In
this chapter the apostle asserts, I. The dignity of believers, ver. 1. II.
Their obligation to love, and the trial of it, ver. 1-3. III. Their victory,
ver. 4, 5. IV. The credibility and confirmation of their faith, ver. 6-10.
V. The advantage of their faith in eternal life, ver. 11-13. VI. The
audience of their prayers, unless for those who have sinned unto death, ver.
14-17. VII. The preservation from sin and Satan, ver. 18. VIII. Their happy
distinction from the world, ver. 19. IX. Their true knowledge of God (ver.
20), upon which they must depart from idols, ver. 21.
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Love
and Faith.
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A. D. 80.
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1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him
also that is begotten of him. 2 By this we know that we love the
children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his
commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that
believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
I. The apostle having, in the conclusion of the last chapter, as was there
observed, urged Christian love upon those two accounts, as suitable to
Christian profession and as suitable to the divine command, here adds a
third: Such love is suitable, and indeed demanded, by their eminent
relation; our Christian brethren or fellow-believers are nearly related to
God; they are his children: Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God, v. 1. Here the Christian brother is, 1. Described
by his faith; he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ--that he is
Messiah the prince, that he is the Son of God by nature and office, that he
is the chief of all the anointed world, chief of all the priests, prophets,
or kings, who were ever anointed by God or for him, that he is perfectly
prepared and furnished for the whole work of the eternal
salvation-accordingly yields himself up to his care and direction; and then
he is, 2. Dignified by his descent: He is born of God, v. 1.
This principle of faith, and the new nature that attends it or from which it
springs, are ingenerated by the Spirit of God; and so sonship and adoption
are not now appropriated to the seed of Abraham according to the flesh,
not to the ancient Israel of God; all believers, though by nature sinners of
the Gentiles, are spiritually descended from God, and accordingly are to be
beloved; as it is added: Every one that loveth him that begat loveth him
also that is begotten of him, v. 1. It seems but natural that he
who loves the Father should love the children also, and that in some
proportion to their resemblance to their Father and to the Father's love to
them; and so we must first and principally love the Son of the Father,
as he is most emphatically styled, 2 John 3, the only (necessarily) begotten,
and the Son of his love, and then those that are voluntarily
begotten, and renewed by the Spirit of grace.
II. The apostle shows, 1. How we may discern the truth, or the true
evangelical nature of our love to the regenerate. The ground of it must be
our love to God, whose they are: By this we know that we love the
children of God, when we love God, v. 2. Our love to them appears
to be sound and genuine when we love them not merely upon any secular
account, as because they are rich, or learned, or kind to us, or of our
denomination among religious parties; but because they are God's children,
his regenerating grace appears in them, his image and superscription are
upon them, and so in them God himself is loved. Thus we see what that love
to the brethren is that is so pressed in this epistle; it is love to them as
the children of God and the adopted brethren of the Lord Jesus. 2. How we
may learn the truth of our love to God--it appears in our holy obedience: When
we love God, and keep his commandments, v. 2. Then we truly, and
in gospel account, love God, when we keep his commandments: For this is
the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and the keeping of his
commandments requires a spirit inclined thereto and delighting herein; and
so his commandments are not grievous, v. 3. Or, This is the
love of God, that, as thereby we are determined to obedience, and to
keep the commandments of God, so his commandments are thereby made easy and
pleasant to us. The lover of God says, "O how I love thy law! I will
run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart (Ps.
cxix. 32), when thou shalt enlarge it either with love or with thy Spirit,
the spring of love." 3. What is and ought to be the result and effect
of regeneration--an intellectual spiritual conquest of this world: For
whatsoever is born of God, or, as in some copies, whosoever is
born of God, overcometh the world, v. 4. He that is born of God
is born for God, and consequently for another world. He has a temper
and disposition that tend to a higher and better world; and he is furnished
with such arms, or such a weapon, whereby he can repel and conquer this; as
it is added, And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith, v. 4. Faith is the cause of victory, the means, the
instrument, the spiritual armour and artillery by which we overcome; for,
(1.) In and by faith we cleave to Christ, in contempt of, and opposition to,
the world. (2.) Faith works in and by love to God and Christ, and so
withdraws us from the love of the world. (3.) Faith sanctifies the heart,
and purifies it from those sensual lusts by which the world obtains such
sway and dominion over souls. (4.) It receives and derives strength from the
object of it, the Son of God, for conquering the frowns and flatteries of
the world. (5.) It obtains by gospel promise a right to the indwelling
Spirit of grace, that is greater than he who dwells in the world. (6.) It
sees an invisible world at hand, with which this world is not worthy to be
compared, and into which it tells the soul in which it resides it must be
continually prepared to enter; and thereupon,
III. The apostle concludes that it is the real Christian that is the true
conqueror of the world: Who is he then that overcometh the world,
but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? v. 5. It is
the world that lies in our way to heaven, and is the great impediment to our
entrance there. But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God believes
therein that Jesus came from God to be the Saviour of the world, and
powerfully to conduct us from the world to heaven, and to God, who is fully
to be enjoyed there. And he who so believes must needs by this faith
overcome the world. For, 1. He must be well satisfied that this world is a
vehement enemy to his soul, to his holiness, his salvation, and his
blessedness. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world, ch. ii. 16. 2. He sees it must be a great part of the
Saviour's work, and of his own salvation, to be redeemed and rescued from
this malignant world. Who gave himself for our sins, that he might
deliver us from this present evil world, Gal. i. 4. 3. He sees in and by
the life and conduct of the Lord Jesus on earth that this world is to be
renounced and overcome. 4. He perceives that the Lord Jesus conquered the
world, not for himself only, but for his followers; and they must study to
be partakers of his victory. Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
5. He is taught and influenced by the Lord Jesus's death to be mortified and
crucified to the world. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto
the world, Gal. vi. 14. 6. He is begotten by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to the lively hope of a blessed world above, 1 Pet. i.
