Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 John 5:12
He that hath the Son hath life: [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
12. A deduction from the preceding clause. If the Son has the life in Himself, then whoever has the Son has the life, and no man can have the one without the other. ‘To have the Son’ must be compared with ‘to have the Father’ in 1Jn 2:23. In both cases ‘have’ signifies possession in living union through faith.
hath life ] Better, as R.V., hath the life; not merely ‘the life just mentioned’, ‘the life which God has given’, but ‘the life which in the full sense of the word is such’.
he that hath not ] As in 1Jn 5:10, the negative alternative is stated generally and indefinitely ( ). The addition of ‘of God’ is neither fortuitous nor pleonastic. Those who possess Him know that He is the Son of God; those who do not, need to be reminded Whose Son it is that they reject.
The verse constitutes another close parallel with the Gospel: comp. the last words of the Baptist (Joh 3:36).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He that hath the Son, hath life – See the notes at Joh 5:24. John evidently designs to refer to that passage in the verse before us, and to state a principle laid down by the Saviour himself. This is the sense of all the important testimony that had ever been borne by God on the subject of salvation, that he who believes in the Lord Jesus already has the elements of eternal life in his soul, and will certainly obtain salvation. Compare the notes at Joh 17:3.
And he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life – He that does not believe on him will not attain to eternal life. See the Joh 3:36 note; Mar 16:16 note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Jn 5:12
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life
To have Christ is to have life
We may be said to have or receive the Son in these three modes–as a teacher, an example, and a Saviour; and in each of these He is life to those who have Him.
I. Christ is life in His instructions. He is so, because His instructions are truth, and truth brings life. In another, and yet a kindred sense, is Christ life by His word. He teaches us how to live, and for what ends. Honour, happiness, respect, love, usefulness, those things without which life is only animal, or worse, are most easily and completely to be secured by adopting the principles and obeying the precepts of the gospel. It is life, by eminence, to live temperately, soberly, justly, kindly, peacefully, doing good actions, exercising good affections, gaining good opinions. It is the only proper life of a moral, intellectual, accountable creature of God. He then lives as his Maker would have him live; lives most acceptably in the sight of heaven, and most profitably to himself and to the world. He lives, answering the best purposes of life; contributing to the means of human advancement; making his actions to be counted in the sum of human felicity. In a moral sense he protracts his life, because he employs it fully and well.
II. He who has or receives Christ as an example has life. The life-giving word is not only taught, but embodied and made incarnate in the teacher; it is not only didactic, but possesses the merit and charm of historical interest. The Son not only points the way to the Father, but He precedes the disciple, and guides him in it and through it. Whoever walks as Christ walked, lives; and in proportion to the exactness of his imitation is the vigour and health of his life. To know that we are, in any degree, sharing the life and spirit of our Master, is enough to give us an increase of vital warmth, to cause the pulse of our spirit to beat firmer and more true, because it beats in happy and honoured union with the heart of Jesus. If His life was true and eternal, then that which is borrowed from His is so too. The seeds of corruption are not in it. The process of dissolution cannot commence in it. It is a sound and pure and heavenly life, for it is the very life of the Son of God.
III. He who hath the Son by faith, he who receives Him as the Christ of God and the Saviour of men, by this faith also, as well as by obedience and imitation, hath life. And why? Because the hope and assurance of eternal life is contained and perfected in such faith. (F. W. P. Greenwood, D. D.)
Alive or dead–which?
I. Concerning the living. He that hath the Son hath life.
1. I shall remark, in the first place, that having the Son is good evidence of eternal life, from the fact that faith by which a man receives Christ is in itself a living act. Furthermore, faith in Jesus is good evidence of life, because of the things which accompany it. No soul asks for pardon or obtains it till he has felt that sin is an evil for which pardon is necessary; that is to say, repentance always conies with faith. Where there is faith, again, there is always prayer. So might I say that the consequences of receiving Christ are also good evidences of heavenly life; for when a man receives the Son of God he obtains a measure of peace and joy; and peace with God and joy in the Holy Ghost are not to be found in the sepulchres of dead souls.
