Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 John 5:11
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
11. And this is the record ] Better, as R.V., And the witness is this, as in 1Jn 5:9: this is what the external witness of God, when it is internally appropriated by the believer, consists in; viz. the Divine gift of eternal life.
eternal life ] See on 1Jn 1:2 and on Joh 3:36; Joh 5:24. ‘Hath given’ is more literally gave; but perhaps this is a case in which the English perfect may represent the Greek aorist. But at any rate ‘gave’ must not be weakened into ‘offered’, still less into ‘promised’. The believer already possesses eternal life.
this life is in his Son ] This is a new independent statement, coordinate with the first clause: it is not, like the second clause, dependent upon the first. Eternal life has its seat and source in the Son, who is the ‘Prince’ or ‘Author of life’ (Act 3:15): see on Joh 1:4; Joh 5:26.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And this is the record – This is the sum, or the amount, of the testimony ( marturia) which God has given respecting him.
That God hath given to us eternal life – Has provided, through the Saviour, the means of obtaining eternal life. See the notes at Joh 5:24; Joh 17:2-3.
And this life is in his Son – Is treasured up in him, or is to be obtained through him. See the Joh 1:4; Joh 11:25; Joh 14:6 notes; Col 3:3 note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Jn 5:11
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son
The Divine record
It is obvious that the designs of God respecting the work of His hands entirely depend on His own will, and that, unless He please to favour us with an express declaration of those designs, we may, indeed, by debating about the probabilities of the case, bewilder ourselves in all the mazes of metaphysical conjecture; but, as for anything like certainty respecting what so deeply concerns us, that is a point which it is utterly beyond our abilities to attain.
Such a declaration, however, God has been pleased to make. In the record of the Old and New Testaments we have an express revelation of His will.
I. The unmerited grant of our God.
1. The nature of the blessing here said to be granted to us.
(1) It is life, life worthy of the name, a life perfectly exempt from every kind and degree of evil, and accompanied by every conceivable and by every inconceivable good.
(2) This life is eternal, not like our present life, which is but as a vapour that appeareth for a short time and then vanisheth away.
(3) It is a life, too, which includes everything that appertains to it, the pardon of our sins, reconciliation with God, adoption into His family, and all those sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit which constitute the foretaste of this eternal life in the heart of the Christian.
2. The person to whom this grant is here also said to be made. To us, the sinful children of sinful parents; to us, miserable sinners, who thus were lying in darkness and in the shadow of death, provided only we will accept the boon in His appointed way; to us hath God given eternal life.
3. The gratuitous nature of the grant. For in what way but in that of a free gift could eternal life be made over to those who have both forfeited the blessing and incurred the curse?
II. The channel through which this grant is conveyed to us.
1. The obstacles which stood in the way of this grant were of the most formidable description. These were no other than the severer perfections of the Divine nature, and the honour both of Gods law and of His universal government.
2. But by the determination that this free gift of life should be in the Son of God, to be sought for through Him alone, all the obstacles to the grant, which presented themselves from the quarters just referred to, were at once removed.
III. The character of the individuals who will obtain the benefit of this grant and of these who will fail of it. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1. It is clear, then, on the one hand, that we are interested in this grant of eternal life if we have the Son.
2. And it is the undisputed testimony of the record that he that thus hath the Son hath life, and that he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (John Natt, B. D.)
Eternal life a gift
I. The subject of the record–eternal life. What is it? It is not endless existence. The record refers not to this point. The Bible assumes mans immortality. Eternal life consists in the souls well-being–its intrinsic, internal blessedness: the kingdom of God is within you. This life is eternal. It is drawn from the Eternal One; His principles of rectitude imbedded in the heart and springing up into everlasting life.
II. The doctrine of the record, god hath given to us eternal life, and this is in his son.
1. It is gift. Not something for which men need to toil, but something to be simply received.
2. It is a gift already given. God hath given, etc. The believer has its foretaste.
3. It is a gift already given in His Son. Not in systems, churches; grace and truth come by Jesus Christ.
4. This is for record. It is testified that men may know it on Gods authority and live. (Homilist.)
Eternal life
Before opening up the passage there are two preliminary questions that press for answer. In the first place, what is meant by the Scriptural phrase, eternal life? The term, eternal life, is hardly at all one of quantity, but of quality. Just as there is wheat life in the wheat plant, bird life in the winged creatures, lion life in the lion, so there is Christ life in the Christian. It is a condition of existence in which the very life of God pulsates through every faculty of the life of man, bringing him into affinity of love and purpose and aspiration with the Eternal Himself. Eternal life is, therefore, the imparting of Christs own life to those who accept Him as Saviour and Master. A second preliminary question presses for answer. When and where is this eternal life attained? It seems clear from the Word of God that it is attained in this world and not in the world to come. Men do not go to heaven to get it, but they go to heaven because they have it. If these things are true it surely becomes a pressing interest to every thoughtful man as to how this priceless gift may become his own personal possession, as to how he may grow in eternal life and eternal life grow in him, and as to how he may have the joy, the power, and the prospect of it. These questions are all clearly answered in the text.
I. Eternal life is provided in Christ. This life is in His Son. It is of the very last importance to note well the fountain of this eternal life. It is not in man as natural, for as natural he is fallen, and the fall implied the loss of this life of God in the soul of man, the passing away of all conscious affinity with God, and the coming in of a spirit of alienation and hostility. And as it is not in man naturally, neither does man find it in what is called his environment. We think that the power of environment over human life is greatly exaggerated in our day, and is essentially the reversal of a central principle in Gods dealings with the world. It is never the new environment that makes the new man, but it is the new man that creates the new environment. Let us, therefore, face the fact that eternal life is provided only in Jesus Christ our Lord. Those in quest of it have, therefore, not to wander over a wilderness of abstract thought, and not to whip the energies of mind and heart to attain this great end; but, as a person deeply convinced that this gift is not now theirs, to come humbly and trustfully to the feet of the living personality of the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone has this gift to give, and who is longing to bestow it.
II. Eternal life is published in Christ. This is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son essentially. The whole Word of God is an apocalypse or unveiling of Christ. The testimony of God Himself, of the Holy Spirit, of inspired historian, poet, prophet, and evangelist, all converges on the Lord Jesus Christ.
III. Eternal life is possessed in Christ. God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son; he that hath the Son hath life. The gift has not only been provided and published, but it has in a very real sense actually been given. God has given to us eternal life. We stand firm on the ground that Christs part, both in provision and offer, has already been finished; but salvation by gift implies the part of the receiver as well as the part of the giver, and while the gift has been offered there is no salvation, and there can be no salvation till the gift is accepted. This view of the possession of eternal life delivers man from all perplexity as to the ground of his acceptance with God, and as to his humble assurance of the certainty of his salvation. It causes feelings, for example, to fall into due perspective in spiritual experiences. When a man comes to see that he possesses Christ, and on that possession can call eternal life his own, there will come, and must come, those feelings of peace and rest and certainty and enjoyment, and until he is quite sure that he possesses Christ, and with Him all things, the feelings will be fitful and the whole life will be clouded.