3. 7. He knows that the Saviour has gone to heaven, and is there preparing a
place for his serious believers, John xiv. 2. 8. He knows that his Saviour
will come again thence, and will put an end to this world, and judge the
inhabitants of it, and receive his believers to his presence and glory, John
xiv. 3. 9. He is possessed with a spirit and disposition that cannot be
satisfied with this world, that look beyond it, and are still tending,
striving, and pressing, towards the world in heaven. In this we groan,
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven,
2 Cor. v. 2. So that it is the Christian religion that affords its
proselytes a universal empire. It is the Christian revelation that is the
great means of conquering the world, and gaining another that is most pure
and peaceful, blessed and eternal. It is there, in that revelation, that we
see what are the occasion and ground of the quarrel and contest between the
holy God and this rebellious world. It is there that we meet with sacred
doctrine (both speculative and practical), quite contrary to the tenour,
temper, and tendency of this world. It is by that doctrine that a spirit is
communicated and diffused which is superior and adverse to the spirit of the
world. It is there we see that the Saviour himself was not of this world
that his kingdom was not and is not so, that it must be separated from the
world and gathered out of it for heaven and for God. There we see that the
Saviour designs not this world for the inheritance and portion of his saved
company. As he has gone to heaven himself, so he assures them he goes to
prepare for their residence there, as designing they should always dwell
with him, and allowing them to believe that if in this life, and this world
only, they had hope in him, they should at last be but miserable. It is
there that the eternal blessed world is most clearly revealed and proposed
to our affection and pursuit. It is there that we are furnished with the
best arms and artillery against the assaults and attempts of the world. It
is there that we are taught how the world may be out-shot in its own bow, or
its artillery turned against itself; and its oppositions, encounters, and
persecutions, be made serviceable to our conquest of the world, and to our
motion and ascent to the higher heavenly world: and there we are encouraged
by a whole army and cloud of holy soldiers, who have in their several ages,
posts, and stations, overcome the world, and won the crown. It is the real
Christian that is the proper hero, who vanquishes the world and rejoices in
a universal victory. Nor does he (for he is far superior to the Grecian
monarch) mourn that there is not another world to be subdued, but lays hold
on the eternal world of life, and in a sacred sense takes the kingdom of
heaven by violence too. Who in all the world but the believer on Jesus
Christ can thus overcome the world?
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The
Witnesses in Heaven and on Earth.
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A. D. 80.
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6 This is he that came by water and blood, even
Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the
Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For
there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that
bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these
three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the
witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath
testified of his Son.
The faith of the Christian believer (or the believer in Christ) being thus
mighty and victorious, it had need to be well founded, to be furnished with
unquestionable celestial evidence concerning the divine mission, authority,
and office of the Lord Jesus; and it is so; he brings his credentials along
with him, and he brings them in a way by which he came and in the witness
that attends him.
I. In the way and manner by which he came; not barely by which he came into
the world, but by and with which he came, and appeared, and acted, as a
Saviour in the world: This is he that came by water and blood. He
came to save us from our sins, to give us eternal life, and bring us to God;
and, that he might the more assuredly do this, he came by, or with, water
and blood. Even Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ, I say, did so; and none but
he. And I say it again, not by or with water only, but by and with water
and blood, v. 6. Jesus Christ came with water and blood,
as the notes and signatures of the true effectual Saviour of the world; and
he came by water and blood as the means by which he would heal and save us.
That he must and did thus come in his saving office may appear by our
remembering these things:--
1. We are inwardly and outwardly defiled. (1.) Inwardly, by the power and
pollution of sin and in our nature. For our cleansing from this we need
spiritual water; such as can reach the soul and the powers of it.
Accordingly, there is in and by Christ Jesus the washing of regeneration
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. And this was intimated to the
apostles by our Lord, when he washed their feet, and said to Peter, who
refused to be washed, Except I wash thee, thou hast no part in me.
(2.) We are defiled outwardly, by the guilt and condemning power of sin upon
our persons. By this we are separated from God, and banished from his
favourable, gracious, beatific presence for ever. From this we must be
purged by atoning blood. It is the law or determination in the court of
heaven that without shedding of blood there shall be no remission,
Heb. ix. 22. The Saviour from sin therefore must come with blood.
2. Both these ways of cleansing were represented in the old ceremonial
institutions of God. Persons and things must be purified by water and blood.
There were divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed till the time of
reformation, Heb. ix. 10. The ashes of a heifer, mixed with
water, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh,
Heb. ix. 13; Num. xix. 9. And likewise almost all things are, by the law,
purged with blood, Heb. ix. 22. As those show us our double defilement,
so they indicate the Saviour's two-fold purgation.
3. At and upon the death of Jesus Christ, his side being pierced with a
soldier's spear, out of the wound there immediately issued water and blood.
This the beloved apostle saw, and he seems to have been affected with the
sight; he alone records it, and seems to reckon himself obliged to record
it, and seems to reckon himself obliged to record it, as containing
something mysterious in it: And he that saw it bore record, and his
record is true. And he knoweth, being an eye-witness, that he saith
true, that you might believe, and that you might believe this
particularly, that out of his pierced side forthwith there came water and
blood, John xix. 34, 35. Now this water and blood are comprehensive of
all that is necessary and effectual to our salvation. By the water our souls
are washed and purified for heaven and the region of saints in light. By the
blood God is glorified, his law is honoured, and his vindictive excellences
are illustrated and displayed. Whom God hath set forth, or purposed,
or proposed, a propitiation through faith in his blood, or a
propitiation in or by his blood through faith, to declare his
righteousness, that he may be just, and the justifier of him that believeth
in Jesus, Rom. iii. 25, 26. By the blood we are justified, reconciled,
and presented righteous to God. By the blood, the curse of the law being
satisfied, and purifying Spirit is obtained for the internal ablution of our
natures. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, that the
blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles, that we might receive the
promise of the Spirit, the promised Spirit, through faith, Gal.
