1 John 2 Pulpit Commentary

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>1 John 2 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_john/2.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/1_john/2-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > 1 John 2</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_john/1.htm" title="1 John 1">◄</a> 1 John 2 <a href="../1_john/3.htm" title="1 John 3">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-1.htm">1 John 2:1</a></div><div class="verse">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:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 1, 2.</span> - Moreover, walking in the light involves accepting the propitiation wrought through Jesus Christ the Righteous. The connexion with the preceding is close. We have just had <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> the confession that we do sin; we now have <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> the principle that we must not sin; and <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(3)</span> the consolation that sin is not irremediable. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">My little children;</span> or, perhaps, <span class="accented">my dear children</span>; or, simply, <span class="accented">my children.</span> The diminutive <span class="greek">τεκνία</span>, if it retains any force, expresses endearment rather than smallness or youth. The word occurs only once outside this Epistle (<a href="/john/13-33.htm">John 13:33</a>), and it was, perhaps, from Christ's use of it then that St. John adopted it (verses 12, 28; <a href="/1_john/3-7.htm">1 John 3:7, 18</a>; <a href="/1_john/4-4.htm">1 John 4:4</a>; <a href="/1_john/5-21.htm">1 John 5:21</a>). In <a href="/galatians/4-19.htm">Galatians 4:19</a> the reading is doubtful Cf. <span class="greek">Τί με φεύγεις</span>, <span class="greek">τέκνον τὸν σαυτοῦ πατέρα</span>; in the beautiful story of St. John and the young robber (Eusebius, 'Hist. Eccl.,' III. 23:17). As distinct from <span class="greek">παιδία</span> (<a href="/1_john/2-13.htm">1 John 2:13, 18</a>), the word seems to imply spiritual fatherhood. <span class="cmt_word">These things</span> (the section, <a href="/1_john/1-5.htm">1 John 1:5-10</a>) <span class="cmt_word">I write to you, that ye may not sin.</span> The aorist forbids the rendering, "continue in sin;" as before, those who are walking in light and yet sin through frailty are addressed. Two apparently contradictory principles have been set forth: you must walk in light; you must confess that you sin. St. John now goes on to reconcile them. I write <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> to charge you not to sin; <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> [to tell you that] if we sin, we have an Advocate. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Instead of understanding "to tell you that," we may take <span class="greek">καί</span> as "and yet" - a frequent use in St. John. There are two seemingly opposite truths - sin is wholly alien from the Christian, and the Christian is never wholly free from sin; and St. John struggles to give them their right balance, not in the dialectical manner of St. Paul, but by stating them alternately, side by side, varying the point of view. <span class="cmt_word">We have an Advocate.</span> The possession of the Advocate is as continual <span class="greek">ἔχομεν</span> as of the sin (<a href="/1_john/1-8.htm">1 John 1:8</a>). Every one feels that "a <span class="accented">Comforter</span> with the Father" is an impossible rendering. But St. John alone uses the word <span class="greek">Παράκλητος</span>, four times in his Gospel of the Spirit (see on John 14:16), and once here of Christ. Is it likely that he would use so unusual and important a word <span class="accented">in two different senses</span>, and that in two writings intended as <span class="accented">companions to one another?</span> The rendering "Advocate," necessary here, carries with it the rendering "Advocate" in the Gospel. Moreover, what is the meaning of <span class="greek">ἄλλος Παράκλητος</span>, if Christ is an <span class="accented">Advocate</span>, but the Spirit a <span class="accented">Comforter?</span> If Christ is one Advocate and the Spirit "another Advocate," all is intelligible. Philo frequently uses <span class="greek">παράκλητος</span> of the high priest as intercessor for the people, and also of the Divine <span class="greek">Λόγος</span>. There is a difference, however, between "Paraclete" as used of the Spirit and as used of Christ. It is applied to the Spirit in his relation to the disciples; to Christ in his relation to the Father. Christ is our Advocate <span class="greek">πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα</span>: his advocacy <span class="accented">turns towards</span> the Father to propitiate him. And not in vain; for he is himself "righteous." A sinner could not reconcile God to sinners; but a righteous Advocate can, for his character is a warrant for the righteousness of his cause. Thus, <span class="greek">δίκαιον</span> is the set-off to <span class="greek">ἐάν τις ἁμάρτῃ</span>. One who has sinned needs an advocate; one who has not sinned can best undertake the office. <span class="greek">Δίκαιον</span> at the end, without the article, is gently suggestive of the plea, "Jesus Christ, <span class="accented">a Righteous One."</span> </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-2.htm">1 John 2:2</a></div><div class="verse">And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for <i>the sins of</i> the whole world.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And he</span> (not <span class="accented">quia</span> nor <span class="accented">enim</span>, but <span class="accented">idemque ille</span>) <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>is a Propitiation for our sins.</span> <span class="greek">Ἱλασμός</span> occurs here and chapter 1 John 4:10 only in the New Testament. St. Paul's word is <span class="greek">καταλλαγή</span> (<a href="/romans/5-11.htm">Romans 5:11</a>; <a href="/romans/11-15.htm">Romans 11:15</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/5-18.htm">2 Corinthians 5:18, 19</a>). They are not equivalents; <span class="greek">ἱλασμός</span> has reference to the one party to be propitiated, <span class="greek">καταλλαγή</span> to the two parties to be reconciled. <span class="greek">Ἀπολύτρωσις</span> is a third word expressing yet another aspect of the atonement - the redemption of the offending party by payment of his debt (<a href="/romans/3-24.htm">Romans 3:24</a>, etc.). Although <span class="greek">ἱλασμός</span> does not necessarily include the idea of sacrifice, yet the use of the word in the LXX, and of <span class="greek">ἱλάσκεσθαι</span> (Hebrews 2:27) and <span class="greek">ἱλαστήριον</span> (<a href="/romans/3-25.htm">Romans 3:25</a>; <a href="/hebrews/9-5.htm">Hebrews 9:5</a>) in the New Testament, points to the expiation wrought by the great High Priest by the sacrifice of himself. It is <span class="greek">ἱλασμός</span>, and not <span class="greek">ἱλαστήρ</span>, because the prominent fact is Christ as an Offering rather than as One who offers. With the <span class="greek">περί</span>, cf. <a href="/john/8-46.htm">John 8:46</a>; <a href="/john/10-33.htm">John 10:33</a>; <a href="/john/16-8.htm">John 16:8</a>. Our sins are the <span class="accented">subject-matter</span> of his propitiatory work. <span class="cmt_word">And not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.</span> Again we seem to have an echo of the prayer of the great High Priest (<a href="/john/17-20.htm">John 17:20, 24</a>). The propitiation is for all, not for the first band of believers only. The sins of the whole world are expiated; and if the expiation does not effect the salvation of the sinner, it is because he rejects it, loving the darkness rather than the light (<a href="/john/3-19.htm">John 3:19</a>). No man - Christian, Jew, or Gentile - is outside the mercy of God, unless he places himself there deliberately. "It seems clear that the sacrifice of Christ, though peculiarly and completely available only for those who were called, does in some particulars benefit the whole world, and release it from the evil in which the whole creation was travailing" (Jelf). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-3.htm">1 John 2:3</a></div><div class="verse">And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 3-6.</span> - Thirdly, walking in the light involves obedience. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And herein we perceive that we know him, if we keep his commandments</span> <span class="greek">γινώσκομεν</span>, we come to know, we recognize; <span class="greek">ἐγνώκαμεν</span>, we have come to know, we know). The token of our having this knowledge is stated hypothetically; not <span class="accented">because</span>, but if, we obey. To serve under another and obey him is one of the best ways of knowing his character. The knowledge is no mere intellectual apprehension, such as the Gnostic, postulated, but a moral and spiritual affection and activity. It is possible to know and hate (<a href="/john/16-24.htm">John 16:24</a>). Again, the knowledge is not a mere emotional appreciation. Christianity knows nothing of piety without morality. To know Christ is to love him, and to love him is to obey and imitate him. By "keep" <span class="greek">τῆρῶμεν</span> is recant "keep the eye fixed upon, <span class="accented">observe."