IV. Eternal life is perpetuated in Christ. 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. The entrance of eternal life into the soul of man is the entrance of Christ Himself to dwell and reign and unfold the nature that He inhabits and permeates. The whole Christ, and only Christ, is needed to save, and the whole Christ in perpetual indwelling is needed to sanctify. There is no possible life for the Christian apart from his abiding in Christ and Christ abiding in him. Out of this flows all the sweetness of sanctity, all the dignity of lowliness, all the enlarging of love, all the practical power of obedience, and all the finished graces of a complete character. (G. Wilson.)
Example and life
It will be admitted, of course, that Christ has given us a perfect example. He has not only told us what to do, He has shown us how to live. He was Himself, by the method which He followed, the great object teacher, and His life was the great object lesson. Example is more powerful than precept; its influence goes deeper and takes hold of us with a stronger grasp; but after all it is of the same nature as precept. You can give a child in words some idea of the rules of polite behaviour; you can give him an example of politeness which will be much more instructive and effective in forming his manner than any verbal rules; but the rules and the example would both operate in the same way; they would reach and influence him through his intellect and his will. In both cases the effect produced would be the result of a voluntary effort. It is easier for him to imitate your actions than it is to remember and obey your rules; but both address the will through the intelligence. Now, while the imitation of an action is easier and pleasanter than the obedience of a precept, there is still a great lack of beauty and of vigour in the conduct that is simply the result of imitation. There is a perceptible hardness and stiffness and unreality about it; it is artificial. So, then, if a perfect example were put before us, and we should set ourselves resolutely and carefully to the copying of that example, we should be sure to fail; our lives, though they might seem outwardly very like the life we were trying to imitate, would resemble it only as the artificial flower resembles the real one. When God gave you being He gave you character and personality of your own. What He meant you to be is indicated in the very constitution of your soul, And although by disobedience and alienation from Him you may have badly injured your own character, though the Divine perfection in which it ought to shine may but dimly appear in it, yet the ground plan, so to speak, is there, and that is the plan on which your character is to be built; the thing for you to do is simply to become what God meant you to be, and this you cannot do by trying to imitate the character and conduct of some one else. What men most need is the healing, the quickening, the replenishing of their spiritual life. It is not a model to live by, it is new life and fuller that we want. And this is the want that Christ supplies. I am come, He says, that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. How is it that He imparts to men this life? Ah, I do not know that. How does the sun impart life to the seeds and roots and bulbs that during all this long winter have been waiting for him under ground? I do not know how he does it, but I know that he does it. Some of them have heard his voice already and have come forth from their graves. The subtle might of his regenerating rays is seeking them out; they begin to feel in every fibre the influence of his power; life is quickened within them by his genial influence. And as many as receive Jesus Christ, as many as will accept Him as the Lord of their life, and will let Him instruct them and lead them and inspire them, sweetly yielding to the influences of His grace, will find that He is doing for them something like what the sun does for the germs beneath the soil; that He is imparting spiritual life to them; that He is kindling in their souls the love of all things right and true and good, and increasing in them the power to realise such things in their lives. This is what He does for all who will receive Him. But the text says that this life is eternal life. The witness is that God has given to us eternal life and the life is in His Son. Yea, verily! The life whose organising principles are righteousness and truth and love is a life that takes hold of the aeons to come with a sure grasp. God has so made the universe that these principles are indestructible; in the nature of things virtue is immortal; the life that is incorporate with it has the promise of an everlasting day. (W. Gladden, D. D.)
Life in Christ
Mark the grammatical form. The statement is not part of the record, but the record itself, as if God had given none else. This is the record, standing out alone in its sublime grandeur. This is the record that transcends all others by its brilliancy, upon which every conscience might rest. So in 1Jn 2:25 he uses exactly the same emphatic expression–This is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life, as if not a single star shone in the firmament above except this; as if not one promise had been given except this, standing out distinct, full, alone in hopes and comfort to all. And not only he, but St. Paul, so different in the characteristic order of intellect, uses the same kind of expression–The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 6:23); the gift, as if no other boon had been granted–the gift towering out above all, and standing in its holy Alpine grandeur, the noblest blessing God had ever given to His people. Put these three passages together, and then we have brought before us this glorious truth, that He is emphatically the gift, the record to us, the promise of God of life eternal through His Son.
I. The religion which we profess, true practical Christianity, is life. This truth lies at the foundation of this passage; and what type can be more glorious of good conferred? The most despised creature upon earth clings to life. I need not say that the life here spoken of is not physical life, not a life in common with an ungodly man, not a life in common with the beasts that perish, but spiritual life, life in the soul, life in the thinking elements of our nature, life in that part of our nature which links us with God Himself, and which, if lost, consigns us to everlasting ruin. Such then is the boon; the Christian lives. Religion is no dead thing; it is not formalism, it is not mere professionalism, it is not the assent of the understanding to certain dogmas, it is not the experience in the heart even of certain sentimental emotions. Religion, if it be anything at all, is a living, practical reality. I have the conviction that I have spiritual life, because I think with God, I feel the presence of God, I move in the ways of God. The Christian, then, lives; that life may be mysterious, but it is the distinguishing character of the Christian man that he has this spiritual life in him. I add that it is, moreover, a progressive thing. Here religion harmonises with all the phenomena and rules of life.
II. This life is divine in its origin–God hath given to us eternal life. All life is of Divine production. Pierce as far as you may into eternity, the deeper and closer our examination of its realities, the more fully and simply are we thrown on our conviction of the Divine origin. All life is the production of the eternal God. The spiritual life of which I speak is, therefore, certainly of His production. The old Greek fable, myth, to use the fashionable expression of modern times, brings out the truth in a simple shape–You may take a man and set him up by the pillar of the temple, but unless the god who inhabits it touches him he cannot move a step. Or, according to another Greek fable, you may take clay and form and fashion it into the mould of a man, but unless the celestial fire penetrates the frame and imparts life it has no power of action. Paul may plant, and Apollos may water, but God gives the increase. All means and appliances are in vain until the power of God Himself shall visit the Church–all in vain until Jesus Christ, who, when His message is proclaimed, shall accompany that message with His own living power and waken up dead spirits into eternal life.
III. This life is in Christ. The source, I say, of that life which is the gift of God, the source of all life, is Christ Himself. Again, for this purpose He is described as having life in Himself. Mark the emphatic expression. It corresponds with that expression of the living God, I am that I am–Jehovah. Pray for this gift, but pray for it in union with Christs sacrifice, for without His death the Spirit never had come down.
IV. This life is not only through the Son, but is in the Son, and will just be in us as it is in Him. In other words, the character of the life of the Son of God is a model character to all the brotherhood of Christ; every Christian is a Christian just in the degree that he is Christ-like.
V. This life, this divine gift, is eternal. Now the soul is eternal, and as such, therefore, this life must endure forever. That man is a fool who tries to procure something by great labour which will last only till tomorrow. But this eternal life never conies to a close. Moreover it is a life which shall expand. I can set no limits to it.