iii. 13, &c. The water, as well as the blood, issued out of the side of
the sacrificed Redeemer. The water and the blood then comprehend all things
that can be requisite to our salvation. They will consecrate and sanctify to
that purpose all that God shall appoint or make use of in order to that
great end. He loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might
present it to himself a glorious church, Eph. v. 25-27. He who comes by
water and blood is an accurate perfect Saviour. And this is he who comes by
water and blood, even Jesus Christ! Thus we see in what way and manner, or,
if you please, with what utensils, he comes. But we see his credentials
also,
II. In the witness that attends him, and that is, the divine Spirit, that
Spirit to whom the perfecting of the works of God is usually attributed: And
it is the Spirit that beareth witness, v. 6. It was meet that the
commissioned Saviour of the world should have a constant agent to support
his work, and testify of him to the world. It was meet that a divine power
should attend him, his gospel, and servants; and notify to the world upon
what errand and office they came, and by what authority they were sent: this
was done in and by the Spirit of God, according to the Saviour's own
prediction, "He shall glorify me, even when I shall be rejected
and crucified by men, for he shall receive or take of mine. He
shall not receive my immediate office; he shall not die and rise again for
you; but he shall receive of mine, shall proceed on the foundation I
have laid, shall take up my institution, and truth, and cause, and shall
further show it unto you, and by you to the world," John xvi.
14. And then the apostle adds the commendation or the acceptableness of this
witness: Because the Spirit is truth, v. 6. He is the Spirit
of God, and cannot lie. There is a copy that would afford us a very suitable
reading thus: because, or that, Christ is the truth. And so it
indicates the matter of the Spirit's testimony, the thing which he attests,
and that is, the truth of Christ: And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness that Christ is the truth; and consequently that Christianity, or
the Christian religion, is the truth of the day, the truth of God. But it is
meet that one or two copies should alter the text; and our present reading
is very agreeable, and so we retain it. The Spirit is truth. He is
indeed the Spirit of truth, John xiv. 17. And that the Spirit is truth, and
a witness worthy of all acceptation, appears in that he is a heavenly
witness, or one of the witnesses that in and from heaven bore testimony
concerning the truth and authority of Christ. Because (or for) there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost, and these three are one. And so v. 7 most appositely
occurs, as a proof of the authenticity of the Spirit's testimony; he must
needs be true, or even truth itself, if he be not only a witness in heaven,
but even one (not in testimony only, for so an angel may be, but in
being and essence) with the Father and the Word. But here,
1. We are stopped in our course by the contest there is about the
genuineness of v. 7. It is alleged that many old Greek manuscripts
have it not. We shall not here enter into the controversy. It should seem
that the critics are not agreed what manuscripts have it and what not; nor
do they sufficiently inform us of the integrity and value of the manuscripts
they peruse. Some may be so faulty, as I have an old printed Greek Testament
so full of errata, that one would think no critic would establish a
various lection thereupon. But let the judicious collators of copies manage
that business. There are some rational surmises that seem to support the
present text and reading. As,
(1.) If we admit v. 8, in the room of v. 7, it looks too like
a tautology and repetition of what was included in v. 6, This is
he that came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and blood;
and it is the Spirit that beareth witness. For there are three that bear
witness, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. This does not assign near
so noble an introduction of these three witnesses as our present reading
does.
(2.) It is observed that many copies read that distinctive clause, upon
the earth: There are three that bear record upon the earth. Now this
bears a visible opposition to some witness or witnesses elsewhere, and
therefore we are told, by the adversaries of the text, that this clause must
be supposed to be omitted in most books that want v. 7. But it should
for the same reason be so in all. Take we v. 6, This is he that
came by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because
the Spirit is truth. It would not now naturally and properly be added, For
there are three that bear record on earth, unless we should suppose that
the apostle would tell us that all the witnesses are such as are on earth,
when yet he would assure us that one is infallibly true, or even truth
itself.
(3.) It is observed that there is a variety of reading even in the Greek
text, as in v. 7. Some copies read en eisi--are
one; others (at least the Complutensian) eiV
to en eisin--are to one, or agree in
one; and in v. 8 (in that part that it is supposed should be
admitted), instead of the common en th gh--in
earth, the Complutensian reads epi thV ghV--upon
earth, which seems to show that that edition depended upon some Greek
authority, and not merely, as some would have us believe, upon the authority
either of the vulgar Latin or of Thomas Aquinas, though his testimony
may be added thereto.
(4.) The seventh verse is very agreeable to the style and the theology of
our apostle; as, [1.] He delights in the title the Father, whether he
indicates thereby God only, or a divine person distinguished from the Son. I
and the Father are one. And Yet I am not alone; because the
Father is with me. I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another comforter. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is
not in him. Grace be with you, and peace from God the Father, and
from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, 2 John 3. Then, [2.]
The name the Word is known to be almost (if not quite) peculiar to
this apostle. Had the text been devised by another, it had been more easy
and obvious, from the form of baptism, and the common language of the
church, to have used the name Son instead of that of the Word.
As it is observed that Tertullian and Cyprian use that name, even when they
refer to this verse; or it is made an objection against their referring to
this verse, because they speak of the Son, not the Word; and yet Cyprian's
expression seems to be very clear by the citation of Facundus himself. Quod
Johannis apostoli testimonium beatus Cyprianus, Carthaginensis antistes et
martyr, in epistolâ sive libro, quem de Trinitate scripsit, de Patre, Filio,
et Spiritu sancto dictum intelligit; ait enim, Dicit Dominus, Ego et Pater
unum sumus; et iterum de Patre, Filio, et Spiritu sancto scriptum est, Et hi
tres unum sunt.--Blessed Cyprian, the Carthaginian bishop and martyr, in the
epistle or book he wrote concerning the Trinity, considered the testimony of
the apostle John as relating to the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit; for he
says, the Lord says, I and the Father are one; and again, of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit it is written, And these three are one. Now it
is nowhere written that these are one, but in v. 7. It is probable
then that St. Cyprian, either depending on his memory, or rather intending
things more than words, persons more than names, or calling persons by their
names more usual in the church (both in popular and polemic discourses),
called the second by the name of the Son rather than of the Word.