</span> </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-4.htm">1 John 2:4</a></div><div class="verse">He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - The participial substantive <span class="greek">ὁ λέγων</span> now takes the place of <span class="greek">ἐάν</span> with the subjunctive, but the two are equivalent (cf. <a href="/1_john/1-6.htm">1 John 1:6</a>, which is almost exactly parallel to this, and shows what "knowing him" really is, viz. having fellowship with him, just as not keeping his commandments is the same as walking in darkness). St. John says, <span class="greek">μὴ τηρῶν</span>, not, <span class="greek">οὐ τηρῶν</span>, the case being hypothetical - if there be such a man, he is a liar, and has no idea of truth (see on 1 John 1:8). He must have lost the very power of recognizing truth to maintain that he knows Christ, when he habitually transgresses his commands. It is no great thing, as Bode says, to know as the devils do, who "believe and tremble." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-5.htm">1 John 2:5</a></div><div class="verse">But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - Once more (cf. <a href="/1_john/1-7.htm">1 John 1:7, 9</a>) the opposite is stated and the thought carried further. <span class="cmt_word">But whoso keepeth his word</span> (his doctrine as a whole, including the separate commandments), <span class="cmt_word">of a truth in him hath the love of God been perfected;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, as an accomplished fact; the relation of love has been established. In St. John <span class="greek">ἀληθῶς</span> is no mere expletive; it expresses reality, and reality that is <span class="accented">known.</span> From verse 4 we might have expected "of a truth <span class="accented">he knoweth God</span>;" but the apostle goes beyond this, and shows that really knowing God involves loving him (comp. <a href="/1_john/4-11.htm">1 John 4:11</a>). The context shows that <span class="greek">τοῦ Θεοῦ</span> is objective - his love of God rather than God's love of him. The insertion of <span class="greek">τοῦ Θεοῦ</span> here, and the drift of the Epistle thus far, are in favour of <span class="greek">αὐτόν</span> and <span class="greek">αὐτοῦ</span> in verses 3-5 meaning God rather than Christ, although <span class="greek">αὐτός</span> in verse 2 tells the other way. The last clause sums up and reaffirms, but as usual with a new turn of thought, the whole section (verses 3-5), which begins and ends with <span class="greek">ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν</span>. Knowing God implies keeping his Word; and keeping his Word involves loving him; and all this implies being in him, <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, having that fellowship with him and his Son in which the Christian's life (which is eternal life) consists, and to promote which St. John publishes his Gospel (<a href="/1_john/1-3.htm">1 John 1:3, 4</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-6.htm">1 John 2:6</a></div><div class="verse">He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - Profession involves an obligation to act up to the profession. "He who says that he abides in God is by his words morally bound to walk even as his Son, the incarnate Revelation of his will, walked." The change from <span class="greek">ἐν αὐτῷ</span> to <span class="greek">ἐκεῖνος</span> confirms the view that <span class="greek">αὐτόν</span> and <span class="greek">αὐτοῦ</span> mean the Father; but St. John's use of <span class="greek">ἐκεῖνος</span> to recall with emphasis a previous subject (<a href="/john/1-8.htm">John 1:8, 18, 33</a>; <a href="/john/5-11.htm">John 5:11</a>; <a href="/john/9-37.htm">John 9:37</a>; <a href="/john/10-1.htm">John 10:1</a>; <a href="/john/12-48.htm">John 12:48</a>) makes this argument inconclusive. To be or abide in God or in Christ implies an <span class="accented">habitual condition</span>, not isolated apprehensions of his presence. Obedience, not feeling, is the test of union; and the Christian who is really such has least to tell of "experiences" of special visitations. He who is ever in the light has few sensible illuminations to record. Note the strong <span class="greek">καθώς</span>, <span class="accented">even as</span> (not merely <span class="greek">ὡς</span>, as); nothing less than "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (<a href="/ephesians/4-13.htm">Ephesians 4:13</a>) is to be aimed at. "Ye therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (<a href="/matthew/5-48.htm">Matthew 5:48</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-7.htm">1 John 2:7</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 7-28.</span> - <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> <span class="accented">Negative side.</span> What walking in the light excludes; the things and persons to be avoided - hatred of a brother, love of the world, antichrists. To this section verses 7, 8 form an introduction, as chapter 1 John 1:5, 7 to the positive side. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Beloved;</span> <span class="greek">ἀγαπητοί</span>, not <span class="greek">ὀδελφοί</span>, is the true reading. Addresses of this kind commonly introduce a fresh division of the subject, main or subordinate. Thus <span class="greek">ἀγαπητοί</span> (<a href="/1_john/4-1.htm">1 John 4:1, 7</a>); <span class="greek">τεκνία</span> (<a href="/1_john/2-1.htm">1 John 2:1</a>); <span class="greek">παιδία</span> (<a href="/1_john/2-18.htm">1 John 2:18</a>); <span class="greek">ἀδελφοί</span> (<a href="/1_john/3-13.htm">1 John 3:13</a>). Sometimes, however, they introduce an earnest conclusion (<a href="/1_john/2-28.htm">1 John 2:28</a>; <a href="/1_john/3-21.htm">1 John 3:21</a>; <a href="/1_john/5-21.htm">1 John 5:21</a>). In <a href="/1_john/4-11.htm">1 John 4:11</a> <span class="greek">ἀγαπητοί</span> introduces a conclusion which serves as a fresh starting-point. Not a fresh commandment do I write to you, but an old commandment. Where it can be conveniently done, it is worth while distinguishing <span class="greek">καινός</span>, "fresh," as opposed to "worn out," "obsolete," from <span class="greek">νέος</span>, "new," as opposed to "old, aged." "New wine must be put into <span class="accented">fresh</span> skins" (<a href="/mark/2-22.htm">Mark 2:22</a>). Are two commandments meant - one to cultivate brotherly love, the other to walk as Christ walked? Or is there only one, which from different points of view may be regarded as either new or old? Commentators are divided; but the latter seems better. Then what is the commandment which is at once new and old? The whole gospel, or the command to love one another? <a href="/john/13-34.htm">John 13:34</a> and John 15:2 will incline us to the latter view. The command was old, for" Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (<a href="/leviticus/19-18.htm">Leviticus 19:18</a>) was part of the Mosaic Law. But the <span class="accented">standard</span> was new: "Even as I loved you;" "Even as he also walked;" and the <span class="accented">motive</span> was new: because "God so loved us" (<a href="/1_john/4-11.htm">1 John 4:11</a>). Brotherly love, enforced by such an example, and based on such a fact, was a new command as compared with the cold injunction of the Law. <span class="cmt_word">From the beginning</span> may have either of two senses: <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> from of old, <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, long before the Gospel; <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> from the beginning of your career as Christians. This new and yet old command sums up the practical side of the gospel which had been preached to them from the first. The second <span class="greek">ἀπ ἀρχῆς</span> it spurious. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-8.htm">1 John 2:8</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Again.</span> The <span class="greek">πάλιν</span> indicates another point of view - what in one sense was not fresh, in another sense was so. It is impossible to be certain as to the meaning of <span class="greek">ὅ ἐστιν ἀληθὲς κ.τ.λ.</span>. It may mean <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> "which <span class="accented">thing</span> (the newness of the command) <span class="accented">is true</span>;" or <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> "as a fresh commandment I am writing to you <span class="accented">a thing which is true."