VI. Who have that life? What man possesses it? Who has a distinct credential that he does possess it? He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him. Tell me not of spasmodic enjoyments of spiritual elevation, of occasional paroxysms of spiritual life. I ask, is Christs life in you? Is His law in your hearts, and is it exemplified in your lives? If so, you have clear proof of the possession of that gift which is everlasting. (T. Archer, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. This is the record] The great truth to which the Spirit, the water, and the blood bear testimony. God hath given us eternal life-a right to endless glory, and a meetness for it. And this life is in his Son; it comes by and through him; he is its author and its purchaser; it is only in and through HIM. No other scheme of salvation can be effectual; God has provided none other, and in such a case a man’s invention must be vain.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
His testimony, that this is his Son and the Christ, imports so much, that eternal life is in him, as the source and fountain of it; so that he gives it to us in no other way than in and by him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. hath givenGreek,aorist: “gave” once for all. Not only “promised“it.
life is in hisSonessentially (Joh 1:4;Joh 11:25; Joh 14:6);bodily (Col 2:9); operatively(2Ti 1:10) [LANGEin ALFORD]. It is in thesecond Adam, the Son of God, that this life is secured to us,which, if left to depend on us, we should lose, like the first Adam.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And this is the record,…. The sum and substance of it, with respect to the person of Christ, and the security of salvation in him, who is the true God, and eternal life:
that God hath given to us eternal life; which is a life of glory and happiness hereafter; in the present state is unseen, but will in the world to come be a life of vision, free from all the sorrows and imperfections of this; and will be of the utmost perfection and pleasure, and for ever. This is a pure free grace gift of God the Father, proceeding from his sovereigns good will and pleasure, and which he gives to all his chosen ones, for they are ordained unto eternal life; to as many as he has given to his Son; to all that are redeemed by his blood, and are brought to believe in him: to these he gave it in his Son before the world began; and to the same in time he gives the right unto it, the meetness for it, and the pledge and earnest of it; and will hereafter give them the thing itself, the whole of it, to be possessed and enjoyed by them in person, to all eternity.
And this life is in his Son: not only the purpose and promise of it, but that itself; Christ asked it of his Father in the covenant of peace, and he gave it to him, that he might have it in himself for all his people; and here it is safe and secure, it is hid with Christ in God, it is bound up in the bundle of life with him; and because he lives, this life will never be lost, or they come short of it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
That God gave ( ). Declarative in apposition with as in verse 1John 5:14; John 3:19. Note aorist active indicative (from ) as in 3:23f., the great historic fact of the Incarnation (Joh 3:16), but the perfect in 1Jo 3:1 to emphasize the abiding presence of God’s love.
Eternal life ( ). Anarthrous emphasizing quality, but with the article in 1:2.
In his Son ( ). This life and the witness also. This is why Jesus who is life (Joh 14:6) came to give us abundant life (Joh 10:10).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Hath given [] . The aorist tense, gave. So Rev. The reference is to the historic fact of the gift. So 1Jo 3:23 : “We should love one another as He gave [] us commandment.” Ver 24 “We know that He abideth in us by the Spirit which He gave [] us.” On the other hand, 1Jo 3:1 : “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed [] upon us.” The gift of love abides in the fact that we are now children of God (ver. 2).
Eternal life [ ] . Compare the phrase thn zwhn thn aijwnion the life, the eternal life (i. 2), and hJ aijwniov zwh the eternal life (Joh 17:3). For the distinction between the phrases see on 1 2. The phrase here, without either article, merely defines the character of the life.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And this is the record.” The direct record, witness, or testimony is cited as follows:
2) “That-God hath given to us eternal life.” That the trinitarian (theos) God has (Greek edoken) given or “doled out to us”, of His own will and accord, life eternal, Joh 3:14-15; Joh 10:27.
3) “And this life is in His Son.” (Kai haute he zoe), and this God-given eternal life, exists or is in His Son. Apart from His Son none can have eternal Life. Joh 8:24; Joh 3:36; Act 4:11-12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11 That God hath given us eternal life Having now set forth the benefit, he invites us to believe. It is, indeed, a reverence due to God, immediately to receive, as beyond controversy, whatever he declares to us. But since he freely offers life to us, our ingratitude will be intolerable, except with prompt faith we receive a doctrine so sweet and so lovely. And, doubtless, the words of the Apostle are intended to shew, that we ought, not only reverently to obey the gospel, lest we should affront God; but, that we ought to love it, because it brings to us eternal life. We hence also learn what is especially to be sought in the gospel, even the free gift of salvation; for that God there exhorts us to repentance and fear, ought not to be separated from the grace of Christ.
But the Apostle, that he might keep us together in Christ, again repeats that life is found in him; as though he had said, that no other way of obtaining life has been appointed for us by God the Father. And the Apostle, indeed, briefly includes here three things: that we are all given up to death until God in his gratuitous favor restores us to life; for he plainly declares that life is a gift from God: and hence also it follows that we are destitute of it, and that it cannot be acquired by merits; secondly, he teaches us that this life is conferred on us by the gospel, because there the goodness and the paternal love of God is made known to us; lastly, he says that we cannot otherwise become partakers of this life than by believing in Christ.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
3. The results of faith are eternal life, with present answered prayer, 1Jn 5:11-17.
11, 12. Of this testimony, so divinely sure, we now are to have, through the rest of the chapter, the result. It is summed up in the word life; life in Christ and Christ in us, so that in us is the life. In the background, death, 1Jn 5:16, and the wicked one, 18, and the world, 19, shadow a dark contrast. So we have the great antithesis, the battle-array, in which faith is the sure conqueror, 1Jn 5:4, and life, present and future, the sure prize.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Jn 5:11. And this is the record, &c. The phrase ‘ seems here to signify, not the evidence of testimony, but the thing proved or testified of. So ch. 1Jn 2:25. This is the promise, that is, the thing promised. The verse may be thus paraphrased: “And this is the substance andabridgment of this testimony, that the blessed God has, in his infinite condescension and bounty, given unto us the promises of eternal life; and this life is in his Son; purchased by him, and laid up in him, to be bestowed on all his faithful saints; and therefore only to be obtained through him.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
states in what way that witness of God shows itself as internal to the believer; to him who, by believing, has the objective witness of God in himself, it is no longer purely objective, but he experiences it in himself as a divine power, or as the which God has given him
1Jn 5:11 states in what way that witness of God shows itself as internal to the believer; to him who, by believing, has the objective witness of God in himself, it is no longer purely objective, but he experiences it in himself as a divine power, or as the which God has given him. [318] Hence the apostle says: “ And this is the record , .” With , is to be mentally supplied.
is not “the hope of eternal life” (Bede: dedit nobis vitam aeternam, sed adhuc in terra peregrinantibus in spe , quam daturus est in coelis ad se pervenientibus in re ), but it is this itself, the divine life, of which the believer is even here a partaker; what the believer hopes for, that he has already.
, as the principal idea, is put first.
means: “ he gave; ” it is not = promisit (Socinus), nor does it express merely the firmitatem et certitudinem promissionis divinae (a Lapide).
Myrberg incorrectly finds the import of the of God stated in . . . , which is in opposition to the context. The second part of the verse: , which is not dependent on (Baumgarten-Crusius), but forms a co-ordinate principal clause, gives a further explanation in regard to . Several commentators find this thought expressed in these words, that we possess the . in the Son, i.e. in fellowship with the Son; but this the words do not say; they rather state where the ., which God gave to believers, had its original place, namely, in the Son; comp. Joh 1:4 . Frommann (p. 405): “the eternal life of which the Christian is by faith a partaker, is one with the life that dwells in Christ” (so also Dsterdieck, etc.). Braune incorrectly separates from , as he puts between them in the thought, and refers to the idea : “and this namely, is the life,” etc.