If any man can admit Facundus's fancy, that Cyprian meant that the Spirit,
the water, and the blood, were indeed the Father, Word, and Spirit, that
John said were one, he may enjoy his opinion to himself. For, First,
He must suppose that Cyprian not only changed all the names, but the
apostle's order too. For the blood (the Son), which Cyprian puts second, the
apostle puts last. And, Secondly, He must suppose that Cyprian
thought that by the blood which issued out of the side of the Son the
apostle intended the Son himself, who might as well have been denoted by the
water,--that by the water, which also issued from the side of the Son, the
apostle intended the person of the Holy Ghost,--that by the Spirit, which in
v. 6 is said to be truth, and in the gospel is called the Spirit of
truth, the apostle meant the person of the Father, though he is nowhere else
so called when joined with the Son and the Holy Ghost. We require good proof
that the Carthaginian father could so understand the apostle. He who
so understands him must believe too that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
are said to be three witnesses on earth. Thirdly, Facundus
acknowledges that Cyprian says that of his three it is written, Et hi
tres unum sunt--and these three are one. Now these are the words, not of
v. 8, but of v. 7. They are not used concerning the three on
earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; but the three in heaven, the
Father, and the Word, and the Holy Ghost. So we are told that the author of
the book De baptismo hæreticorum, allowed to be contemporary with
Cyprian, cites John's words, agreeably to the Greek manuscripts and the
ancient versions, thus: Ait enim Johannes de Domino nostro in epistolâ
nos docens, Hic es qui venit per aquam et sanguinem, Jesus Christus, non in
aquâ tantùm, sed in aquâ et sanguine; et Spiritus est qui testimonium
perhibet, quia Spiritus est veritas; quia tres testimonium perhibent,
Spiritus et aqua et sanguis, et isti tres in unum sunt--For John, in his
epistle, says concerning our Lord, This is he, Jesus Christ, who came by
water and blood, not in water only, but in water and blood; and it is the
Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth; for there are three
that bear witness, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three
agree in one. If all the Greek manuscripts and ancient versions say
concerning the Spirit, the water, and the blood, that in unum sunt--they
agree in one, then it was not of them that Cyprian spoke, whatever
variety there might be in the copies in his time, when he said it is
written, unum sunt--they are one. And therefore Cyprian's words seem
still to be a firm testimony to v. 7, and an intimation likewise that
a forger of the text would have scarcely so exactly hit upon the apostolical
name for the second witness in heaven, the Word. Them, [3.] As only
this apostle records the history of the water and blood flowing out of the
Saviour's side, so it is he only, or he principally, who registers to us the
Saviour's promise and prediction of the Holy spirit's coming to glorify him,
and to testify of him, and to convince the world of its own unbelief and of
his righteousness, as in his gospel, ch. xiv. 16, 17, 26; xv. 26;
xvi. 7-15. It is most suitable then to the diction and to the gospel of this
apostle thus to mention the Holy Ghost as a witness for Jesus Christ. Then,
(5.) It was far more easy for a transcriber, by turning away his eye, or by
the obscurity of the copy, it being obliterated or defaced on the top or
bottom of a page, or worn away in such materials as the ancients had to
write upon, to lose and omit the passage, than for an interpolator to devise
and insert it. He must be very bold and impudent who could hope to escape
detection and shame; and profane too, who durst venture to make an addition
to a supposed sacred book. And,
(6.) It can scarcely be supposed that, when the apostle is representing the
Christian's faith in overcoming the world, and the foundation it relies upon
in adhering to Jesus Christ, and the various testimony that was attended
him, especially when we consider that he meant to infer, as he does (v.
9), If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for
this (which he had rehearsed before) is the witness of God which he
hath testified of his Son. Now in the three witnesses on earth there is
neither all the witness of God, nor indeed any witness who is truly and
immediately God. The antitrinitarian opposers of the text will deny that
either the Spirit, or the water, or the blood, is God himself; but, upon our
present reading, here is a noble enumeration of the several witnesses and
testimonies supporting the truth of the Lord Jesus and the divinity of his
institution. Here is the most excellent abridgment or breviate of the
motives to faith in Christ, of the credentials the Saviour brings with him,
and of the evidences of our Christianity, that is to be found, I think, in
the book of God, upon which single account, even waiving the doctrine of the
divine Trinity, the text is worthy of all acceptation.
2. Having these rational grounds on out side, we proceed. The apostle,
having told us that the Spirit that bears witness to Christ is truth, shows
us that he is so, by assuring us that he is in heaven, and that there are
others also who cannot but be true, or truth itself, concurring in testimony
with him: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one, v. 7.
(1.) Here is a trinity of heavenly witnesses, such as have testified and
vouched to the world the veracity and authority of the Lord Jesus in his
office and claims, where, [1.] The first that occurs in order is the
Father; he set his seal to the commission of the Lord Christ all the
while he was here; more especially, First, In proclaiming him at his
baptism, Matt. iii. 17. Secondly, In confirming his character at the
transfiguration, Matt. xvii. 5. Thirdly, In accompanying him with
miraculous power and works: If I do not the works of my Father, believe
me not; but if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works, that you
may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him, John x. 37,
38. Fourthly, In avouching at his death, Matt. xxvii. 54. Fifthly,
In raising him from the dead, and receiving him up to his glory: He shall
convince the world-of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you see
me no more, John xvi. 10, and Rom. i. 4. [2.] The second witness in the
Word, a mysterious name, importing the highest nature that belongs to the
Saviour of Jesus Christ, wherein he existed before the world was, whereby he
made the world, and whereby he was truly God with the Father. He must bear
witness to the human nature, or to the man Christ Jesus, in and by whom he
redeemed and saved us; and he bore witness, First, By the mighty
works that he wrought. John v. 17, My Father worketh hitherto, and I
work. Secondly, In conferring a glory upon him at his transfiguration. And
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father,
John i. 14. Thirdly, In raising him from the dead. John ii. 19, Destroy
this temple, and in three days will I raise it up. [3.] The third
witness is the Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit, and august, venerable name,
the possessor, proprietor, and author of holiness. True and faithful must he
be to whom the Spirit of holiness sets his seal and solemn testimony. So he
did to the Lord Jesus, the head of the Christian world; and that in such
instances as these:-- First, In the miraculous production of his
immaculate human nature in the virgin's womb. The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, Luke i. 35, &c. Secondly, In the visible descent
upon him at his baptism. The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape,
Luke iii. 22, &c. Thirdly, In an effectual conquest of the
spirits of hell and darkness. If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God,
then the kingdom of God has come unto you, Matt. xii. 28. Fourthly,
In the visible potent descent upon the apostles, to furnish them with gifts
and powers to preach him and his gospel to the world after he himself had
gone to heaven, Acts i. 4, 5; ii. 2-4, &c. Fifthly, In supporting
the name, gospel, and interest of Christ, by miraculous gifts and operations
by and upon the disciples, and in the churches, for two hundred years (1
Cor. xii. 7), concerning which see Dr. Whitby's excellent discourse in the
preface to the second volume of his Commentary on the New Testament.