</span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>But for the practical example of the life of Christ, and men's acceptance of it, the command to love one's neighbour might have remained old and become obsolete. <span class="greek">Ὅτι</span> is almost certainly "because," not "that;" it introduces the reason why he writes, not the substance of, the fresh commandment. How can "the darkness is passing away," etc., be a commandment? <span class="cmt_word">The light, the true light</span> <span class="greek">τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, the real, the perfect, the <span class="accented">very</span> light, that which most fully realizes the ideal of light; in opposition to those "wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved for ever" (<a href="/jude/1-13.htm">Jude 1:13</a>; cf. <a href="/john/1-4.htm">John 1:4, 9</a>; <a href="/john/6-32.htm">John 6:32</a>; <a href="/john/15-1.htm">John 15:1</a>). Christ is the perfect Light, as he is the perfect Bread and the perfect Vine. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-9.htm">1 John 2:9</a></div><div class="verse">He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 9-11.</span> - Walking in the light excludes all hatred towards brethren, for such hatred is a form of darkness. These verses set forth in a variety of forms the affinity between love and light, hatred and darkness, and the consequent incompatibility between hatred and light. "Hate" <span class="greek">μισεῖν</span> is not to be watered down into "neglect" or "fail to love." St. John knows nothing of such compromises. Love is love, and hate is hate, and between the two there is no neutral ground, any more than between life and death, or between Christ and antichrist. "He that is not with me is against me." "Love is the moral counterpart of intellectual light. It is a modern fashion to represent these two tempers as necessarily opposed. But St. John is at once earnestly dogmatic and earnestly philanthropic; for the Incarnation has taught him both the preciousness of man and the preciousness of truth" (Liddon). <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He that saith.</span> For the fifth time St. John points out a glaring inconsistency which is possible between profession and fact (<span class="greek">ἐὰν εἴπμεν</span>, <a href="/1_john/1-6.htm">1 John 1:6, 8, 10</a>; <span class="greek">ὁ λέγων</span>, <a href="/1_john/2-4.htm">1 John 2:4</a>.9); cf. <a href="/1_john/4-20.htm">1 John 4:20</a>. In all these passages the case is put hypothetically; but in some of the Gnostic teaching of the age this inconsistency existed beyond a doubt. Is in darkness even until now. His supposing that hatred is compatible with light proves the darkness in which he is. Nay, more, it shows that, in spite of his having nominally entered the company of the children of light, he has really never left the darkness. "If ye loved only your brethren, ye would not yet be perfect; but if ye hate your brethren, what are ye? where are ye?" (St. Augustine). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-10.htm">1 John 2:10</a></div><div class="verse">He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - Whereas he who loves his brother has not only entered the region or' light, but has <span class="accented">made it his home:</span> he abideth in the light. It is difficult to determine whether the "occasion of stumbling" <span class="greek">σκάνδαλον</span> is in reference to himself or to others. The context here and <a href="/john/11-9.htm">John 11:9, 10</a> are in favour of the former. It is a man's own salvation that is under consideration here, not his influence over others: and <span class="greek">προσκόπτει ὅτι τὸ φῶς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ</span> seems exactly parallel. To have no light in one is to be in danger of stumbling; to have light in one is to have no occasion of stumbling (comp. <a href="/ezekiel/14-3.htm">Ezekiel 14:3</a>, which is very parallel). But elsewhere in the New Testament <span class="greek">σκάνδαλον</span> means a stumbling-block or snare in <span class="accented">another's</span> way, not in one's <span class="accented">own</span> way; and this makes sense here. There is yet a third explanation. <span class="greek">Ἐν αὐτῳ</span> may mean "in it," <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, "in the <span class="accented">light</span> there is no occasion of stumbling." This makes a good antithesis to the close of verse 11, "knoweth not whither he goeth." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-11.htm">1 John 2:11</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - Note the alternation: verse 10 is the antithesis of verse 9, and verse 11 of verse 10, repeating and enlarging verse 9. Note also the climax effected by the gradual increase of predicates: in verse 9 one, in verse 10 two, in verse 11 three. The brother-hater has darkness as his habitual condition and as the atmosphere in which he lives and works; and long ago (aorist) the continual darkness deprived him of the very power of sight, so that he is in ignorance as to the course he is taking. Cf. "They know not, neither will they understand; <span class="accented">they walk on in darkness"</span> (<a href="/psalms/82-5.htm">Psalm 82:5</a>); "The fool <span class="accented">walketh in darkness"</span> (<a href="/ecclesiastes/2-14.htm">Ecclesiastes 2:14</a>). "St. John scouts all the pretences of men to illumination which do not involve the practical acknowledgment of brotherhood. A man may say he is in the light as much as he pleases; but to be in the light implies that he is able to see his brethren, and not to stumble against them" (Maurice). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-12.htm">1 John 2:12</a></div><div class="verse">I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 12-14.</span> - Before passing on to the second thing which walking in the light excludes, viz. love of the world (verses 15-17), the apostle twice makes a threefold address, first stating why he <span class="accented">writes</span> <span class="greek">γράφω</span>, and secondly why he <span class="accented">wrote</span> <span class="greek">ἔγραψα</span>, to the three classes named. This suggests several questions. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> <span class="accented">What is the difference between</span> "I <span class="accented">write"</span> (<span class="accented">or</span>, "am writing") and "I <span class="accented">wrote"</span> (or, "have <span class="accented">written</span>;" for this is a case where the English perfect may represent the Greek aorist)? Five answers are given. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(a)</span> The change is made for <span class="accented">emphasis:</span> "I write; I wrote; there is nothing more to be said." But in this case the past tense should come first: "I wrote; I write it again." Moreover, we should expect the perfect rather than the aorist, as in <span class="greek">ο{ γέγραφα γέγραφα</span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(b)</span> "I write" refers to what <span class="accented">follows</span>; "I wrote," to <span class="accented">what precedes.</span> And some have even tried to find out the three different portions in each part of the Epistle; <span class="accented">e.g.</span>, "I <span class="accented">write to</span> you, little children" (<a href="/1_john/2-15.htm">1 John 2:15-17</a>); "to you, fathers" (<a href="/1_john/2-18.htm">1 John 2:18-27</a>); "to you, young men" (<a href="/1_john/2-28.htm">1 John 2:28-3:22</a>): "I <span class="accented">wrote</span> to you, children" (<a href="/1_john/1-5.htm">1 John 1:5-7</a>); "to you, fathers" (chapter 1:8-2:2); "to you, young men" (<a href="/1_john/2-3.htm">1 John 2:3-11</a>). But this is fanciful and very arbitrary; and in this case also the past tense should come first: "I have written thus far to you; again I proceed to write to you." <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(c)</span> "I write" refers to the <span class="accented">whole Epistle</span>; "I wrote," to what <span class="accented">precedes.</span> This answer has the sanction of the 'Speaker's Commentary;' but it seems to be quite frivolous. What could induce St. John first of all to tell each class that he writes the <span class="accented">whole</span> Epistle to them, and then to tell them that he wrote the <span class="accented">first part of it</span> to them? There would be little enough sense in first saying that he wrote the beginning to them, and then that he writes the whole to them; but there is no sense in the former statement if it comes after the latter. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(d)</span> "I am writing" is <span class="accented">from St. John's point of view</span>, as he pens the growing letter. "I wrote" is from <span class="accented">the readers' point of view</span>, as they peruse the completed letter. But what is gained by this change of standpoint? Is it probable that St. John would make three distinct addresses in the position of the writer of the Epistle, and then solemnly repeat them in the position of the recipients of it? <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(e)</span> The Epistle is written as a companion to the Gospel: therefore "I write" refers <span class="accented">to the Epistle</span>, which he is in the act of composing; "I wrote," to <span class="accented">the Gospel</span>, which lies completed before him, and on which the Epistle serves as a commentary. This seems to be the most satisfactory explanation (see on chapter 1 John 1:4). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> <span class="accented">Who are indicated by the three classes?</span> In the first triplet, <span class="greek">τεκνία</span>, as elsewhere in the Epistle (verses 1, 28; <a href="/1_john/3-18.htm">1 John 3:18</a>; <a href="/1_john/4-4.htm">1 John 4:4, 5, 21</a>), refers to his readers as a whole, of whom <span class="greek">πάτρες</span> and <span class="greek">νεανίσκοι</span> are two component divisions. This is probably the case in the second triplet also, although the change from <span class="greek">τεκνία</span> to <span class="greek">παιδία</span> renders this a little doubtful (see on verse 13). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(3)</span> <span class="accented">Does the difference between "fathers" and</span> "young <span class="accented">men" refer to age as men or age as Christians?</span> Probably the former. In both Gospel and Epistle St. John writes to mature and well-instructed Christians. The following table will illustrate the view taken: - <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="accented">I write this Epistle</span>: ? <span class="accented">Reasons for writing it</span>: <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">1.</span> To all of you. ? You have been forgiven.<br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">2.</span> To the old among you ? You have knowledge of the Word.<br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">3.</span> To the young among you. ? You have conquered the evil one. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="accented">I wrote my Gospel</span>: ? <span class="accented">Reasons for writing it</span>: <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">1.</span> To all of you (?). ? You have knowledge of the Father.<br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">2.</span> To the old among you ? You have knowledge of the Word.<br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">3.</span> To the young among you. ? You have strength, have God's revelation in your hearts, and have conquered the evil one. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I am writing to you, little children</span> (see on verse 1), because, etc. Beyond reasonable doubt, <span class="greek">ὅτι</span>, is "because," not "that," in verses 12-14; it gives the reason for his writing, not the substance of what he has to say (cf. verse 21). For his Name's sake must refer to Christ, not only because of the context, but also of the instrumental <span class="greek">διά</span> (cf. <a href="/1_john/3-23.htm">1 John 3:23</a>; <a href="/1_john/5-13.htm">1 John 5:13</a>; <a href="/john/1-12.htm">John 1:12</a>); and Christ's Name means his character, especially as Saviour. Because they have already partaken of the <span class="greek">ἱλασμός</span> (verse 2), and have had their sins washed away in the blood of Christ (<a href="/1_john/1-7.htm">1 John 1:7</a>), therefore he writes to them this Epistle. Note the perfects throughout, indicating the permanent result of past action: <span class="greek">ἀφέωνται ἐγνώκατε νενικήκατε.</span> </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-13.htm">1 John 2:13</a></div><div class="verse">I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him <i>that is</i> 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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Because ye know</span> (literally, <span class="accented">have come to know</span>, as in verses 3, 4) him that is from the beginning <span class="greek">τὸν ἀπ ἀρχῆς</span>. The context respecting Christ's Name and <span class="greek">ο{ η΅ν ἀπ ἀρχῆς</span> (<a href="/1_john/1-1.htm">1 John 1:1</a>) show that the Word and not the Father is meant. A more perfect knowledge of Jesus as the Eternal Word, and no mere aeon or emanation from the Deity, is the special prerogative of the aged Christian; and such are fit recipients of the <span class="greek">ἀγγελία</span> of the apostle. No less fit, but for a different reason, are the younger among his readers. To fight is the lot of the young soldier; and a victorious warfare against Satan is the distinction of youthful Christians. They have got the better of that evil one in whose power the whole world lies (<a href="/1_john/3-12.htm">1 John 3:12</a>; <a href="/1_john/5-18.htm">1 John 5:18, 19</a>; <a href="/john/12-31.htm">John 12:31</a>; <a href="/john/14-30.htm">John 14:30</a>; <a href="/john/16-11.htm">John 16:11</a>). Not that the warfare is over, but that it is henceforth warfare with a defeated enemy. Hence they also have a right to share in the apostolic message. I wrote (or, <span class="accented">have written</span>) to you, children, because ye know (or, <span class="accented">have come to know</span>) the Father. The reading <span class="greek">ἔγραψα</span> must be preferred to <span class="greek">γράφω</span>, on overwhelming evidence, both external and internal. The second triplet begins here, and this sentence should have been given to verse 14. It is difficult to determine what is meant by the change from <span class="greek">τεκνία</span> to <span class="greek">παισία</span>. <span class="greek">Τεκνία</span> occurs once with <span class="greek">μου</span> (verse 1), and six times without <span class="greek">μου</span> in the Epistle, and once in the Gospel (<a href="/john/13-33.htm">John 13:33</a>), the probable source of this form of address. <span class="greek">Παιδία</span> occurs in verse 18 (see note) and <a href="/john/21-5.htm">John 21:5</a>, and nowhere else in the New Testament as a form of address. Probably both words are applied to the whole of St. John's readers. Some would limit <span class="greek">παιδία</span> to actual children; but in that case we should expect a different order - children, young men, fathers; or fathers, young men, children. These "children" know the Father to whom they have been reconciled by forgiveness of sins; they have become his <span class="accented">adopted</span> sons through the Name of his <span class="accented">own</span> Son (verse 12). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-14.htm">1 John 2:14</a></div><div class="verse">I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him <i>that is</i> 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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - The address to the fathers remains unchanged; their claim to Gospel and to Epistle is the same. The address to the young men is enlarged; their claim to the Gospel is that they are strong to fight, have God's revelation of himself as a permanent possession in their hearts, and have won victories over Satan. The context and <a href="/john/5-38.htm">John 5:38</a> and John 10:35 utterly forbid us from understanding <span class="greek">ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ</span> of the "living Personal Lord" (cf. <a href="/john/17-6.htm">John 17:6, 14, 17</a>; <a href="/revelation/1-9.htm">Revelation 1:9</a>; <a href="/revelation/6-9.htm">Revelation 6:9</a>; <a href="/revelation/20-4.htm">Revelation 20:4</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-15.htm">1 John 2:15</a></div><div class="verse">Love not the world, neither the things <i>that are</i> in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 15-17.</span> - Secondly, walking in the light excludes all love of the world. This is another form of darkness. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Love not the world.