[318] According to Braune, by the import of the record is meant to be stated; but then John would be speaking of a different record from that which he mentioned before.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 2467
THE GOSPEL RECORD
1Jn 5:11-12. This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
IN matters that are established by human testimony, we necessarily proportion our assent to the number and credibility of the witnesses. And if we will act in the same manner towards the Holy Scriptures, we shall not entertain a doubt, either of their Divine authority in general, or of the way of salvation contained in them. Moses and all the prophets concur with the Apostles in directing our eyes to Christ as the only Saviour of the world: but in the words before us we have the testimony of One whose information cannot be doubted, and whose veracity cannot be impeached; of One who is too good to deceive, and too wise to be deceived. This witness is no other than Jehovah himself.
Let us then consider,
I.
His testimony concerning his Son, and concerning the way of salvation through him
This record embraces two points; and asserts,
1.
That God hath given to us eternal life
[Since the fall of Adam, man has lost all right to life. In him we died, and through him condemnation is come upon us all. Moreover, we have all increased our guilt and condemnation by our own personal transgressions. But God willed not that we should perish, and therefore sent his only dear Son to deliver us: and, having opened a way for our return to him through the blood and righteousness of his Son, he has published the glad tidings, and offered freely to give eternal life to as many as would receive it in his appointed way. He has not tendered it to us as a blessing to be earned or merited, but as a free unmerited gift to be received [Note: See Rom 6:23. Eph 2:8-9. Tit 2:5.].]
2.
That this life is in his Son
[This life, comprehending all the blessings of grace and glory, is in Christ as the Proprietor, the Dispenser, and the Guardian of it [Note: For this just and elegant mode of expressing this idea, the Author is indebted to that very judicious author, Mr. Robert Walker, of Edinburgh; whose four volumes of Sermons are well worthy of every mans perusal.]. He is the Proprietor of it. As the light is primarily in the sun, so is all good originally and essentially in Christ. In him was life, says St. John; and the life was the light of men [Note: Joh 1:4.]. The same writer says of him again at the conclusion of the chapter from whence the text is taken, This is the true God, and eternal life [Note: ver. 20.]. He also is the Dispenser of it. As life was in him essentially as well as in the Father, so was it committed to him officially, in order that he might impart it to whomsoever he would [Note: Col 1:19. Joh 5:21; Joh 5:26; Joh 17:2.]. He himself arrogates to himself this honour [Note: Joh 10:28.]; and all his Apostles acknowledge themselves indebted to him for all that they possessed [Note: Joh 1:16.]. He is moreover the Guardian of it. When life was entrusted to Adam, he, though perfect, and in Paradise, was soon robbed of it through the devices of Satan. And if it were now committed to us, we in our present fallen state should not be able to preserve it one single hour. God has therefore graciously committed it to his dear Son, that, by being hid with Christ in God [Note: Col 3:3.], it might be inaccessible to our subtle enemy. By this mysterious, this merciful dispensation, our souls are bound up, as it were, in the bundle of life with the Lord our God [Note: 1Sa 25:29.]. Christ lives in us [Note: Gal 2:21.], and is our very life [Note: Col 3:4.]: and hence, because he liveth, and as long as he liveth, we shall live also [Note: Joh 14:19.].]
Thus has God testified, that eternal life is to be sought as a free gift from him, and to be only in, and through, and for the sake of, the Lord Jesus Christ. But to see the full importance of this record, we must consider,
II.
The declaration grounded upon it
A more solemn declaration is not to be found in all the inspired volume. But let us consider,
1.
What is meant by having the Son of God?
[The more simply this is explained, the more intelligible it will appear. Christ is represented as Gods gift to man [Note: Joh 3:16; Joh 4:10.]: and we then receive that gift when we believe in Christ; or, in other words, when we receive him for all the ends and purposes for which he is given. This is the explanation which St. John himself gives us [Note: Joh 1:12.]: and consequently we may then be said to have Christ, when we have received him, and are making use of him, as the source and substance of our spiritual life.]
2.
What depends on our having the Son of God
[Behold! nothing less than everlasting happiness or misery depends on this point.
He that has felt a desire after eternal life; and has sought it earnestly through Christ; and has received it from God as a free unmerited gift; and is looking to Christ to impart it to him yet more abundantly [Note: Joh 10:10.], and to preserve it in his soul; he who thus lives by faith in the Son of God, has both a title to life, and the very beginning and earnest of eternal life in his soul. He can claim eternal life upon the footing of Gods word. He can plead the promises of God [Note: Joh 6:40.]; and may be fully assured that he shall not be disappointed of his hope [Note: Isa 45:17.]. Indeed he has eternal life already begun in his soul [Note: Joh 6:47.]. He was once dead like others; but now he is passed from death unto life [Note: Joh 5:24.]. The very act of living by faith in the Son of God proves to a demonstration, that he is alive, and that Christ liveth in him [Note: See Gal 2:21. before cited.]. He may not indeed have a comfortable sense and assurance of his happy state; but he really liveth, and shall live for ever.
On the other hand, he that hath not so received and lived upon the Lord Jesus Christ, has no life in his soul: he is yet dead in trespasses and sins: and, so far from having any title to life, he is under a sentence of condemnation, and the wrath of God abideth on him [Note: Joh 3:18; Joh 3:36.]. Not having the Son of God, he hath not life. Whatever he may have, he hath not life. He may have learning, riches, honour, and even morarily itself, according to the general acceptation of the term, but he has not life: and if he die in his present state, he must perish for ever: yea, if he were the first monarch upon earth, he would in this respect be on a level with the meanest of his subjects; he would descend from his pinnacle of honour to the lowest abyss of shame and misery.]
Infer
1.
How plain is the way of salvation!
[Supposing the way of salvation to be such as has been already stated, how can words express it more clearly than it is expressed in the text? There is no learning requisite to explain it: it is level with the comprehension of the most unlettered man in the universe. Nothing is requisite for the understanding of it but humility of mind, and a willingness to be indebted for every thing to the free grace of God in Christ Jesus. If there be any difficulty, it arises only from the pride of our hearts that would mix something of our own with the finished work of Christ. The fact is, that salvation by faith alone is so plain and simple, that we are offended at it on account of its plainness and simplicity [Note: 2Ki 5:10-14.]. But let the weak rejoice, that what is hid from the wise, is revealed to them [Note: Mat 11:25.].]
2.
How suitable is the way of salvation!
[If salvation had been to be merited and earned by our good works, who amongst us could have entertained a hope? If our works, imperfect as they are, were only to have eked out the merits of Christ, who could tell us the precise quantity and quality of the works that would have sufficed? In what doubt and suspense must we have been held all our days! And how would this way of salvation have suited persons in the situation of the dying thief, who are called away without having sufficient time to make up their tale of bricks? But a gift is suitable to all: a free salvation commends itself to all: and the more humbled we are under a sense of our own guilt and weakness, the more suitable will it appear, that we should receive all from Christ, and give all the glory of our salvation to him.]
3.
What infatuation is it to substitute any other plan of salvation in the place of that which God has offered us!