These are witnesses in heaven; and they bear record from heaven; and they
are one, it should seem, not only in testimony (for that is implied in their
being three witnesses to one and the same thing), but upon a higher account,
as they are in heaven; they are one in their heavenly being and essence;
and, if one with the Father, they must be one God.
(2.) To these there is opposed, though with them joined, a trinity of
witnesses on earth, such as continue here below: And there are three that
bear witness on earth, the spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three
agree in one, v. 8. [1.] Of these witnesses the first is the spirit.
This must be distinguished from the person of the Holy Ghost, who is in
heaven. We must say then, with the Saviour (according to what is reported by
this apostle), that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, John iii.
6. The disciples of the Saviour are, as well as others, born after the
flesh. They come into the world endued with a corrupt carnal disposition,
which is enmity to God. This disposition must be mortified and abolished. A
new nature must be communicated. Old lusts and corruptions must be
eradicated, and the true disciple become a new creature. The regeneration or
renovation of souls is a testimony to the Saviour. It is his actual though
initial salvation. It is a testimony on earth, because it continues with the
church here, and is not performed in that conspicuous astonishing manner in
which signs from heaven are accomplished. To this Spirit belong not only the
regeneration and conversion of the church, but its progressive
sanctification, victory over the world, her peace, and love, and joy, and
all that grace by which she is made meet for the inheritance of the saints
in light. [2.] The second is the water. This was before considered as
a means of salvation, now as a testimony to the Saviour himself, and
intimates his purity and purifying power. And so it seems to comprehend, First,
The purity of his own nature and conduct in the world. He was holy,
harmless, and undefiled. Secondly, The testimony of John's baptism, who
bore witness of him, prepared a people for him, and referred them to him,
Mark i. 4, 7, 8. Thirdly, The purity of his own doctrine, by which
souls are purified and washed. Now you are clean through the word that I
have spoken unto you, John xv. 3. Fourthly, The actual and active
purity and holiness of his disciples. His body is the holy catholic church. Seeing
you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, 1
Pet. i. 22. And this signed and sealed by, Fifthly, The baptism that
he has appointed for the initiation or introduction of his disciples, in
which he signally (or by that sign) says, Except I wash thee, thou hast
no part in me. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the
answer of a good conscience towards God, 1 Pet. iii. 21. [3.] The third
witness is the blood; this he shed, and this was our ransom. This testifies
for Jesus Christ, First, In that it sealed up and finished the
sacrifices of the Old Testament, Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for
us. Secondly, In that it confirmed his own predictions, and the truth of
all his ministry and doctrine, John xviii. 37. Thirdly, In that it
showed unparalleled love to God, in that he would die a sacrifice to his
honour and glory, in making atonement for the sins of the world, John xiv.
30, 31. Fourthly, In that it demonstrated unspeakable love to us; and
none will deceive those whom they entirely love, John xiv. 13-15. Fifthly,
In that it demonstrated the disinterestedness of the Lord Jesus as to any
secular interest and advantage. No impostor and deceiver ever proposes to
himself contempt and a violent cruel death, John xviii. 36. Sixthly,
In that it lays obligation on his disciple to suffer and die for him. No
deceiver would invite proselytes to his side and interest at the rate that
the Lord Jesus did. You shall be hated of all men for my sake. They shall
put you out of their synagogues; and the time comes that whosoever kills you
will think that he doeth God service, John xvi. 2. He frequently calls
his servants to a conformity with him in sufferings: Let us go forth
therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach, Heb. xiii.
13. This shows that neither he nor his kingdom is of this world. Seventhly,
The benefits accruing and procured by his blood (well understood) must
immediately demonstrate that he is indeed the Saviour of the world. And
then, Eighthly, These are signified and sealed in the institution of
his own supper: This is my blood of the New Testament (which ratifies
the New Testament), which is shed for many, for the remission of sins,
Matt. xxvi. 28. Such are the witnesses on earth. Such is the various
testimony given to the author of our religion. No wonder if the rejector of
all this evidence be judged as a blasphemer of the Spirit of God, and be
left to perish without remedy in his sins. These three witnesses (being more
different than the three former) are not so properly said to be one as
to be for one, to be for one and the same purpose and cause, or to
agree in one, in one and the same thing among themselves, and in the
same testimony with those who bear record from heaven.
III. The apostle justly concludes, If we receive the witness of men, the
witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God, that he hath
testified of his Son, v. 9. Here we have, 1. A supposition well
founded upon the premises. Here is the witness of God, the witness
whereby God hath testified of his Son, which surely must intimate some
immediate irrefragable testimony, and that of the Father concerning his Son;
he has by himself proclaimed and avouched him to the world. 2. The authority
and acceptableness of his testimony; and that argued from the less to the
greater: If we receive the witness of men (and such testimony is and
must be admitted in all judicatories and in all nations), the witness of
God is greater. It is truth itself, of highest authority and most
unquestionable infallibility. And then there is, 3. The application of the
rule to the present case: For this is the witness, and here is the
witness of God even of the Father, as well as of the Word and Spirit,
which he hath testified of, and wherein he hath attested, his Son.