</span> Obviously, both "love" and "the world" are used in a different sense in <a href="/john/3-16.htm">John 3:16</a>, where it is said that "God loved the world." The one love is selfish, the other unselfish. In the one case "the world" means the sinful elements of human life, in the other the human race. It is most important to distinguish the different meanings of <span class="greek">κόσμος</span> in the New Testament. Connected with <span class="greek">κόμειν</span> and <span class="accented">comere</span>, it means <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> ornament (<a href="/1_peter/3-3.htm">1 Peter 3:3</a>); <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> the ordered universe, <span class="accented">mundus</span> (<a href="/romans/1-20.htm">Romans 1:20</a>); <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(3)</span> the earth (<a href="/john/1-9.htm">John 1:9</a>); <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(4)</span> the inhabitants of the earth (<a href="/john/3-16.htm">John 3:16</a>); <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(5)</span> <span class="accented">all that is alienated from God</span>, as here and frequently in St. John's writings. <span class="cmt_word">The things of the world</span> are not those things in the world which may become objects of sinful affection, such as wealth or honour, still less such as scenery or physical objects. St. John is not condemning a love of those material advantages which are God's gifts, nor of nature, which is God's work. He is forbidding those things the love of which rivals and excludes the love of God - all those immoral tendencies and pursuits which give the world its evil character. The world <span class="greek">κόσμος</span> is order; the things in the world are the elements of disorder - those things which arise from each man making himself the center of the world, or of some little world of his own creation. These rival centers clash with one another, and also with the one true Center. All this St. John forbids. With <span class="greek">τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ</span>, cf. <span class="greek">τί η΅ν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ</span> (<a href="/john/2-25.htm">John 2:25</a>). Note the <span class="greek">μηδέ</span> (not <span class="greek">μήτε</span>), <span class="accented">nor yet:</span> "Love not the world; no, nor any of its ways." As so often, St. John goes on to enforce his words by a negative statement of similar but not identical import. Love of the world absolutely excludes the love of the Father. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Some important authorities have <span class="greek">τοῦ Θεοῦ</span> for <span class="greek">τοῦ Πατρός</span>; the balance is decidedly for the latter. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-16.htm">1 John 2:16</a></div><div class="verse">For all that <i>is</i> 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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> - He still further emphasizes the command by explaining the negative statement just made. <span class="cmt_word">Everything that is in the world has as its source, not the Father, but the world.</span> This shows clearly that <span class="greek">τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ</span> cannot mean material objects capable of being desired; these have their origin in God who created them (<a href="/john/1-3.htm">John 1:3</a>). To assert otherwise is rank Gnosticism or Manicheism. But God did not create the evil dispositions and aims of men; these have their source in the sinful wills of his creatures, and ultimately in "the ruler of this world" (<a href="/john/8-44.htm">John 8:44</a>). The three genitives which follow are subjective, not objective. <span class="cmt_word">The lust of the flesh</span> is not merely the lust after the flesh, but all lust that has its seat in the flesh (<a href="/galatians/5-16.htm">Galatians 5:16</a>; <a href="/ephesians/2-3.htm">Ephesians 2:3</a>). <span class="cmt_word">The lust of the eyes</span> is that lust that has its origin in sight (<span class="accented">Augenlust</span>) - curiosity, covetousness, etc. (cf. "the lusts of their hearts," "the lusts of your body," <a href="/romans/1-24.htm">Romans 1:24</a>; <a href="/romans/6-12.htm">Romans 6:12</a>). In the world of St. John's day the impure and brutal spectacles of the theatre and the arena would supply abundant illustrations of these <span class="greek">ἐπιθυμίαι</span>. <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>The vain-glory of life,</span> or arrogancy of living, is ostentation exhibited in the manner of living; the empty pride and pretentiousness of fashion and display. It includes the desire to gain credit which does not belong to us, and outshine our neighbours. In Greek philosophy <span class="greek">βίος</span> is higher than <span class="greek">ζωή</span>: <span class="greek">βίος</span> is the life peculiar to man; <span class="greek">ζώη</span> is the vital principle which he shares with brutes and vegetables, In the New Testament <span class="greek">ζωή</span> is higher than <span class="greek">βίος</span> is the life peculiar to man; <span class="greek">ζωή</span> is the vital principle which he shares with God. Contrast <span class="greek">βίος</span> here; <a href="/1_john/3-17.htm">1 John 3:17</a>; <a href="/luke/8-14.htm">Luke 8:14, 43</a>; <a href="/luke/15-12.htm">Luke 15:12, 30</a>, etc., with <span class="greek">ζωή</span> in <a href="/1_john/1-1.htm">1 John 1:1, 2</a>; <a href="/1_john/3-14.htm">1 John 3:14</a>; <a href="/1_john/5-11.htm">1 John 5:11, 12, 16</a>; <a href="/john/1-4.htm">John 1:4</a>; <a href="/john/3-36.htm">John 3:36</a>; <a href="/john/5-24.htm">John 5:24, 26</a>, etc. <span class="greek">Βίος</span> occurs only ten times in the New Testament (in <a href="/1_peter/4-3.htm">1 Peter 4:3</a> it is a false reading), <span class="greek">ζωή</span> more than a hundred and twenty times. Each of the three forms of evil here cited by St. John as typos of <span class="greek">τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ</span> are dangerous at different periods of a man's life; each also has been a special danger at different periods of the world's history. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-17.htm">1 John 2:17</a></div><div class="verse">And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - Seeing, then, that the love of the world and the love of the Father are absolutely incompatible, which must we choose? Not the former, for its object is already passing away; while not only does the Father abide for ever, but he who loves him and does his will abides for ever also. The antithesis, as usual, is a progress; it carries us beyond the limits of the original statement. The world is passing away like a dissolving view. It has its sentence of death in itself; its decay has begun. And even if it were not passing away, our capacity for enjoying it would none the less certainly come to an end. "The sensualist does not know what the delights of sense are; he is out of temper when he is denied them; he is out of temper when he possesses them" (Maurice). To love the world is to lose everything, including the thing loved. To love God is to gain him and his kingdom. Some men would have it that the external world is the one thing that is certain and permanent, while religion is based on a mere hypothesis, and is ever changing its form. St. John assures us that the very reverse is the case. The world is waning: it is God alone and his faithful servants who abide. As St. Augustine says, "What can the world promise? Let it promise what you will, it makes the promise, perhaps, to one who tomorrow will die." <span class="cmt_word">The will of God</span> is the exact antithesis of "all that is in the world." The one is the good power "that makes for righteousness;" the other is the sum of the evil powers which make for sin. Abideth for ever is literally, <span class="accented">abideth unto the age</span> (<span class="greek">μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα</span>). The notion of endlessness is, perhaps, not distinctly included; for that we should rather have had <span class="greek">εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν</span>, <span class="greek">αἰώνων</span> (<a href="/revelation/1-18.htm">Revelation 1:18</a>; <a href="/revelation/11-15.htm">Revelation 11:15</a>; <a href="/revelation/22-5.htm">Revelation 22:5</a>). The contrast is not between "passing away" and "lasting <span class="accented">forever,"</span> but between "passing away" and <span class="accented">abiding</span> till "the age" comes. But as "the age" is the age of eternity as distinguished from this age of time, the rendering "abideth for ever" is justified. The Jews used" this age" and" the age to come" to distinguish the periods before and after the coming of the Messiah. Christians adopted the same phrases to indicate the periods before and after Christ's second coming; <span class="accented">e.g.</span>, <span class="greek">ὁ αἰὼν οῦτος</span> (<a href="/luke/16-8.htm">Luke 16:8</a>; <a href="/romans/12-2.htm">Romans 12:2</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/1-20.htm">1 Corinthians 1:20</a>), <span class="greek">ὁ νῦν αἰών</span> (<a href="/1_timothy/6-17.htm">1 Timothy 6:17</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/4-10.htm">2 Timothy 4:10</a>; <a href="/titus/2-12.htm">Titus 2:12</a>), as opposed to <span class="greek">ὁ αἰὼν ἐκεῖνος</span>, (<a href="/luke/20-35.htm">Luke 20:35</a>), <span class="greek">ὁ αἰὼν ὁ ἐρχόμενος</span> (<a href="/luke/18-30.htm">Luke 18:30</a>), <span class="greek">ὁ μέλλων</span> (<a href="/ephesians/1-21.htm">Ephesians 1:21</a>), and very frequently, as here and throughout St. John's Gospel and Epistles, simply <span class="greek">ὁ αἰών</span>. In Revelation the invariable expression is <span class="greek">εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων</span>, the <span class="greek">τῶν</span> being omitted in <a href="/revelation/14-11.htm">Revelation 14:11</a>. The exact meaning here, therefore, is "abideth unto the age," <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, the coming of Christ's eternal kingdom. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-18.htm">1 John 2:18</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Children</span> <span class="greek">παιδία</span> here <span class="accented">must</span> apply to <span class="accented">all</span> those addressed in the Epistle; and this helps to fix the meaning in verse 13. It is the last hour. What does this mean? There is scarcely room for doubt. The perishableness of the world has suggested the thought of its end, and St. John goes on to warn his readers that this thought is full of meaning to them; for they may recognize the time in which they are living as the last hour by the many antichrists that have arisen. "The last hour" can only mean <span class="accented">the last hour before the second coming of Christ.</span> Nothing but the unwillingness of Christians to admit that an apostle, and especially the Apostle St. John, could seem to be much in error about the nearness of the day of judgment, could have raised a question about language so plain. All explanations about its signifying the Christian dispensation, or the nearness of St. John's death, or the nearness of the destruction of Jerusalem, must be firmly set aside. How could the rising of antichrists show that the Christian dispensation had begun? It was Christ, not antichrist, that showed that? What had antichrists to do with St. John's death? or with the fall of Jerusalem, which, moreover, had fallen many years before this Epistle was written? Just as the apostles, even after the Resurrection (<a href="/acts/1-6.htm">Acts 1:6</a>), remained grossly ignorant of the <span class="accented">nature</span> of Christ's kingdom on earth, so to the last they remained ignorant of its <span class="accented">duration.</span> The primitive Church had not yet found its true perspective, and, in common with all Christians of the first age, the apostles believed that Christ would return soon, possibly within the lifetime of some then living. "Yea, I come quickly" (<a href="/revelation/22-20.htm">Revelation 22:20</a>) was by them understood in the most literal sense of <span class="greek">ταχύ</span>. But it will not surprise those who remember Christ's very strong declaration (<a href="/mark/13-32.htm">Mark 13:32</a>), to find even an apostle in ignorance as to the time of the second advent of Christ. But it may very reasonably and reverently be asked, What becomes of the inspiration of Scripture if an inspired writer tells the Church that the end of the world is near, when it is not near? The question of inspiration must follow that of interpretation, not lead it. Let us patiently examine the facts, and then try to frame a theory of inspiration that will cover them; not first frame our theory, and then force the facts to agree with it. But the question in its proper place requires an answer. The Old Testament prophets were often guided to utter language the Divine meaning of which they did not themselves understand. They uttered the words in one sense, and the words were true in a far higher sense, of which they scarcely dreamed. The same thing is true of the New Testament prophets, though in a less degree, because the gift of Pentecost had given them powers of insight which their predecessors had not possessed. The present text seems to be an illustration of this truth. We can hardly doubt that, in saying, "it is the last hour," St. John means to imply that within a few years, or possibly even less time, Christ will return to judgment. In this sense the statement is not true. But it may also mean that the last period in the world's history has begun; and in this sense we have good reason for believing that the statement is true. "That one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" is not rhetoric, but sober fact. By the Divine standard times are measured, not according to their duration, but their importance; it is their meaning, not their extent, which gives them value. What are all the measureless prehistoric aeons of the material universe compared with the time since the creation of rational life? What are the thousands of years covered by the Old Testament compared with the portion of a century covered by the New? The great crisis in the history of the world, constituted by the life and death of Christ, will never be equaled until he comes again. When he ascended to heaven the last hour sounded. There may follow a silence (as it seemed to St. John) about the space of half an hour, but (as human experience may prove) of half a thousand centuries. Yet the duration of the period, as measured by man, will not alter its essential characteristics; it was, is, and will still remain, "the last hour." <span class="cmt_word">Even as ye heard</span> (when ye were instructed in the faith) <span class="cmt_word">that antichrist cometh</span> (is destined to come). Antichrist in this also is assimilated to the Christ; he is <span class="greek">ὁ ἐρχόμενος</span>. This was the teaching of the gospel (<a href="/matthew/24-5.htm">Matthew 24:5, 11, 23-26</a>; <a href="/mark/13-22.htm">Mark 13:22, 23</a>; comp. <a href="/acts/20-29.htm">Acts 20:29</a>; <a href="/2_timothy/3-1.htm">2 Timothy 3:1</a>; <a href="/2_peter/2-1.htm">2 Peter 2:1</a>). What does St. John mean by <span class="greek">ἀντίχριστος</span>? The four passages (<a href="/1_john/2-18.htm">1 John 2:18, 22</a>; <a href="/1_john/4-3.htm">1 John 4:3</a>; <a href="/2_john/1-7.htm">2 John 1:7</a>) in which he uses the term do not enable us to answer the question with certainty. The predominant idea is that of <span class="accented">opposition</span> to Christ, and <span class="accented">rivalry</span> of Christ, rather than merely of <span class="accented">counterfeiting</span> Christ. If <span class="greek">ἀντίχριστος</span> were formed on the analogy of <span class="greek">ἀντιβασιλεύς</span> and <span class="greek">ἀνθύπατος</span>, it would mean "vice-Christ, vicar of Christ." It is, however, analogous to <span class="greek">ἀντίθεος ἀντιφιλόσοφος</span> and the Greek for a counterfeit Christ is <span class="greek">ψευδόχριστος</span> (<a href="/matthew/24-24.htm">Matthew 24:24</a>). But we are left in doubt whether this rival of Christ is a principle or a person. None of the four passages is decisive. Here we are not sure whether the arising of many antichrists proves that the <span class="accented">spirit</span> of antichrist is already in the world, or that by them the way is fully prepared for the one <span class="accented">personal</span> antichrist. Either the existence of the antichristian character, or the approach of the antichrist, is given as evidence that the day of the Lord is at hand. The latter is the more probable. A great personal opponent to the personal Christ seems to be indicated both by St. John and St. Paul (<a href="/2_thessalonians/2-1.htm">2 Thessalonians 2:1-8</a>). The Jews expected a personal opponent of the Messiah to precede the Messiah - Armillus, Gog, Antiochus Epiphanes, and the like (Ezekiel 38:39; <a href="/daniel/7-25.htm">Daniel 7:25</a>; <a href="/daniel/8-25.htm">Daniel 8:25</a>; <a href="/daniel/11-36.htm">Daniel 11:36</a>); and Christians from the earliest times have expected a similar prelude to the return of the Messiah. The term <span class="greek">ἀντίχριστος</span> is absolutely peculiar to St. John in the New Testament. By the <span class="greek">ἀντίχριστοι πολλοί</span> he probably means those early heretical teachers, who in various ways denied the Incarnation, and were thus forerunners of the antichrist - the Nicolaitanes, Simon Magus, Cerinthus, Diotrephes, Hymenaeus, and Philetus. Besides these there are practical antichrists. "Let us mark, not the tongue but the deeds. For if all be asked, all with one mouth confess that Jesus is the Christ. Let the tongue keep silent awhile: ask the life. If the Scripture itself shall tell us that denial is a thing done not only with the tongue, but also with deeds, then assuredly we find many antichrists if deeds are to be questioned, not only do we find many antichrists gone out, but many not yet manifest, who have not gone out at all" (St. Augustine). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-19.htm">1 John 2:19</a></div><div class="verse">They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would <i>no doubt</i> have continued with us: but <i>they went out</i>, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">They went out from us</span> <span class="greek">ἐξ ἡμῶν ἐξῆλθαν</span>; just as the evil spirit went out of the demoniac (<span class="greek">ἐξῆλθεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ</span>, <a href="/mark/1-26.htm">Mark 1:26</a>). But they were not of us <span class="greek">οὐκ η΅σαν ἐξ ἡμῶν</span>; they had not their origin with us, just as the unbelieving Jews were "not of God" <span class="greek">ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἐστὲ</span>, but of the devil (<a href="/john/8-23.htm">John 8:23, 44, 47</a>). The emphatic repetition of <span class="greek">ἠμῶν</span>, five times in one verse, is quite in St. John's style. The "no doubt" of the Authorized Version, rightly omitted in the Revised Version, probably represents the <span class="accented">utique</span> of the Vulgate, which is a mistaken attempt to give a separate word to translate <span class="greek">ἄν</span> (compare <span class="accented">forsitan</span> in <a href="/john/4-10.htm">John 4:10</a>; <a href="/john/5-46.htm">John 5:46</a>. For the elliptical <span class="greek">ἀλλ ἵνα</span>, <span class="accented">comp.