[Suppose for one moment (though it is a horrid and blasphemous supposition) that we were wiser than God, and that we knew better than he did what was fit for him to do; still are we also stronger than he? and can we oblige him to alter his decrees? Vain hope! We may entertain as strong prejudices as we will, and load the Gospel with opprobious names; still that will be true and irreversible, He that hath the Son, hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life. Let all of us then cease to weave a spiders web, and accept with gratitude the salvation that is in Christ Jesus.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Ver. 11. That God hath given to us, &c. ] How plain is the Holy Scripture in things needful to salvation! These God hath written for us, as it were, with the beam of the sun, that none may plead difficulty. But we are, most of us, of the Athenian strain, of whom Cicero says the proverb went, Athenienses scire quae recta sunt, sed facere nolle, that they knew what was right, but had no mind to make use of it. (Cic. de Senect.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11 .] Wherein this testimony consists. And the testimony (just spoken of) is this, that (consists in this, namely, that ) God gave (not, “hath given.” This is of especial importance here, where not the endurance of a state, but the fact of the gift having been once made, is brought out. The present assurance of our possessing this gift follows in the next clause, and in 1Jn 5:12 ) to us (not “ decrevit ,” “ promisit ,” as Socinus, Schlichting, Episcopius, &c., nor as Bed [78] , “dedit sed adhuc in terra peregrinantibus in spe, quam daturus est in clis ad se pervenientibus in re”) eternal life, and ( is not to be supplied, nor does this clause depend on . . ., but it is appositional and co-ordinate with it) this life is in His Son (is, as Dsterd. quotes from Joachim Lange, in Him, (Joh 1:4 ; Joh 11:25 ; Joh 14:6 ), ( Col 2:9 ), ( 2Ti 1:10 ). Here again, as ever in this Epistle, we have to guard against the evasive and rationalistic interpretations of Socinus, Grotius, Schlichting, al., such as “vit tern a Deo consequend rationem totam inveniri in ipso Jesu” of Socinus: “ in pro per ,” and “ est pro contingit ,” of Grot.: “illa vita terna ipsa est quam Jesus revelavit,” of the same).
[78] Bede, the Venerable , 731; Bedegr, a Greek MS. cited by Bede, nearly identical with Cod. “E,” mentioned in this edn only when it differs from E.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Jn 5:11 . The Testimony of the Incarnation. cf. 1Jn 1:2 . , “gave,” aorist referring to a definite historic act, the Incarnation.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
hath given = gave. See Rom 6:23.
eternal. App-151.
life. App-170.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11.] Wherein this testimony consists. And the testimony (just spoken of) is this, that (consists in this, namely, that ) God gave (not, hath given. This is of especial importance here, where not the endurance of a state, but the fact of the gift having been once made, is brought out. The present assurance of our possessing this gift follows in the next clause, and in 1Jn 5:12) to us (not decrevit, promisit, as Socinus, Schlichting, Episcopius, &c.,-nor as Bed[78], dedit sed adhuc in terra peregrinantibus in spe, quam daturus est in clis ad se pervenientibus in re) eternal life, and ( is not to be supplied, nor does this clause depend on …, but it is appositional and co-ordinate with it) this life is in His Son (is, as Dsterd. quotes from Joachim Lange, in Him, (Joh 1:4; Joh 11:25; Joh 14:6), (Col 2:9), (2Ti 1:10). Here again, as ever in this Epistle, we have to guard against the evasive and rationalistic interpretations of Socinus, Grotius, Schlichting, al., such as vit tern a Deo consequend rationem totam inveniri in ipso Jesu of Socinus: in pro per, and est pro contingit, of Grot.: illa vita terna ipsa est quam Jesus revelavit, of the same).
[78] Bede, the Venerable, 731; Bedegr, a Greek MS. cited by Bede, nearly identical with Cod. E, mentioned in this edn only when it differs from E.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
this: 1Jo 5:7, 1Jo 5:10, Joh 1:19, Joh 1:32-34, Joh 8:13, Joh 8:14, Joh 19:35, 3Jo 1:12, Rev 1:2
God: 1Jo 5:13, 1Jo 2:25, Mat 25:46, Joh 3:15, Joh 3:16, Joh 3:36, Joh 4:4, Joh 4:36, Joh 6:40, Joh 6:47, Joh 6:68, Joh 10:28, Joh 12:50, Joh 17:2, Joh 17:3, Rom 5:21, Rom 6:23, 1Ti 1:16, Tit 1:2, Jud 1:21
this: 1Jo 5:12, 1Jo 5:20, 1Jo 1:1-3, 1Jo 4:9, Joh 1:4, Joh 5:21, Joh 5:26, Joh 11:25, Joh 11:26, Joh 14:6, Col 3:3, Col 3:4, Rev 22:1
Reciprocal: Deu 30:15 – General Psa 133:3 – even life Pro 8:35 – whoso Isa 45:17 – an everlasting Mat 13:46 – one Mat 19:16 – eternal Mat 26:63 – the Christ Mar 1:1 – Christ Mar 9:7 – This Mar 12:6 – one Luk 10:42 – one Luk 23:42 – Lord Joh 5:24 – He that Joh 5:36 – I have Joh 5:40 – that Act 3:15 – Prince Act 4:12 – is there Act 5:20 – all Act 20:21 – Testifying Rom 3:27 – but by Rom 5:15 – and the gift 1Co 1:6 – the 1Co 2:1 – the testimony 1Co 15:45 – a quickening 2Co 1:20 – all 2Co 6:15 – or 2Co 9:15 – his Gal 3:22 – that Col 2:6 – received Col 3:11 – but 1Ti 1:15 – worthy 1Ti 2:6 – to be testified 2Ti 1:1 – the promise 2Ti 1:8 – the testimony 2Ti 3:15 – which Jam 1:17 – good 1Jo 1:2 – the life 1Jo 1:3 – with his Rev 20:15 – whosoever
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
ETERNAL LIFE
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His son. He that hath the Son hath life.
1Jn 5:11-12
When the words eternal life are uttered in our hearing, we turn instinctively to the opening of the great High Priestly prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of St. Johns Gospel, where we find our Lord saying: This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent.
I. How do we attain to this eternal life?
(a) It is a gift of God. We cannot merit it; we cannot acquire it, as the recompense, or result, of any amount of laborious effort or of moral excellence on our part; what we have to do is simply to accept it, to stretch out the hand, and thankfully take what the Lord God, of His infinite bounty and goodness, sees fit to offer to us.
(b) It is bound up with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This life, says St. John, is in His Soni.e. I suppose, in the Lord Jesus Christ we have the reservoir in which the life is contained. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.
(c) And again: we must come into contact, so to speak, with this living reservoir or fountain-head, in order that the stream that issues from it may flow into our being, and make us, too, partakers of its blessings. He that hath the Son hath life.
II. What are we to understand by the expression Hath the Son?The idea is that of possession, of mutual possession, so that each of us shall be able to say of Christ, He is mine; and Christ, on His part, shall be willing to say of each of us, I am his. But how is this possession brought about? On our part, by the perfect surrender of ourselves to the Lord. As long as there is any reserve, any holding back of anything from Christ, Christ is of no avail to us. He will notindeed, He cannotenter our inner being until we open the door and allow Him to come in; and even then He will enter on no other terms than that of absolute surrender.
III. What are the manifestations of eternal life?There is a correspondence between our physical and our spiritual life which may possibly seem to illustrate this part of our present subject. In a living body we find three thingsmore, of course, than three things, but certainly these threesensation, movement, growth.