2. The possession of the Lord Jesus Christ is the evidence of faith in many ways. It is Gods mark upon a living soul. Whatever else we cannot see, if a simple trust in Jesus is discernible in a convert, we need feel no suspicions, but receive him at once as a brother beloved. Moreover, the possession of the Lord Jesus Christ becomes a clear evidence of life, because, indeed, it is in some sense the source, fountain, and nourishment of life. While the branch is vitally in the stem it will have life; if it is not always bearing fruit, yet it always has life; and thus the fact of having the Son becomes an evidence of life, because it is the source of life. In another aspect of it, having the Son is not only the source of life, but the result of life. Now, when a man receives Jesus into his soul as life from the dead, his faith is the sure indicator of a spiritual and mysterious life within him, in the power of which he is able to receive the Lord. Jesus is freely preached to you, His grace is free as the air, but the dead do not breathe that air–those who breathe it are, beyond all doubt, alive.
3. Let me further remark that the possession of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith is sufficient evidence of eternal life. I do not know, says one, when I was converted. Have you the Son of God? Do you trust in Jesus Christ? That is quite enough.
4. It is a great mercy that having the Son is abiding evidence. He that hath the Son hath life. I know what it is to see every other evidence I ever gloried in go drifting down the stream far out of sight.
5. I may close this first head by saying that having the Son is infallible evidence of life. He that hath the Son hath life. It is not said that he may perhaps have it, or that some who have the Son have life, but there is no exception to the rule.
II. Concerning the dead. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life–that is, he hath not spiritual life, sentence of death is recorded against him in the book of God. His natural life is spared him in this world, but he is condemned already. Now observe that the not having the Son of God is clear evidence of the absence of spiritual life; for the man who has not trusted in Jesus has made God a liar. Shall pure spiritual life make God a liar? Shall he receive life from God who persists in denying Gods testimony? Let me tell you that for a hearer of the gospel not to believe on the Son of God must be, in the judgment of angels, a very astounding, crime. Recollect, if you have never received Christ, that this is overwhelming evidence that you are dead in sin. I tell thee, moralist, what thou art: thou art a corpse well washed and decently laid out, daintily robed in fair white linen, sprinkled plenteously with sweet perfumes, and wrapped in myrrh and cassia and aloes, with flowers wreathed about thy brow and thy bosom bedecked by the hand of affection with sweetly blushing roses; but thou hast no life, and therefore thy destiny is the grave, corruption is thy heritage.
III. Concerning the living as they dwell among the dead. As the living are constrained to live among the dead, as the children of God are mixed up by Providence with the heirs of wrath, what manner of persons ought they to be?
1. In the first place, let us take care that we do not become contaminated by the corruption of the dead. You who have the Son of God, mind that you are not injured by those who have not the Son.
2. If we must in this life, in a measure, mingle with the dead, let us take care that we never suffer the supremacy of the dead to be acknowledged over the living. It would be a strange thing if the dead were to rule the living. Yet sometimes I have seen the dead have the dominion of this world; that is to say, they have set the fashion and living Christians have followed.
3. What I think we should do towards dead souls is this–we should pity them. The most of these I meet with are dead in sin. Ought not this to make us pray for them: Eternal Spirit, quicken them! They cannot have life unless they have the Son of God. Oh, bring them to receive the Son of God! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The sublimest possession
Deep in the soul of man is a desire to appropriate something outside of itself–the instinct for getting, what phrenologists call the acquisitive faculty. But what is the good it really wants, the chief good, that without which it will never be satisfied?
I. The highest possession of man is the possession of Christ.
1. It is something more than to possess an intellectual knowledge of Him.
2. It is something more than to admire His character and to sympathise with His enterprise.
3. It is to possess His ruling disposition, or, in other words, the moral inspiration of His soul. It is to have His spirit.
II. The possession of Christ involves the highest life. Eternal life does not mean eternal existence, but eternal goodness; and eternal goodness is the highest paradise of the soul.
1. The life of supremacy. He will be in the highest sense a king.
2. The life of self-oblivious devotion. Not my will, but Thine be done.
3. The life of the highest knowledge. (Homilist.)
The natural man and the spiritual man
The natural man belongs to the present order of things. He is endowed simply with a high quality of the natural animal life. But it is life of so poor a quality that it is not life at all. He that hath not the Son hath not life; but he that hath the Son hath life–a new, distinct, and supernatural endowment. He is not of this world. He is of the timeless state, of eternity. The difference, then, between the spiritual man and the natural man is not a difference of development, but of generation. The distinction is one of quality, not of quantity. The scientific classification of men would be to arrange all natural men, moral or immoral, educated or vulgar, as one family. One higher than another in the family group, yet all marked by the same set of characteristics–they eat, sleep, work, think, live, die. But the spiritual man is removed from this family so utterly by the possession of an additional characteristic that a biologist would not hesitate to classify him elsewhere, not in another family, but in another kingdom. It is an old-fashioned theology which divides men into the living and the dead, lost and saved–a stern phraseology all but fallen into disuse. This difference, so startling as a doctrine, has been ridiculed or denied. Nevertheless the grim distinction must be retained. It is a scientific distinction. He that hath not the Son hath not life. (Prof. H. Drummond.)