God, that cannot lie, hath given sufficient assurance to the world that
Jesus Christ is his Son, the Son of his love, and Son by office, to
reconcile and recover the world unto himself; he testified therefore the
truth and divine origin of the Christian religion, and that it is the sure
appointed way and means of bringing us to God.
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The
Believer's Privilege.
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A. D. 80.
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10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath
the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar;
because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things
have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye
may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of
the Son of God.
In those words we may observe,
I. The privilege and stability of the real Christian: He that believeth
on the Son of God, hath been prevailed with unfeignedly to cleave to him
for salvation, hath the witness in himself, v. 10. He hath not
only the outward evidence that others have, but he hath in his own heart a
testimony for Jesus Christ. He can allege what Christ and the truth of
Christ have done for his soul and what he has seen and found in him. As, 1.
He has deeply seen his sin, and guilt, and misery, and his abundant need of
such a Saviour. 2. He has seen the excellency, beauty, and office of the Son
of God, and the incomparable suitableness of such a Saviour to all his
spiritual wants and sorrowful circumstances. 3. He sees and admires the
wisdom and love of God in preparing and sending such a Saviour to deliver
him from sin and hell, and to raise him to pardon, peace, and communion with
God. 4. He has found and felt the power of the word and doctrine of Christ,
wounding, humbling, healing, quickening, and comforting his soul. 5. He
finds that the revelation of Christ, as it is the greatest discovery and
demonstration of the love of God, so it is the most apt and powerful means
of kindling, fomenting, and inflaming love to the holy blessed God. 6. He is
born of God by the truth of Christ, as v. 1. He has a new heart and
nature, a new love, disposition, and delight, and is not the man that
formerly he was. 7. He finds yet such a conflict with himself, with sin,
with the flesh, the world, and invisible wicked powers, as is described and
provided for in the doctrine of Christ. 8. He finds such prospects and such
strength afforded him by the faith of Christ, that he can despise and
overcome the world, and travel on towards a better. 9. He finds what
interest the Mediator has in heaven, by the audiency and prevalency of those
prayers that are sent thither in his name, according to his will, and
through his intercession. 10. He is begotten again to a lively hope, to a
holy confidence in God, in his good-will and love, to a pleasant victory
over terrors of conscience, dread of death and hell, to a comfortable
prospect of life and immortality, being enriched with the earnest of the
Spirit and sealed to the day of redemption. Such assurance has the gospel
believer; he has a witness in himself. Christ is formed in him, and he is
growing up to the fulness and perfection, or perfect image of Christ, in
heaven.
II. The aggravation of the unbeliever's sin, the sin of unbelief: He that
believeth not God hath made him a liar. He does, in effect, give God the
lie, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son, v.
10. He must believe that God did not send his Son into the world, when he
has given us such manifold evidence that he did, or that Jesus Christ was
not the Son of God, when all that evidence relates to and terminates upon
him, or that he sent his Son to deceive the world and to lead it into error
and misery, or that he permits men to devise a religion which, in all the
parts of it, is a pure, holy, heavenly, undefiled institution, and so worthy
to be embraced by the reason of mankind, and yet is but a delusion and a
lie, and then lends them his Spirit and power to recommend and obtrude it
upon the world, which is to make God the Father, the author and abettor, of
the lie.
III. The matter, the substance, or contents of all this divine testimony
concerning Jesus Christ: And this is the record, that God hath given to
us eternal life, and this life is in his Son, v. 11. This is the
sum of the gospel. This is the sum and epitome of the whole record given us
by all the aforesaid six witnesses. 1. That God hath given to us eternal
life. He has designed it for us in his eternal purpose. He has prepared
all the means that are necessary to bring us to it. He has made it over to
us by his covenant and promise. And he actually confers a right and title
thereto on all who believe on and actually embrace the Son of God. Then, 2. This
life is in the Son. The Son is life; eternal life in his own essence and
person, John i. 4; 1 John i. 2. He is eternal life to us, the spring of our
spiritual and glorious life, Col. iii. 4. From him life is communicated to
us, both here and in heaven. And thereupon it must follow, (1.) He that
hath the Son hath life, v. 12. He that is united to the Son is
united to life. He who hath a title to the Son hath a title to life, to
eternal life. Such honour hath the Father put upon the Son: such honour must
we put upon him too. We must come and kiss the Son, and we shall have life.
(2.) He that hath not the Son of God hath not life, v. 12. He
continues under the condemnation of the law (John iii. 36); he refuses the
Son, who is life itself, who is the procurer of life, and the way to it; he
provokes God to deliver him over to endless death for making him a liar,
since he believes not this record that God hath given concerning his Son.
IV. The end and reason of the apostle's preaching this to believers. 1. For
their satisfaction and comfort: These things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have
eternal life, v. 13. Upon all this evidence, and these witnesses,
it is but just and meet that there should be those who believe on the name
of the Son of God. God increase their number! How much testimony from heaven
has the world to answer for! And to three witnesses in heaven must the world
be accountable. These believers have eternal life. They have it in the
covenant of the gospel, in the beginning and first-fruits of it within them,
and in their Lord and head in heaven. These believers may come to know that
they have eternal life, and should be quickened, encouraged, and comforted,
in the prospect of it: and they should value the scriptures, which are so
much written for their consolation and salvation. 2. For their confirmation
and progress in their holy faith: And that you may believe on the name of
the Son of God (v. 13), may go on believing. Believers must
persevere, or they do nothing. To withdraw from believing on the name of the
Son of God is to renounce eternal life, and draw back unto perdition.
Therefore the evidences of religion and the advantage of faith are to be
presented to believers, in order to hearten and encourage them to persevere
to the end.
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The
Sin unto Death.
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A. D. 80.