(a) Consciousness.In a living soul there is what, perhaps, we could not call sensation, but which we may call consciousness, or realisation, of God. God surrounds every soul, as the atmosphere surrounds us. We are encompassed with God on every side. We are plunged in God as in an element. But it is perfectly possible for us to be utterly insensitive, and not to have any consciousness of Himin fact, it must be so until we have received the new birth which the Spirit bestows. Then God flashes upon us actually as if He had Himself just come into being. We behold, we know, we delight in the moral teaching and grandeur of Him who is manifested to us in His Son Jesus Christ.
(b) Another manifestation of life is movement. And occupation for God, or for man for Gods sake, is one of the characteristics of those who are born again of the Spirit, and made new creations in Jesus Christ. Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? is one of the first questions which such persons always ask. Absolute stillnessby which I mean abstinence from all spiritual occupationis an evidence of spiritual death. You must move; you must employ yourself; you must use some, at least, of your talents in the Divine service, if you are alive unto God.
(c) Then there is growth; and this is of various kinds: (i) First, the growth that comes from exercisethe exercise of the graces which God has bestowed upon us. (ii) Next, the growth of intelligence in spiritual things. We have many schoolmasters herethe Scriptures, our conscience, and not least of all, the discipline of life. And through these the Holy Spirit is showing us daily more about ourselves, and more about the character and will and purposes of God. (iii) Then the growth of advancing assimilation. I mean thiswe become like those with whom we associate. And God takes advantage of this peculiarity of our human constitution to produce in us a resemblance to Christ. He sets before us the Lord Jesus as the great object of our contemplation. Looking at Christ, earnestly gazing upon Him, trying to understand Him, sympathising with Him more and more, we catch something of His spirit; the features of His character are impressed upon us; we become to some extent like Him.
Rev. Prebendary Gordon Calthrop.
Illustration
Life is not what we livebut how we live it. To live, indeed, you must live livingly. To carry about with you, in everything, that sweetest of all feelings, that your sins are forgiven youto mingle every affection and every joy with the light of the smile of Gods countenanceto tell every secret into the ear of a heavenly Fatherto work every day, with the certainty of a success; with an object worthy of an immortal spiritto bear along with you the sympathies of all bright intelligences, the purestto see everything in the radiance of a near and glorious eternityto regather there all that has been so pleasant here, and to find them again a thousand-foldoh! it is that which makes life worth the living. And that is to have the companionship and the fellowship and the love of Christ; and in all this that truth does but repeat itselfHe that hath the Son hath life.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Some Things We May Know
1Jn 5:1-3, 1Jn 5:11-21
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
There may be some places where uncertainties lend enchantment to the view, but in matters of life and death we want full assurance. It is not enough to hope that we are saved, or think that we may be the children of God. The Lord has not left us wandering in doubt and despair as to the realities and verities of great eternal truths. Jesus Christ said to Nicodemus, “We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen.”
Christianity is not builded upon the uncertainties of fables and humanly conceived dogmas; it is builded upon the impregnable rock of Divine and certified revelation. He who trusts in Christ is not left to be carried to and fro by every changeable wind of men’s doctrine: he is established in a Word that is forever settled in Heaven.
The Bible never sounds forth an uncertain note. It speaks with authority, and breathes, everywhere, the spirit of assurance. When Christ comes in, doubt and despair go out. Paul could say, “I know whom I have believed.” The blind man could say, “One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”
All Christians can say, “We know that the Son of God hath come.” We know, we know, we know. Oh, what consolation, oh, what rest of spirit lies in the words, “We know!”
How then do we know that we are saved?
1. We know because we believe in Him. God has said. “Whosoever belie vein that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” This has the ring of certainty. But here is the proof. It is given in the thirteenth verse: “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.”
The Gospel of John was written that we might know that Jesus was the Christ, and that believing we might have life through His Name. The First Epistle of John was written to those who do believe, that they might know that they have life. The Gospel was given that we may know Him and be saved; the Epistle was given that, being saved, we might know that we are saved.
2. We know we are saved by His Spirit (1Jn 4:13). Here is the way the verse runs: “Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in. us, because He hath given us of His Spirit”
In Galatians it is put this way, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father!”
Romans puts it thus: “The Spirit Itself heareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
3. We know because we keep His Commandments. “We know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His Commandments.” If we love the brethren, we know we have passed from death unto life. That, however, is not all of it. Here is the other side, we love the children of God only when we love God, and obey Him.
Christ said, “If ye love Me, keep My Commandments.” He also said, “He that hath My Commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me.”
Obedience does not save, but the faith that saves is an obedient faith, James, in the Spirit, said: “Shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” A faith that is without works is dead, being alone.
If there are any Christians who doubt their acceptance with God, and their real salvation, let them not rest until they know that they are saved.
I. WE KNOW THE SON OF GOD HATH COME (1Jn 5:20)
The battleground of the ages, centers, theologically, around the Person of Christ, “What think ye of Christ, whose Son is He?” One answers. He is son of Joseph; another, He is Son of God. One says Christ is Jeremias, or Elijah, or John the Baptist, or one of the Prophets; the other says, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
The believer never hesitates between these two opinions. He knows that the One who came was the Son of God; and he knows that the Son of God came. If Christ was not the Son of God, He is not true, and He is not eternal life. If He is Son of God, He is true; yea, He is the True God, and eternal life.
Not all Christ-rejecters reject the historicity of Christ. They often confess that Christ came; however, they deny that He came forth from the Father, and is come into the world. They also deny that He left the world, and went back to the Father.
It is by this that we can discern between the spirit of error and the Spirit of truth. “Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God”; and “every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” The former is the spirit of antichrist; while the latter is the Spirit of God.
God hath written, “Many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh,” He has also written: “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he: in God.”
When Peter said to the Lord, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” the Lord replied, “Blessed art thou Simon, bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in Heaven.”
The centurion who stood by the Cross, said, “Truly this was the Son of God.” Do we know that the Son of God hath come? Do we accept Him and believe in Him with the heart? Then we are the children of God.
II. WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE (1Jn 5:11-13)
Our key verse says, “That ye may know that ye have eternal life.” That is a blessed statement. We know that we have eternal life, because we know Him, and He is eternal life. Has not our Lord said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent”?
Jesus Christ is Life, and He, therefore, is the Author of life. He is eternal life, and He, therefore, is the Giver of eternal life to those who know Him.
With the fleeting things of time fading before our very eyes, how glorious it is to possess something that shall never pass away. After the earth has passed away with a great noise; after the sun and moon cease to swing in their orbits; then, we will continue on forever and for aye, in the city of our God.
We who live in Him, we who are saved, know that we have eternal life. Let us, therefore, weigh our every act in these terrestrial scenes, in the aspect of that life which is to come.
III. WE KNOW THAT CHRIST HAS TAKEN AWAY OUR SINS (1Jn 3:5)
With what assurance do the words ring out, “Ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins.”
1. We would not belittle the fact of sin. We know that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, We know that there is none righteous, no, not one. The fact of Christ’s atonement does not take away the fact of our sin, it establishes that fact. He died for us, because we were sinners.
Calvary with its weight of woe, forever shows forth the heinousness of sin. Calvary makes sin to appear exceeding sinful. One cannot consider deeply the penalty for sin and for sins, which Christ bore upon the Tree, without realizing the depths of iniquity that caused so great a woe.
Since God has laid on Him the “iniquity of us all,” we know that our guilt was unfathomable, because the sufferings of Christ were unfathomable,
2. We would not forget the impossibility of self-salvation. No sinner can take away his own sins. The leopard cannot change bis spots, neither can the Ethiopian change his skin. Thus, the sinner cannot change his evil heart.
