
name's sake.
I have written to you, beloved children — Thus St. John bespeaks all to whom he writes. But from the thirteenth to
1 John 2:13-27 the twentyseventh verse, he
divides them particularly into "fathers," "young men," and
"little children." Because your sins are forgiven you - As if he had
said, This is the sum of what I have now written. He then proceeds to other
things, which are built upon this foundation.
Verse 13
[13] I
write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him 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 address to spiritual fathers, young men,
and little children is first proposed in this verse, wherein he says, I write
to you, fathers: I write to you, young men: I write to you, little children:
and then enlarged upon; in doing which he says, "I have written to you,
fathers," 1 John 2:14. "I have written to you, young
men," 1 John 2:14-17. "I have written to you,
little children," 1 John 2:18-27. Having finished his address to
each, he returns to all together, whom he again terms, (as 1 John 2:12,) "beloved children."
Fathers, ye have known him that is from the beginning - We have known the
eternal God, in a manner wherein no other, even true believers, know him.
Young men, ye have overcome the wicked one — In many battles, by the power of faith.
Little children, ye have known the Father — As your Father, though ye have not yet overcome, by the Spirit
witnessing with your Spirit, that ye are the children of God."
Verse 14
[14] 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.
I have written to you, fathers — As if he had said, Observe well what I but now wrote. He speaks very
briefly and modestly to these, who needed not much to be said to them, as
having that deep acquaintance with God which comprises all necessary knowledge.
Young men, ye are strong — In faith.
And the word of God abideth in you — Deeply rooted in your hearts, whereby ye have often foiled your great
adversary.
Verse 15
[15] Love
not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.
To you all, whether fathers, young men, or
little children, I say, Love not the world - Pursue your victory by overcoming
the world.
If any man love the world — Seek happiness in visible things, he does not love God.
Verse 16
[16] 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.
The desire of the flesh — Of the pleasure of the outward senses, whether of the taste, smell, or
touch.
The desire of the eye — Of the pleasures of imagination, to which the eye chiefly is
subservient; of that internal sense whereby we relish whatever is grand, new,
or beautiful.
The pride of life —
All that pomp in clothes, houses, furniture, equipage, manner of living, which
generally procure honour from the bulk of mankind, and so gratify pride and
vanity. It therefore directly includes the desire of praise, and, remotely,
covetousness. All these desires are not from God, but from the prince of this
world.
Verse 17
[17] And
the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God
abideth for ever.
The world passeth away, and the desire
thereof — That is, all that can gratify those
desires passeth away with it.
But he that doeth the will of God — That loves God, not the world.
Abideth — In
the enjoyment of what he loves, for ever.
Verse 18
[18]
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.
My little children, it is the last time — The last dispensation of grace, that which is to continue to the end of
time, is begun.
Ye have heard that antichrist cometh — Under the term antichrist, or the spirit of antichrist, he includes all
false teachers and enemies to the truth; yea, whatever doctrines or men are
contrary to Christ. It seems to have been long after this that the name of
antichrist was appropriated to that grand adversary of Christ, "the man of
sin," 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Antichrist, in St. John's
sense, that is, antichristianism, has been spreading from his time till now;
and will do so, till that great adversary arises, and is destroyed by Christ's
coming.
Verse 19
[19] They
went 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 they went out, that they might be
made manifest that they were not all of us.
They were not of us —
When they went; their hearts were before departed from God, otherwise, they
would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made
manifest - That is, this was made manifest by their going out.
Verse 20
[20] But
ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
But ye have an anointing — A chrism; perhaps so termed in opposition to the name of antichrist; an
inward teaching from the Holy Ghost, whereby ye know all things - Necessary for
your preservation from these seducers, and for your eternal salvation. St. John
here but just touches upon the Holy Ghost, of whom he speaks more largely, 1 John 3:24; 4:13; 5:6.
Verse 21
[21] I
have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know
it, and that no lie is of the truth.
I have written —
Namely, 1 John 2:13.
To you because ye know the truth — That is, to confirm you in the knowledge ye have already.
Ye know that no lie is of the truth — That all the doctrines of these antichrists are irreconcilable to it.
Verse 22
[22] Who
is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that
denieth the Father and the Son.
Who is that liar —
Who is guilty of that lying, but he who denies that truth which is the sum of
all Christianity? That Jesus is the Christ; that he is the Son of God; that he came
in the flesh, is one undivided truth. and he that denies any part of this, in
effect denies the whole.