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14 And this is the confidence that we have in
him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have
the petitions that we desired of him. 16 If any man see his
brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall
give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I
do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is
sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
Here we have,
I. A privilege belonging to faith in Christ, namely, audience in prayer: This
is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according
to his will, he heareth us, v. 14. The Lord Christ emboldens us
to come to God in all circumstances, with all our supplications and
requests. Through him our petitions are admitted and accepted of God. The
matter of our prayer must be agreeable to the declared will of God. It is
not fit that we should ask what is contrary either to his majesty and glory
or to our own good, who are his and dependent on him. And then we may have
confidence that the prayer of faith shall be heard in heaven.
II. The advantage accruing to us by such privilege: If we know that he
heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we
desired of him, v. 15. Great are the deliverances, mercies, and
blessings, which the holy petitioner needs. To know that his petitions are
heard or accepted is as good as to know that they are answered; and
therefore that he is so pitied, pardoned, or counselled, sanctified,
assisted, and saved (or shall be so) as he is allowed to ask of God.
III. Direction in prayer in reference to the sins of others: If any man
see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he
shall give him life for those that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto
death: I do not say that he shall pray for it, v. 16. Here we may
observe, 1. We ought to pray for others as well as for ourselves; for our
brethren of mankind, that they may be enlightened, converted, and saved; for
our brethren in the Christian profession, that they may be sincere, that
their sins may be pardoned, and that they may be delivered from evils and
the chastisements of God, and preserved in Christ Jesus. 2. There is a great
distinction in the heinousness and guilt of sin: There is a sin unto
death (v. 16), and there is a sin not unto death, v.
17. (1.) There is a sin unto death. All sin, as to the merit and
legal sentence of it, is unto death. The wages of sin is death; and cursed
is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book
of the law, to do them, Gal. iii. 10. But there is a sin unto death in
opposition to such sin as is here said not to be unto death. There is
therefore, (2.) A sin not unto death. This surely must include all
such sin as by divine or human constitution may consist with life; in the
human constitution with temporal or corporal life, in the divine
constitution with corporal or with spiritual evangelical life. [1.] There
are sins which, by human righteous constitution, are not unto death; as
divers pieces of injustice, which may be compensated without the death of
the delinquent. In opposition to this there are sins which, by righteous
constitution, are to death, or to a legal forfeiture of life; such as we
call capital crimes. [2.] Then there are sins which, by divine
constitution, are unto death; and that either death corporal or spiritual
and evangelical. First, Such as are, or may be, to death corporal.
Such may the sins be either of gross hypocrites, as Ananias and Sapphira,
or, for aught we know, of sincere Christian brethren, as when the apostle
says of the offending members of the church of Corinth, For this cause
many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep, 1 Cor. xi. 30. There
may be sin unto corporal death among those who may not be condemned with the
world. Such sin, I said, is, or may be, to corporal death. The divine penal
constitution in the gospel does not positively and peremptorily threaten
death to the more visible sins of the members of Christ, but only some
gospel-chastisement; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, Heb. xii. 6. There is room left
for divine wisdom or goodness, or even gospel severity, to determine how far
the chastisement or the scourge shall proceed. And we cannot say but that
sometimes it may (in terrorem--for warning to others) proceed even to
death. Then, Secondly, There are sins which, by divine constitution,
are unto death spiritual and evangelical, that is, are inconsistent with
spiritual and evangelical life, with spiritual life in the soul and with an
evangelical right to life above. Such are total impenitence and unbelief for
the present. Final impenitence and unbelief are infallibly to death eternal,
as also a blaspheming of the Spirit of God in the testimony that he has
given to Christ and his gospel, and a total apostasy from the light and
convictive evidence of the truth of the Christian religion. These are sins
involving the guilt of everlasting death. Then comes,
IV. The application of the direction for prayer according to the different
sorts of sin thus distinguished. The prayer is supposed to be for life: He
shall ask, and he (God) shall give them life. Life is to be asked
of God. He is the God of life; he gives it when and to whom he pleases, and
takes it away either by his constitution or providence, or both, as he
thinks meet. In the case of a brother's sin, which is not (in the manner
already mentioned) unto death, we may in faith and hope pray for him; and
particularly for the life of soul and body. But, in case of the sin unto
death in the forementioned ways, we have no allowance to pray. Perhaps the
apostle's expression, I do not say, He shall pray for it, may intend
no more than, "I have no promise for you in that case; no foundation
for the prayer of faith." 1. The laws of punitive justice must be
executed, for the common safety and benefit of mankind: and even an
offending brother in such a case must be resigned to public justice (which
in the foundation of it is divine), and at the same time also to the mercy
of God. 2. The removal of evangelical penalties (as they may be called), or
the prevention of death (which may seem to be so consequential upon, or
inflicted for, some particular sin), can be prayed for only conditionally or
provisionally, that is, with proviso that it consist with the wisdom, will,
and glory of God that they should be removed, and particularly such death
prevented. 3. We cannot pray that the sins of the impenitent and unbelieving
should, while they are such, be forgiven them, or that any mercy of life or
soul, that suppose the forgiveness of sin, should be granted to them, while
they continue such. But we may pray for their repentance (supposing them but
in the common case of the impenitent world), for their being enriched with
faith in Christ, and thereupon for all other saving mercies. 4. In case it
should appear that any have committed the irremissible blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost, and the total apostasy from the illuminating convictive powers
of the Christian religion, it should seem that they are not to be prayed for
at all. For what remains but a certain fearful expectation of judgment,
to consume such adversaries? Heb. x. 27. And these last seem to be the
sins chiefly intended by the apostle by the name of sins unto death.
Then, 5. The apostle seems to argue that there is sin that is not unto
death; thus, All unrighteousness is sin (v. 17); but, were all
unrighteousness unto death (since we have all some unrighteousness towards
God or man, or both, in omitting and neglecting something that is their
due), then we were all peremptorily bound over to death, and, since it is
not so (the Christian brethren, generally speaking, having right to life),
there must be sin that is not to death. Though there is no venial sin (in
the common acceptation), there is pardoned sin, sin that does not involve a
plenary obligation to eternal death. If it were not so, there could be no
justification nor continuance of the justified state. The gospel
constitution or covenant abbreviates, abridges, or rescinds the guilt of
sin.