Christ the life of the soul
He, who has a right to speak, has said that there is a certain thing, the possession of which constitutes life, and so constitutes it that he who has it has life, and he who has it not has not life. There is a life, dependent upon the possession of a certain thing, so much worthier than anything else of the name of life, that, compared to it, nothing besides is real life. Could you at this moment do it by a word, would you immortalise the life you are now living? The real Christian would. To him the change which he wishes is not one of kind, but of degree. He has that which he only wants purified and increased a thousand fold. The life he lives is what he wishes to be the germ of a life which he shall live forever and ever. Now this possession of Christ appears to me to be made up of three things. Properly speaking, the life which Christ lived upon this earth before His Cross was not the life which He came to communicate to His people. All that life He lived simply that He might purchase the life which He was going to give. The resurrection life is the life which Christ imparts to man. It is a life springing out of death. It is a life out of which the element of death has been altogether extracted. It is a life as essential as the Godhead of the Christ–as the life in which that Godhead resides is essential life. Life is not what we live, but how we live it. To live indeed you must live livingly. To this end, then, if a man would live indeed, a mans soul must be always, in some way, receiving Christ. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Christ in man
Before proceeding to analyse this passage, contemplate for one moment the mysterious grandeur of human natures position through the Incarnation; for it is obviously through the Incarnation that we have the Son. Think, then, that in all other works of Deity communication is the distinction. When God creates, He communicates being to nothing; in nature, God communicates beauty, form, and harmony to materialism; in providence, God communicates wisdom, truth, power, responsibility, and so forth, to agents and agencies; in legislation God communicates will and law to moral nature; and in revelation God communicates grace and truth to mankind; but in the Incarnation God does not communicate, but He assumes. Observe the words, He that hath the Son hath life. There is no man named. God Almighty, when He speaks from the throne of revelation, speaks to human nature. He does not by tits word lay hold on the conventional, the local, the chronological, or the transitory in man. Now mark the decisive grandeur of this; for it intimates a connection between our nature now and our condition hereafter. Christianity now is Christianity forever; every stone which is now laid to your spiritual fabric is to form part of an ascending structure of conscious humanity, which is to rise higher and higher towards perfection throughout the everlasting ages. He, therefore, that hath the Son hath life, and the same life that he will have hereafter.
I. What is it to have the Son? We say, then, in the first place, every human being on Gods earth hath the Son. There is not a pulse in your body but proclaims Calvary; there is not a drop in your veins but preaches Christ. You are not to imagine creation proceeding by one principle, providence administered by another, and grace acting by a third; the same God who acts in creation and rules in providence bestows in grace. And therefore I charge it upon every unconverted man, with this truth bound upon his heart, Verily Christ is in me, and I knew it not. But more particularly, to take the words spiritually: a man may be said to have the Son when He is the sovereign of his intellect. He will ascertain upon clear grounds and through an honest logic whether this book be or be not Divine; but the moment the man has come to the conclusion, Verily God is in this thing, verily God is in these syllables, then all that he has to do is to submit his intellect to Christ, then he has the Son. Secondly, a man may be said to have the Son when he hath Him as the ruler of his desires. If we have the Son our desires are submitted to Christ even as our intellect. Thirdly, Jesus Christ may be said to be ours, or we have the Son, when He is the pacifier of our conscience. Lastly, a man may be said to have the Son when Jesus Christ is the centre of his affections. The worldlings centre is the world; the sensualists centre is the enjoyment of the passions; the rationalists is the cultivation of the intellect; the politicians the progress of his party. But the Christian hath one centre and one circumference–Jesus Christ in the beginning and the middle and without end. His supreme attractor is Christ.