</span> <a href="/john/1-8.htm">John 1:8</a>). What follows is not clear, and is taken in three ways: <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> "That all are not of us," which seems to imply that <span class="accented">some</span> of them are of us. This can hardly be right. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> "That all of them are not of us;" <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, are aliens (verse 21; <a href="/1_john/3-15.htm">1 John 3:15</a>; <a href="/revelation/22-3.htm">Revelation 22:3</a>; <a href="/matthew/24-22.htm">Matthew 24:22</a>; <a href="/mark/13-20.htm">Mark 13:20</a>; <a href="/luke/1-37.htm">Luke 1:37</a>; <a href="/romans/3-20.htm">Romans 3:20</a>; <a href="/galatians/2-16.htm">Galatians 2:16</a>; <a href="/ephesians/5-5.htm">Ephesians 5:5</a>). But in that case we should expect <span class="greek">πάντες οὐκ εἰσίν</span>, not <span class="greek">οὐκ εἰσὶν πάντες</span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(3)</span> Two thoughts are mixed together: <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(a)</span> "That they may be made manifest that they are not of us;" <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(b)</span> "That it may be made manifest that not all who are <span class="accented">with</span> us <span class="greek">μεθ</span> are <span class="accented">of us</span> <span class="greek">ἐξ ἡμῶν</span>." This seems preferable. The renegade and apostate was all along only nominally a Christian. Of the true Christian the declaration remains true, "No one snatcheth them out of his hand." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-20.htm">1 John 2:20</a></div><div class="verse">But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 20.</span> - The thought of many antichrists suggests that of many Christs; <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, many who have been anointed <span class="greek">χριστοί</span> by the Christ himself. "The false teachers have the spirit of antichrist; ye have a chrism from the Christ." The Johannine <span class="greek">καί</span> places the two antithetical groups side by side, while the emphatic <span class="greek">ὑμεῖς</span> (comp. <a href="/1_john/4-4.htm">1 John 4:4</a>) accentuates the contrast. And ye have an anointing from the Holy One. The unction or chrism is the Holy Spirit (<a href="/john/1-33.htm">John 1:33</a>; <a href="/1_john/3-24.htm">1 John 3:24</a>; <a href="/1_john/2-27.htm">1 John 2:27</a>). As Christ was anointed with the Spirit in all fullness, so each Christian is anointed with him in his measure (<a href="/2_corinthians/1-21.htm">2 Corinthians 1:21, 22</a>). The twenty-first 'Catechetical Lecture' of St. Cyril, "On the Holy Chrism," should be read in illustration of this verse. "In apostolic language, each Christian is in due measure himself a Christ, empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit to announce the truth which he has learnt, to apply the atonement which he has received, to establish the kingdom which he believes to be universal" (Westcott). The <span class="greek">ἀπό</span> depends on <span class="greek">ἔχετε</span>, not on <span class="greek">χρίσμα</span>. The Holy One is Jesus Christ (<a href="/john/6-69.htm">John 6:69</a>; <a href="/acts/3-14.htm">Acts 3:14</a>; <a href="/revelation/3-7.htm">Revelation 3:7</a>; comp. <a href="/john/14-26.htm">John 14:26</a>; <a href="/john/16-7.htm">John 16:7, 13</a>). It is hard to decide between three readings: <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> <span class="greek">καὶ οἴδατε πάντα</span>, "and ye know all things" necessary to salvation, <span class="accented">i.e.</span>, "the truth" (verse 21; <a href="/john/16-13.htm">John 16:13</a>); <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> <span class="greek">καὶ οἴδατε πάντες</span>, "and ye all know" that ye have this anointing; <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(3)</span> <span class="greek">οἴδατε πάντες</span>," ye all know - I did not write to you because ye know not the truth." There is evidence of a fourth variation, <span class="greek">πάντας</span> "ye know all" the antichrists. If <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> be right, it does not mean that the Christian is omniscient, but that he has the basis of all knowledge; he can see things in their right proportions. The <span class="accented">apostle's</span> own disciple, St. Polycarp, writes to the Philippians </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-21.htm">1 John 2:21</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 21.</span> - The first <span class="greek">οὐκ</span> belongs to <span class="greek">ὅτι</span>, not to <span class="greek">ἔγραψα</span>: I wrote to you, not because ye know not, etc. It does not mean "I omitted to write to you because ye know not." Whatever meaning we give to the aorists in verses 13, 14 need not be retained here. There is here no abrupt change from present to aorist. Moreover, verse 26 limits this <span class="greek">ἔγραψα</span> to the present section. What in verse 20 is spoken of as "all things" (assuming <span class="greek">πάντα</span> to be right) is here spoken of as "the truth." St. John writes to well-instructed Christians, to adults in the faith. It is precisely because they "know the truth" that he addresses them, especially to warn them against antichrists. We are in doubt whether <span class="greek">καὶ ὅτι</span>, depends upon <span class="greek">ἔγραψα</span> ("and because")or upon <span class="greek">οἴδατε</span> ("and that"). The former is better; it introduces a second reason for his writing. Some take <span class="greek">ὅτι</span>, in all three places as "that" after <span class="greek">ἔγραψα</span>: "I did not write to you and say that ye know not the truth, but that ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth." Every lie is fundamentally and <span class="accented">ab origine</span> <span class="greek">ἐκ</span> separate from the truth; and hence his readers will easily recognize lies and liars, for they know the truth. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-22.htm">1 John 2:22</a></div><div class="verse">Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 22.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Who is the liar, but he that denieth,</span> etc.? From the lie St. John passes on to the utterer of it. "Ye readily distinguish any lie from the truth. Who, then, is the liar?" "The liar" does not mean the liar <span class="greek">κατ ἐξοχήν</span>, as if this denial constituted the very acme of falsehood. To deny the very existence of God is surely a worse lie. Still less can we say that "the context leaves no doubt that 'the liar' is the same with 'the antichrist.'" The article <span class="greek">ὁ ψεύστης</span> refers to the preceding <span class="greek">ψεῦδος</span>, just as in <a href="/1_john/5-4.htm">1 John 5:4, 5</a> <span class="greek">ὁ νικῶν</span> refers to the preceding <span class="greek">νίκη</span>. The very form of sentence is the same: <span class="greek">τίς ἐστιν ὁ νικῶν</span>... <span class="greek">εἰ μὴ ὁ κ.τ.λ.</span> and there <span class="greek">ὁ νικῶν</span> cannot mean the victor, <span class="greek">κατ ἐξοχήν</span>, who is Christ, and not the believer. So that the Authorized Version is not so very inaccurate in rendering <span class="greek">ὁ ψεύστης</span> "a liar." "Who tells lies, if not he who denies (and says) that Jesus is not the Christ?" This was the great Gnostic lie to which St. John's Gospel and Epistle give the answer. The antichrist is this, he who denieth the Father and the Son. "The antichrist" here is not the great adversary, but one having similar characteristics. He denies the Messiahship of Jesus, and thus virtually denies both the Father and Son (comp. <a href="/2_thessalonians/2-4.htm">2 Thessalonians 2:4</a>). This truth St. John proceeds to restate and develop. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-23.htm">1 John 2:23</a></div><div class="verse">Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: <i>(but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also</i>.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 23.