He is antichrist —
And the spirit of antichrist, who in denying the Son denies the Father also.
Verse 23
[23]
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that
acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
Whosoever denieth the eternal Son of God, he
hath not communion with the Father; but he that truly and believingly
acknowledgeth the Son, hath communion with the Father also.
Verse 24
[24] Let
that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that
which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall
continue in the Son, and in the Father.
If that truth concerning the Father and the
Son, which ye have heard from the beginning, abide fixed and rooted in you, ye
also shall abide in that happy communion with the Son and the Father.
Verse 25
[25] And
this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
He — The Son.
Hath promised us — If
we abide in him.
Verse 26
[26]
These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
These things —
From 1 John 2:21.
I have written to you — St. John, according to his custom, begins and ends with the same form,
and having finished a kind of parenthesis, 1 John 2:20-26, continues, 2:27, what he said in the twentieth verse,
concerning them that would seduce you.
Verse 27
[27] But
the anointing 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.
Ye need not that any should teach you, save
as that anointing teacheth you — Which is always the
same, always consistent with itself. But this does not exclude our need of
being taught by them who partake of the same anointing.
Of all things —
Which it is necessary for you to know.
And is no lie —
Like that which antichrist teaches.
Ye shall abide in him — This is added both by way of comfort and of exhortation. The whole
discourse, from verse 18 to this, 1 John 2:18-27 is peculiarly adapted to little
children.
Verse 28
[28] 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.
And now, beloved children — Having finished his address to each, he now returns to all in general.
Abide in him, that we — A modest expression.
May not be ashamed before him at his coming — O how will ye, Jews, Socinians, nominal Christians, be ashamed in that
day!
Verse 29
[29] If
ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness
is born of him.
Every one —
And none else.
Who practiseth righteousness — From a believing, loving heart.
Is born of him —
For all his children are like himself.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 1 John》
1 John 2:4
A
small boy liked to pull out of the cupboard the paper bags that his mother
saved. He would then spread them around the kitchen floor and use them as a
playing surface for his toy cars. This was permitted on the condition that he
collects the bags and put them away when he was finished playing. One day, his
mother found the bags all over the kitchen and the boy in the living room where
his after was playing the piano. When she told her son to pick up the bags,
there was a short silence. Then his small voice said, “But I want sing ‘Jesus
Loves Me.’”
His father
took the opportunity to point out that it’s no good singing God’s praises while
you’re disobedient. This passage in the First Epistle of John puts the lesson
in much stronger language: “The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do
what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
1 John 2:15
“Loving the created world is not wrong as long as
our loving God is not diminished. To love the world and fail to love God would
be like a bride, who, being given a ring by her bridegroom, loves the ring more
than the bridegroom who gave it. Of course, she should love what the bridegroom
gave her, but to love the ring and despise him who gave it is to reject the
very meaning of the ring as a token of his love. Likewise, men who love
creation and not the creator are rejecting the whole meaning of creation. We
ought to appreciate the creation and love the creator because of it.”――
Augustine
1 John 2:17
In an address to the
Wisconsin State Agriculture Society in 1859, Abraham Lincoln illustrated the
profound and tempering effect that change can have on us. He told of an Eastern
monarch who gave his counselors an assignment to come up with a truth that
would apply to all times and situations. After careful consideration, they
returned with this sentence: “And this too shall pass away.” Said
Centuries before, John made the same point—that the
world passes away, but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Chapter 2. The Protection of Spiritual
Fellowship
One Defender
Jesus the Righteous
I. Fellowship
Based on Righteousness
II. Fellowship
Based on Love
III. Fellowship
Based on Faith
── Chih-Hsin
Chang《An Outline of
The New Testament》
Fellowship With Jesus (2:3-6)
INTRODUCTION
1. A concern of John's first epistle is that we have fellowship with the Father and the Son: "that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship iswith the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." (1:3)
2. He began by stressing the basis upon which we may fellowship with the FATHER - 1 Jn 1:5-2:22 a. Walk in the light as He is in the light b. Confess our sins, don't deny that we have sin c. Make use of our "advocate" and "propitiation", Jesus Christ the Righteous 3. But what about fellowship with the SON? In our text (1 Jn 2:3-6), John now describes how we can "know" that we have fellowship with Jesus Christ [A key phrase in this passage is "by this we know...", found twice (2:3,5). In other words, "here is how we can be sure". And John's first point is...]