II. The possession of Christ is tantamount to the possession of life. In the first place, then, this connection contains (though not here stated) three marvellous views. First, it is the unfathomable mystery of heaven; secondly, it is the infinite mercy of earth; and, thirdly, it is the unrivalled miracle of all eternity. Lastly, we go on to show you the right connection between having Christ and having life. It is to be drawn from the contrast to the fall. The fall of man was the death of man through the first Adam; the rise of man is the life of man in the second Adam. (R. Montgomery, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. He that hath the Son hath life] As the eternal life is given IN the Son of God, it follows that it cannot be enjoyed without him. No man can have it without having Christ; therefore he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life. It is in vain to expect eternal glory, if we have not Christ in our heart. The indwelling Christ gives both a title to it, and a meetness for it. This is God’s record. Let no man deceive himself here. An indwelling Christ and GLORY; no indwelling Christ, NO glory. God’s record must stand.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And therefore, that we partake this life, or partake it not, as by faith we are united with him, or not united.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. the Son . . . lifeGreek,“THE life.”BENGEL remarks, The versehas two clauses: in the former the Son is mentioned without theaddition “of God,” for believers know the Son: inthe second clause the addition “of God” is made, thatunbelievers may know thereby what a serious thing it is not to haveHim. In the former clause “has” bears the emphasis; in thesecond, life. To have the Son is to be able to say asthe bride, “I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine“[So 6:3]. Faith is themean whereby the regenerate HAVEChrist as a present possession, and in having Him have lifein its germ and reality now, and shall have life in its fullydeveloped manifestation hereafter. Eternal life here is: (1)initial, and is an earnest of that which is to follow; in theintermediate state (2) partial, belonging but to a part of aman, though that is his nobler part, the soul separated from thebody; at and after the resurrection (3) perfectional. Thislife is not only natural, consisting of the union of the soul and thebody (as that of the reprobate in eternal pain, which ought to betermed death eternal, not life), but also spiritual,the union of the soul to God, and supremely blessed for ever (forlife is another term for happiness) [PEARSON,Exposition of the Creed].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that hath the Son,…. Has a spiritual and experimental knowledge of him, true faith in him; who has him dwelling in his heart, and living in him:
hath life: not only spiritual life, being quickened by him, and living by faith on him, but eternal life; the knowledge he has of him is eternal life; he has it in faith and hope, and has a right unto it, and the earnest of it, as well as has it in Christ his representative, whom he has, and in whom this life is:
[and] he that hath not the Son of God; no knowledge of him, nor faith in him, nor enjoyment of him:
hath not life; he is dead in sin, he is alienated from the life of God, has no title to eternal life, nor meetness for it, nor shall enjoy it, but shall die the second death.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hath the life ( ). The life which God gave (verse 11). This is the position of Jesus himself (John 5:24; John 14:6).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Hath life [ ] . More strictly, as Rev., the life; i e., the life which God gave (ver. 11). See on Joh 16:22. Compare Christ who is our life (Col 3:4).
The Son of God. Hath the Son, hath not the Son of God, pointing back to God as the giver of life in His Son. Bengel observes : “The verse has two clauses : in the former, of God is not added, because believers know the Son; in the other it is added, that unbelievers may know at length how serious it is not to have Him.”
Hath not life. Note the inversion “He that hath the Son hath the life. He that hath not the Son of God, the life hath he not.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “He that hath the Son hath life.” (ho echon ton huion) The one having, holding, or possessing the Son, a possible present experience, (Greek echei ten zoen) “has the life”, of eternal kind and nature, God-life Joh 3:36; Joh 5:24.
2) “And he that hath not the Son of God.” Anyone without Jesus Christ indwelling his heart, affections, thru the new birth, Joh 6:47-48; Joh 17:2-3.
3) “Hath not life.” Does not have, hold, or possess the life of eternal “kind” and “nature” which Christ brought, which God gives to them that believe. Joh 10:10; Joh 17:21-23; Joh 3:18; Joh 3:36; Mar 16:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
12 He that hath not the Son This is a confirmation of the last sentence. It ought, indeed, to have been sufficient, that God made life to be in none but in Christ, that it might be sought in him; but lest any one should turn away to another, he excludes all from the hope of life who seek it not in Christ. We know what it is to have Christ, for he is possessed by faith. He then shews that all who are separated from the body of Christ are without life.