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Every one who denieth the Son</span> not only does that, but <span class="greek">οὐδέ</span> doth not possess the Father. To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny the Son of God, for the Christ is the incarnate Son; and to deny the Son of God is to deny the Father also, for the incarnate Son is the Revelation of the Father; and not only so, but to deny the Son is to cut one's self off from the Father, for "no one knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." To emphasize this great truth St. John uses his favourite motive of stating it both negatively and positively. To deny the Son is not to have the Father; to confess the Son is to have the Father (comp. <a href="/1_john/1-5.htm">1 John 1:5, 8</a>; <a href="/1_john/2-4.htm">1 John 2:4, 27</a>; <a href="/1_john/3-6.htm">1 John 3:6</a>; <a href="/1_john/4-2.htm">1 John 4:2, 3, 6, 7, 8</a>; <a href="/1_john/5-12.htm">1 John 5:12</a>). Note the solemn asyndeta. There is not a single connecting particle in verses 22-24; the sentences fall on the ear like minute-guns. "Every one that denieth." There is no exception. Even an apostle, if he denies that Jesus is the Christ. thereby also loses all possession of the Father. The history of philosophy verifies the statement. Deism has ever a tendency to end in pantheism or atheism. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-24.htm">1 John 2:24</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 24-28.</span> - Exhortation to abide in the truth and in God. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 24.</span> - The <span class="greek">οϋν</span> of the T.R. must certainly be rejected. The <span class="greek">ὑμεῖς</span> placed first marks the antithesis, "as for you," as distinct from the antichrists. With singular caprice the Authorized Version renders St. John's favourite verb, <span class="greek">μένειν</span>, in three different ways in this one verse - "abide," "remain," "continue;" thereby losing the emphasis of the repetition: "Let the good seed <span class="accented">abide</span> in your hearts; not be snatched away by the evil one. Then not only will it <span class="accented">abide</span>, but ye also <span class="greek">καὶ ὑμεῖς</span> will <span class="accented">abide</span> in the Son, and therefore with the Father." From the beginning; when they first heard the gospel, as distinct from what they have since heard from false teachers. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-25.htm">1 John 2:25</a></div><div class="verse">And this is the promise that he hath promised us, <i>even</i> eternal life.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 25.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And the promise which he promised us is this,</span> even <span class="cmt_word">the eternal life.</span> <span class="greek">Αὐτός</span> is Christ; <span class="greek">αὕτη</span> looks forward to "the eternal life," not backwards to the abiding in the Father (<a href="/john/3-16.htm">John 3:16</a>; <a href="/john/5-24.htm">John 5:24</a>; <a href="/john/6-40.htm">John 6:40, 54</a>). <span class="greek">Τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον</span> is in the accusative by attraction to <span class="greek">ἥν</span>. "What St. John would have us feel is this, that there can be no promise to compare with this - that we should share the eternal life, the life of God.... We often speak as if people were to be paid for being good; not as if the being good were itself God's highest gift and blessing" (Maurice). The reading <span class="greek">ὑμῖν</span> (B) for <span class="greek">ἡμῖν</span> is worthy of notice. In verses 16, 17 St. John gives two reasons for shunning the world: because <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> the world is alien to the Father; <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> it is passing away. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>So here he gives two for holding fast the truth originally delivered to them: because the truth leads <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(1)</span> to fellowship with God; <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="note_emph">(2)</span> to eternal life. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-26.htm">1 John 2:26</a></div><div class="verse">These <i>things</i> have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 26</span> resumes for a moment and concludes the section respecting antichrists. "These things" refers to what precedes, especially verses 18-23, as distinct from what now follows. The present participle <span class="greek">τῶν πλανώντων</span> indicates the continual attempt of these false teachers to lead the "little children" astray. <span class="greek">Ἔγραψα</span>, as in verse 21, is the "epistolary aorist" (see on 2 John 1:4). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-27.htm">1 John 2:27</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 27.</span> - Parallel to verse 24, but stating as a fact what is there given as a command. The emphatic <span class="greek">ὑμεῖς</span> again marks the emphatic contrast between St. John's readers and the antichrists. <span class="greek">Απ αὐτοῦ</span> means "from Christ" (verse 20). The indicative <span class="greek">μένει</span> states what <span class="accented">ought</span> to be true of them, and is a delicate equivalent to <span class="greek">μενέτω</span> (verse 24). The anointing of Christ <span class="greek">τὸ χρίσμα αὐτου</span> abides with them as a permanent gift, and renders further apostolic teaching unnecessary. It is quite a mistake to suppose that the superfluous teaching refers to the antichrists. The ideal to which the Christian must aspire is the being led into all truth by the Spirit; he will need no human teachers then (see the remarkable parallel to this in <a href="/jeremiah/31-33.htm">Jeremiah 31:33</a>, and the quotation of it in <a href="/hebrews/8-10.htm">Hebrews 8:10, 11</a>). The construction in the middle of the verse is amphibolous. We may take <span class="greek">καὶ ἀληθές ἐστὶν</span> either as the apodosis of <span class="greek">ὠς</span> ("as his anointing teacheth you... so it is true") or as a continuation of the protasis, which is resumed by <span class="greek">καθώς</span> ("as his anointing teacheth you... and is true... and even as"). Thereafter is better. The emphatic "and is no lie" is thoroughly Johannine (see on verse 23). The conclusion of the verse is doubtful also. The reading <span class="greek">μένετε</span> is certainly preferable to <span class="greek">μενεῖτε</span>; but <span class="greek">μένετε</span> may be indicative like <span class="greek">μένει</span> in the first clause, or imperative like <span class="greek">μένετε</span> in the next verse. The latter is more probable. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-28.htm">1 John 2:28</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 28.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And now,</span> summing up the whole section (verses 18-28). "If he shall be manifested" expresses no uncertainty as to the <span class="accented">fact</span> of Christ's appearing; the uncertainty is in the <span class="accented">time</span> (comp. <a href="/1_john/3-2.htm">1 John 3:2</a>; <a href="/john/6-62.htm">John 6:62</a>; <a href="/john/12-32.htm">John 12:32</a>; <a href="/john/14-3.htm">John 14:3</a>). In all these cases the point is the <span class="accented">result</span> of the act, not the time of it. The graphic <span class="greek">αἰσχυνθῶμεν ἀπ αὐτοῦ</span> expresses the <span class="accented">shrinking away in</span> shame from his presence. The <span class="greek">παρουσία</span> (see on 2 Thessalonians 2:8) is introduced without explanation as a well-known belief. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_john/2-29.htm">1 John 2:29</a></div><div class="verse">If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 29.</span> - This verse forms a bridge between the two main divisions of the Epistle. The coming of Christ suggests the righteousness of Christ; for it is as the righteous Judge that he is coming, and those who would not be ashamed to meet him at his coming must be righteous also. Once more (verse 27) we are in doubt between indicative and imperative: <span class="greek">γινώσκετε</span>, in spite of the preceding <span class="greek">μένετε</span> and following <span class="greek">ἴδετε</span>, is probably indicative. To know that God (not Christ; comp. <a href="/1_john/1-9.htm">1 John 1:9</a>; <a href="/john/17-25.htm">John 17:25</a>) is righteous is to perceive that every doer of his <span class="greek">τήν</span> righteousness is a son of God (not of Christ; we are nowhere in Scripture said to be born of Christ). To partake of that righteousness which is God's nature is proof of birth from him. With <span class="greek">ποιεῖν τὴν δικαιοσύνην</span>, compare <span class="greek">ποιεῖν τὴν ἀληθείαν</span> (<a href="/1_john/1-6.htm">1 John 1:6</a>; <a href="/john/3-21.htm">John 3:21</a>). Righteousness must be shown in <span class="accented">conduct</span>; mere desire to be righteous will not suffice. And the conduct must be <span class="accented">habitual</span> <span class="greek">ὁ ποιῶν</span> not <span class="greek">ὁ ποιήσας</span>; a single act of righteousness will not suffice. Note the change from <span class="greek">εἰδῆτε</span> to <span class="greek">γινώσκετε</span>. To know (intuitively) that God is righteous is to come to know (by experience) that whoever habitually acts righteously is God's offspring. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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