There is nothing “good” within the sinner to counteract his “bad.” Even if the wicked could cease from his wickedness, that would in no way settle the sins of the past. A new sheet on top of the old sheet, does not change the blots on the old.
3. We would rejoice in the fact that Christ does take away our sins. Jesus Christ is the mercyseat for our sins. He became “sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
On the authority of God, the One with whom each sinner must deal, we have the statement: “The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Once more we read, “Herein is love * * that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
The Great Multitude of Revelation fourteen, had washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.
John, in his Epistle, writes, “I write unto you. little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His Name’s sake.”
Thank God our sins are taken away. They are removed from us as far as the East is from the West. They are buried in the depths of the sea. They are behind His back. They will never be mentioned against us any more, forever.
IV. WE KNOW THE LOVE OF GOD TOWARD US (1Jn 4:16)
There is much rant these days about the love of God. There are some who vainly prate that God is love, to the exclusion of His justice and judgment There are others who strongly aver that God does not love anybody. There is, therefore, room for some very strong and Scriptural statements that will clarify the truth as to God’s love,
1. God loves the world. Joh 3:16 is sufficient proof of this. God commends His love toward us inasmuch as, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
He loved us before He washed us. He loved us while we were far from Him, groping in sin and darkness. He loved us, and therefore He sent His Son to die for us.
God’s love for the sinner does not make it necessary for God to love the sinner’s sin. Sin is heinous to God. Sin carries death, sin falls under wrath.
2. God loves those who are saved. Our text says, “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us.”
In John’s Epistle, chapter three, we read, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God,” In the fourth chapter we read: “God is love.” Again we read, “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His * * Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”
How great is that love toward us! Who can know its height, and depth, and length, and breadth. It passeth knowledge. God loves the sinner, but He loves the believer, His own. with a peculiar and particular love.
3. The saved should, accordingly, love God. We should love Him, not in word only; but also in deed and in truth, If God is love, we should dwell in love, we should love His love.
Here is what we want to say, “We love Him, because He first loved us.” Here is something more which we want to say, “The love of Christ constraineth, us.” Here is yet another word, “The fruit of the Spirit is love,” and, “The love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost.”
Walking with God. and talking to God, and knowing God, floods our lives with love. If we catch the love of God toward us, we will, in turn, love our brethren; we love those who love God, and those whom God loves.
V. WE KNOW THE TRUTH (1Jn 2:21)
Here is something to make us stop, look, and listen: “I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it.”
Jesus Christ said, “I am * * the Truth.” If we know Him, we know the Truth, for He is the Truth.
We remember how the Word was made flesh, and how it dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. The Law had come by Moses; but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus was both the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.
The Holy Spirit came to testify of Him, and the Spirit testifieth to the Truth. Let us give you some deductions:
1. Since Christ is Truth, then he who saith, “I know Him,” will walk, not in darkness, and not in a lie, but he will walk in the truth.
2. Since Christ is the Truth, He will sanctify us by the Truth, for His Word is Truth.
3. Since Christ is Truth, we should love Him in deed and in truth; and thus, being of the truth, we can assure our hearts before Him.
4. Since Christ is Truth, every one who confesseth Christ will confess the truth and deny the error. Hereby will we know the Spirit of truth, and the spirit of error, because we know Him; and believe Him.
5. Since we know Christ, and Christ is Truth, we will know the truth, and walk in truth, and testify of the truth, and do the truth.
What is the conclusion? The spirit of error which has crept subtly into the realms of world-thinking, denies the truth under two outstanding heads: (1) It denies that Christ has come in the flesh. (2) It denies that Christ is coming in the flesh.
This twofold denial sums up the spirit of antichrist, whom we know will soon come into the world. Saints will not be caught in the nets of his cunning craftiness; nor will they be swept adrift by his winds of doctrines, where he will lie in wait to deceive.
Many deceivers have gone forth into the world. These deceivers deny that Jesus is the Christ. They abide not in the truth. Those who are Christ’s know the truth: if any one comes unto them, and he brings not the truth, they will not receive him into their house, nor will they bid him Godspeed.
Let us seek to so live that we will obtain from God a good report, because we know the Truth, and because we bear record to the Truth.
VI. WE KNOW THAT HE ABIDETH IN US (1Jn 3:24)
How blessed are the “we knows” of the First Epistle of John. “We know”-“we know.” God forbid that we should ever live on the plain of uncertainties, when it is given unto us to know the things which are freely given us of God.
We come now to our final consideration: We know that He abideth in us.
1. The doctrine of Christ’s abiding in the believer is precious to Him. When the Lord was speaking to the disciples on the occasion of His “Last Supper,” He emphasized a twofold abiding. Let us give you a few of His words:
“Abide in Me, and I in you.”
“Cannot bear fruit, * * except ye abide in Me.”
“He that abideth in Me, and I in him, * * bringeth forth much fruit.”
“If a man abide not in Me* * he is withered.”
“If ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you.”
“Abide in My love, * * abide in His love.”
“My joy might remain (abide) in you.”
The seven quotations above may suffice to enforce the beauty of our abiding in Christ, and of His abiding in us.
Christ said this, also, ‘If a man love Me, he will keep My Words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.”
When we come into the Book of Ephesians, we first find that we have seen outstanding spiritual blessings in Christ, That is in the first chapter. Next we are described as with Christ, in His death, resurrection, and exaltation. That is in the second chapter. In the last verse of the third chapter we have God taking up His abode in us, through the Spirit. In Eph 3:17 Christ is dwelling in our hearts by faith.
Thus, in Ephesians, we have three things: “In Christ,” “with Christ,” and “Christ in.”
2. The doctrine of Christ’s abiding in us is precious to us. It is precious to us, because it brings us fellowship, and “truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
It is precious to us because it gives us confidence. “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.” It is precious to us because, as He abides in us, He enables us to walk even as He walked.
God grant us to know the deeper meanings of this truth-“We know that He abideth in us.”
AN ILLUSTRATION
THE ECHO
“We love Him because He first loved us. Love is like an echo, it returneth what it receiveth; there is no echo till the sound is heard. Oar love to God is a reflex, a reverberation, or a casting back of God’s beam and flame upon Himself. The cold wall sendeth back no reflex of heat till the sun shines upon it, and warms it first; so neither do we love God till our soul is first filled with a sense of His love.” Hence the impossibility of producing love while we are under a legal spirit; it will not come to order, it will only rise to the bidding of its like. Love alone begets love. Purchase price for it there is none; the bribe would be scorned.
Love is not the result of effort on our part. As the fountain rises freely in the valley, pouring forth its crystal flood with spontaneous eagerness, so doth love sparkle and flash forth in the soul. Secret reservoirs, far up in the mountains, supply the water-springs; and eternal deeps of boundless love in the everlasting hills supply the love-springs of the believer’s soul. Is it not written, “All my fresh springs are in Thee”?