But this seems inconsistent with reason; for history shews that there have been great men, endued with heroic virtues, who yet were wholly unacquainted with Christ; and it seems unreasonable that men of so great eminence had no honor. To this I answer, that we are greatly mistaken if we think that whatever is eminent in our eyes is approved by God; for, as it is said in Luke,
“
What is highly esteemed by men is an abomination with God.” (Luk 16:15)
For as the filthiness of the heart is hid from us, we are satisfied with the external appearance; but God sees that under this is concealed the foulest filth. It is, therefore, no wonder if specious virtues, flowing from an impure heart, and tending to no right end, have an ill odor to him. Besides, whence comes purity, whence a genuine regard for religion, except from the Spirit of Christ? There is, then, nothing worthy of praise except in Christ.
There is, further, another reason which removes every doubt; for the righteousness of men is in the remission of sins. If you take away this, the sure curse of God and eternal death awaits all. Christ alone is he who reconciles the Father to us, as he has once for all pacified him by the sacrifice of the cross. It hence follows, that God is propitious to none but in Christ, nor is there righteousness but in him.
Were any one to object and say, that Cornelius, as mentioned by Luke, (Act 10:2,) was accepted of God before he was called to the faith of the gospel: to this I answer shortly, that God sometimes so deals with us, that the seed of faith appears immediately on the first day. Cornelius had no clear and distinct knowledge of Christ; but as he had some perception of God’s mercy, he must at the same time understand something of a Mediator. But as God acts in ways hidden and wonderful, let us disregard those speculations which profit nothing, and hold only to that plain way of salvation, which he has made known to us.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
1Jn 5:12. He that hath the Son, &c. “He, who is vitally united to the Son of God, as his Head andRedeemer, through faith in him, is already spiritually alive: and he who has not an interest in theSon of God has not this spiritual life, whatever proud conceit he may entertain of his own merits and excellencies; but, on the contrary, remains exposed to the righteous displeasure of God, and under a sentence of eternal death.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Jn 5:12 states the inference from the immediately preceding thought. If the is originally in the Son, then he who has the Son has with him also the . With , comp. chap. 1Jn 2:23 . Changing and weakening the sense, Grotius puts for : verba ilia quae Pater Filio mandavit; even he erroneously explains by: jus certum ad vitam aeternam. Whilst John in the first clause says simply , in the second he adds ; on this Bengel remarks: habet versus duo cola; in priore non additur Dei , nam fideles norunt Filium; in altero additur, ut demum sciant fideles, quanti sit, non habere.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
Ver. 12. Hath life ] For he is the prince and principle of life; and all out of him are dead while they live. Non ille diu vixit, sed diu fuit, saith Seneca of one; non multum navigavit, sed multum iactatus est, of another at sea; he was long, but lived little; he was much tossed, but not much furthered; he moved much, but removed not at all, as a horse in a mill, as a dog in a wheel, &c. See Trapp on “ Joh 1:4 “
And he that hath not the Son hath not life ] Negatio contrarii auget vim affirmationis. 1Ki 20:1 ; Deu 33:6 ; Pro 30:11 ; 1Sa 1:11 . See Trapp on “ Joh 1:20 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12 .] Conclusion of the whole argument from 1Jn 5:6 ; dependent on the last clause of 1Jn 5:11 , and carrying it on a step farther, even to the absolute identity as matter of possession for the believer, of the Son of God, and eternal life. He that hath the Son, hath the life: he that hath not the Son of God, the life hath he not . First notice the diction and arrangement, on which Bengel has well remarked, “Habet versus duo cola: in priore non additur Dei , nam fideles norunt Filium: in altero additur, ut demum sciantinfid eles, quanti sit non habere. Priore hemistichio cum emphasi pronunciandum est habet : in altero, vitam .” This latter furnishes a simple and beautiful example of the laws of emphasis in arrangement: .
Next, the must not be explained away with Grotius by “verba illa retinere qu Pater Filio mandavit,” nor , with the same, by “jus certum habere ad vitam ternam.” The having the Son is the possession of Christ by faith testified by the Spirit, the water, and the blood: and the having the life is the actually possessing it, not indeed in its most glorious development, but in all its reality and vitality.