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Privileges
of Believers.
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A. D. 80.
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18 We know that whosoever is born of God
sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked
one toucheth him not. 19 And we know that we are of God,
and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 20 And we know that the
Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him
that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus
Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 21 Little
children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Here we have,
I. A recapitulation of the privileges and advantages of sound Christian
believers. 1. They are secured against sin, against the fulness of its
dominion or the fulness of its guilt: We know that whosoever is born of
God (and the believer in Christ is born of God, v. 1) sinneth
not (v. 18), sinneth not with that fulness of heart and
spirit that the unregenerate do (as was said ch. iii. 6, 9), and
consequently not with that fulness of guilt that attends the sins of others;
and so he is secured against that sin which is unavoidably unto death, or
which infallibly binds the sinner over unto the wages of eternal death; the
new nature, and the inhabitation of the divine Spirit thereby, prevent the
admission of such unpardonable sin. 2. They are fortified against the
devil's destructive attempts: He that is begotten of God keepeth himself,
that is, is enabled to guard himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not
(v. 18), that is, that the wicked one may not touch him, namely, to
death. It seems not to be barely a narration of the duty or the practice of
the regenerate; but an indication of their power by virtue of their
regeneration. They are thereby prepared and principled against the fatal
touches, the sting, of the wicked one; he touches not their souls, to infuse
his venom there as he does in others, or to expel that regenerative
principle which is an antidote to his poison, or to induce them to that sin
which by the gospel constitution conveys an indissoluble obligation to
eternal death. He may prevail too far with them, to draw them to some acts
of sin; but it seems to be the design of the apostle to assert that their
regeneration secures them from such assaults of the devil as will bring them
into the same case and actual condemnation with the devil. 3. They are on
God's side and interest, in opposition to the state of the world: And we
know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness, v.
19. Mankind are divided into two great parties of dominions, that which
belongs to God and that which belongs to wickedness or to the wicked one.
The Christian believers belong to God. They are of God, and from him, and to
him, and for him. They succeed into the right and room of the ancient Israel
of God, of whom it is said, The Lord's people is his portion, his
estate in this world; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance, the
dividend that has fallen to him by the lot of his own determination (Deut.
xxxii. 9); while, on the contrary, the whole world, the rest, being
by far the major part, lieth in wickedness, in the jaws in the bowels
of the wicked one. There are, indeed, were we to consider the individuals,
many wicked ones, many wicked spirits, in the heavenly or the ethereal
places; but they are united in wicked nature, policy, and principle, and
they are united also in one head. There is the prince of the devils and of
the diabolical kingdom. There is a head of the malignity and of the
malignant world; and he has such sway here that he is called the god of
this world. Strange that such a knowing spirit should be so implacably
incensed against the Almighty and all his interests, when he cannot but know
that it must end in his own overthrow and everlasting damnation! How
tremendous is the judgment of God upon that wicked one! May the God of the
Christian world continually demolish his dominion in this world, and
translate souls into the kingdom of his dear Son! 4. They are
enlightened in the knowledge of the true eternal God: "And we know
that the Son of God has come, and has given as an understanding, that we may
know him that is true, v. 20. The Son of God has come into our
world, and we have seen him, and know him by all the evidence that has
already been asserted; he has revealed unto us the true God (as John i. 18),
and he has opened our minds too to understand that revelation, given us an
internal light in our understandings, whereby we may discern the glories of
the true God; and we are assured that it is the true God that he hath
discovered to us. He is infinitely superior in purity, power, and
perfection, to all the gods of the Gentiles. He has all the excellences,
beauties, and riches, of the living and true God. It is the same God that,
according to Moses's account, made the heavens and the earth, the same who
took our fathers and patriarchs into peculiar covenant with himself, the
same who brought our ancestors out of Egypt, who gave us the fiery law upon
mount Sinai, who gave us his holy oracles, promised the call and conversion
of the Gentiles. By his counsels and works, by his love and grace, by his
terrors and judgments, we know that he, and he alone, in the fulness of his
being, is the living and true God." It is a great happiness to know the
true God, to know him in Christ; it is eternal life, John xvii. 3. It is the
glory of the Christian revelation that it gives the best account of the true
God, and administers the best eye-salve for our discerning the living and
true God. 5. They have a happy union with God and his Son: "And we
are in him that is true, even (or and) in his Son Jesus Christ, v.
20. The Son leads us to the Father, and we are in both, in the love and
favour of both, in covenant and federal alliance with both, in spiritual
conjunction with both by the inhabitation and operation of their Spirit:
and, that you may know how great a dignity and felicity this is, you must
remember that this true one is the true God and eternal life" or
rather (as it should seem a more natural construction), "This same Son
of God is himself also the true God and eternal life" (John i.
1, and here, ch. i. 2), "so that in union with either, much more
with both, we are united to the true God and eternal life." Then
we have,
II. The apostle's concluding monition: "Little children"
(dear children, as it has been interpreted), "keep yourselves from
idols, v. 21. Since you know the true God, and are in him, let
your light and love guard you against all that is advanced in opposition to
him, or competition with him. Flee from the false gods of the heathen world.
They are not comparable to the God whose you are and whom you serve. Adore
not your God by statues and images, which share in his worship. Your God is
an incomprehensible Spirit, and is disgraced by such sordid representations.
Hold no communion with your heathen neighbours in their idolatrous worship.
Your God is jealous, and would have you come out, and be separated from
among them; mortify the flesh, and be crucified to the world, that they may
not usurp the throne of dominion in the heart, which is due only to God. The
God whom you have known is he who made you, who redeemed you by his Son, who
has sent his gospel to you, who has pardoned your sins, begotten you unto
himself by his Spirit, and given you eternal life. Cleave to him in faith,
and love, and constant obedience, in opposition to all things that would
alienate your mind and heart from God. To this living and true God be glory
and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."