O my heart, take care that thou answer to the Lord like an echo! When He saith, “My love.” do thou answer with the selfsame title. Be as the rocks which glow beneath the heat of the sun, and give forth warmth themselves. Love as long as thou livest, for love is the cream of life, and all of it is due to thy Lord.-Chas. H. Spurgeon.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
1Jn 5:11. Record is from the same word as “evidence.” John means that in giving to us the evidence of the Son-ship of Christ, we are thereby given assurance that we may have eternal life through Him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Jn 5:11-12. And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. These closing words concerning that testimony of which the beginning of the Epistle spoke, go beyond anything yet said. They declare that the witness of the apostles concerning the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us is the witness of God Himself, and moreover that it is the one supreme testimony, the sum and substance of all testimonies. Here we have the close of the whole section; and this last saying must throw its light back upon all. The witness of the water and the blood was simply this, that One had come who was the gift of eternal life to man: His baptism with the Spirit was His reception of the Spirit of life for us; His baptism of blood was our deliverance from death. The witness of the blood and water which flowed from His side was simply the testimony of heaven that deliverance from death and the impartation of new life were the one gift of His atoning passion: the one mingled stream for ever flowing from His Person lifted up. He who rejects this, resists the drawing of the Son of man, and makes the Lord who gave the seals a liar. The next words really end the Epistle by an emphatic aphoristic saying that repeats the words concerning the subjective witness, the presence and absence of which is the final test of truth for all profession of Christianity. St. John knows no believing in God which is not trusting in the witness; and he knows of no trusting in the witness which is not followed by the witness in himself; and the internal witness is not to have the knowledge of forgiveness, or the assurance of sonship, as in St. Paul, but these as contained in the possession of the life; and, finally, the life is with him nothing less than the Son Himself possessed. The Son of God hath life in Himself eternally; He is the source of redeemed life; and He is the author or Prince of that life in every believer. The closing testimony of the Biblefor there is nothing after these wordsis that he that hath the Son hath the life: the life which is fellowship with God, which sin forfeited, is given back to him in union with Jesus. It can by no other means be restored than by union with the Divine life which has been given to man bodily in Christ: the disbeliever or unbeliever, who rejects the witness of God concerning His Son, is in this testimony said to abide in death, or rather to be without the life. He that hath not the Son hath not the life. There are many terrors threatened elsewhere against the despiser of God and the rejecter of Christ; but here in the final witness, the sad issue of all is stated in its awful negation, the life he has not.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
As if our apostle had said, “The sum of God’s testimony recorded in the gospel is this, concerning his Son Jesus Christ, namely, that God for his sake has made a free deed of gift, of pardon and salvation to the world, assuring them of grace here, and eternal life hereafter, upon condition of their believing acceptance, that is, of faith and obedience; and accordingly he that thus has Christ, he that accepts the merit of his blood, and submits to the authority of his law, hath eternal life, that is, he has an undoubted right unto it, and assurance of it, yea, he has it already initally, and in the first fruits; but he that, either by unbelief or disobedience, refuses Christ, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Learn hence, 1. That eternal life is the gift of God.
2. That this gift of eternal life is laid up for us in his Son.
3. That upon our having or not having union with and interest in the Son, depends our having or not having eternal life. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son, &c.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The Means and Results of Having Eternal Life Jesus was sent to open the way to eternal life in heaven, and to believe on Him, in the obedient way already discussed in earlier comments, is to gain that life ( Joh 17:3 ). Having eternal life in heaven is contingent upon having the Son, or being a Christian ( Joh 20:30-31 ; Mar 10:29-30 ). In 1:4, John had said he wrote that their joy would be made full. Certainly, there is no fuller joy than in knowing one will be in heaven. As long as one walks in the light (1:7), he can know eternal life is his promised possession. Literally, John was writing to those who would keep on believing ( 1Jn 5:11-13 ). How can one really claim to believe Jesus is God’s Son and fail to obey Him?
Having eternal life as a promise from God also gives the Christian confidence in his prayer life. God will answer if Christians pray in accord with His will (compare Mar 11:15 ; Mar 11:24 ; Joh 14:14 ; Joh 15:7 ; Jas 4:3 ; 1Jn 3:22 ). Christians can be sure God will give them those things which are in their best interests ( Mat 7:7-11 ). They are so sure that God hears them that they can know He answers their prayers, even though the answer may not come in the way anticipated ( 1Jn 5:14-15 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
1Jn 5:11-12. And this is the record , the testimony; the sum of Gods testimony concerning his Son, and salvation through him:
this is the thing testified by the six witnesses the three in heaven, and the three on earth; that God hath given to us Hath sincerely and freely offered to mankind in general, and hath actually conferred on true believers in particular; eternal life Namely, a title to it, in their justification and adoption, Tit 3:7; Rom 8:17; a meetness for it, in their new creation or sanctification, Col 1:12; 2Co 5:17; Eph 4:22; Eph 4:24; and a foretaste or earnest of it, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, Eph 1:14; giving them to enjoy communion with the Father and the Son, 1Jn 1:3; and through that, as it were, to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and have their conversation in heaven, Eph 2:6; Php 3:20. And this life is in his Son Whose doctrine hath revealed it; whose merits have procured it; whose Spirit hath imparted the beginning of it; and whose example will conduct us to the complete possession of it. In other words, by whom it is purchased, and in whom it is treasured up; so that he has all the springs, and the fulness of it, in himself, to communicate to his body, the church, first in grace and then in glory. Though the apostle, in what goes before, has spoken particularly of the three in heaven, and of the three on earth, who bear witness continually, he deferred mentioning, till now, what it is they are witnessing; that by introducing it last of all, and after so much preparation, it might make the stronger impression on the minds of his readers. He that hath the Son That hath the saving knowledge of him communicated by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, Eph 1:17; Mat 11:27; that hath living faith in him, working by love, Gal 2:20; Gal 5:6; and hereby hath a real interest in him, as a wife hath in her husband, Rom 7:4; and vital union with him, such as a branch hath with the tree in which it grows, Joh 15:4; or such as a member of the human body has with the head thereof, 1Co 12:27; Rom 12:5; and who, in consequence of that interest in him, and union with him, hath a conformity to him; hath in him the mind that was in Christ, and walks as he walked, Php 2:5; or he, to whom Christ is made of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; see on 1Co 1:30; such a one in these respects having the Son, hath life Hath spiritual life here, and is entitled to, made in a degree meet for, and has an earnest of, eternal life hereafter. But he that hath not the Son of God Hath not that interest in his merits, that union with him through the Spirit, that conformity, more or less, to his image: he, whom Christ has not enlightened as his wisdom, justified as his righteousness, renewed as his sanctification; whatever he may profess, whatever orthodoxy of sentiment, regularity of conduct, or form of godliness; hath not life Hath neither spiritual life here, being still alienated from the life of God, Eph 4:18; nor is in the way to eternal life hereafter. He hath no part or lot therein.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5:11 {12} And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
(12) Now at length he shows what this testimony is that is confirmed with so many witnesses: that is, that life or everlasting happiness is the gift of God, which is the Son, and proceeds from him to us, who by faith are joined with him, so that without him, life is nowhere to be found.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
This is the content of God’s testimony. Eternal life is inseparable from the person of Jesus Christ. Some of the false teachers seem to have tried to separate them (cf. 1Jn 2:25-26). Jesus Christ and eternal life are one gift from God.
"’Eternal’ life is qualitative, not quantitative; it is the highest kind of spiritual and moral life, irrespective of time, which God enables the believer to share in relationship with Jesus." [Note: Smalley, p. 287.]
1Jn 5:12 is not an offer of eternal life, such as Joh 20:30-31, but a confirmation of what God had done for the readers, as the next verse verifies.