Thirdly, it must be remarked that the question as to whether eternal salvation is altogether confined to those who in the fullest sense have the Son (to the exclusion, e. g., of those who have never heard of Him), does not belong here, but must be entertained on other grounds. See note on 1Pe 3:19 . Dsterd. has remarked that the use of , not (cf. 1Pe 2:10 ), shews that the Apostle is contemplating, at all events primarily, rather a possible contingency than an actual fact: and thus is, primarily again, confining his saying to those to whom the divine testimony has come. To them, according as they receive or do not receive it, according as they are or , it is a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Jn 5:12 . with the participle does not necessarily make the case hypothetical ( cf. note on 1Jn 2:4 ). St. John would have only too many actual instances before him in those days of doctrinal unsettlement.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
life = the life (1Jn 5:11).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
12.] Conclusion of the whole argument from 1Jn 5:6; dependent on the last clause of 1Jn 5:11, and carrying it on a step farther, even to the absolute identity as matter of possession for the believer, of the Son of God, and eternal life. He that hath the Son, hath the life: he that hath not the Son of God, the life hath he not. First notice the diction and arrangement, on which Bengel has well remarked, Habet versus duo cola: in priore non additur Dei, nam fideles norunt Filium: in altero additur, ut demum sciantinfid eles, quanti sit non habere. Priore hemistichio cum emphasi pronunciandum est habet: in altero, vitam. This latter furnishes a simple and beautiful example of the laws of emphasis in arrangement: – .
Next, the must not be explained away with Grotius by verba illa retinere qu Pater Filio mandavit, nor , with the same, by jus certum habere ad vitam ternam. The having the Son is the possession of Christ by faith testified by the Spirit, the water, and the blood: and the having the life is the actually possessing it, not indeed in its most glorious development, but in all its reality and vitality.
Thirdly, it must be remarked that the question as to whether eternal salvation is altogether confined to those who in the fullest sense have the Son (to the exclusion, e. g., of those who have never heard of Him), does not belong here, but must be entertained on other grounds. See note on 1Pe 3:19. Dsterd. has remarked that the use of , not (cf. 1Pe 2:10), shews that the Apostle is contemplating, at all events primarily, rather a possible contingency than an actual fact: and thus is, primarily again, confining his saying to those to whom the divine testimony has come. To them, according as they receive or do not receive it, according as they are or , it is a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Jn 5:12. ) he who has, in faith.- , the Son) The verse has two clauses: in the former, the Son only is mentioned, without the addition, of God; for the faithful know the Son: in the other this addition is made, that unbelievers may know at length what a serious thing it is not to have Him.-, has) In the former part of the sentence, the word has is to be pronounced with emphasis; in the second, the emphatic word is life.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
that hath the: 1Jo 2:23, 1Jo 2:24, Joh 1:12, Joh 3:36, Joh 5:24, 1Co 1:30, Gal 2:20, Heb 3:14, 2Jo 1:9
and he: Mar 16:16, Joh 3:36
Reciprocal: Deu 30:15 – General Pro 8:35 – whoso Mat 13:46 – one Mat 25:46 – the righteous Mar 1:1 – Christ Mar 9:7 – This Mar 12:6 – one Luk 10:42 – one Joh 3:18 – is not Joh 5:36 – I have Joh 6:47 – He that Joh 6:53 – eat Joh 11:25 – the life Joh 14:6 – the life Joh 17:3 – and Jesus Act 3:15 – Prince Act 4:12 – is there Act 5:20 – all Rom 3:27 – but by Rom 6:23 – but the 1Co 15:45 – a quickening 2Co 9:15 – his Col 2:6 – received Col 3:4 – our Col 3:11 – but 1Ti 1:16 – believe 1Ti 2:6 – to be testified 2Ti 1:8 – the testimony 2Ti 3:15 – which Jam 1:17 – good 1Jo 5:11 – this Rev 20:15 – whosoever
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE SOURCE OF CHRISTIAN LIFE
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1Jn 5:12
To live for God on earth, and with Him in heaven; to work for His glory here and reign in it hereafter, is the chief end of man. The source of this life is Jesus Christ dwelling in the heart by His Holy Spirit. Its work is to guide all actions to the praise and glory of God; its influence is to give light to the whole world, and its end to transform man into the image of God, that he may be with Him when He shall appear, and see Him as He is.
I. Any condition of man short of this possession of Christ is unacceptable in the sight of God; it is death, not life.This is indeed a most solemn truth, and one upon which it becomes us who are accustomed to the outward observances of religion most strictly to examine ourselves. For our great danger in this day is that of being too easily satisfied with ourselvesof too easily assuming we are safe. Nothing now is risked by the profession of Christianity; position is rather raised than lowered by its adoption. It is very easy to walk in its forms, and very natural for our deceitful hearts to flatter us into the belief that the form is the power. Hence, Christianity is generally professed amongst us; it is also generally held in practice, if not in theory, that salvation is an easy work; and the world will not believe that the kind man, and the upright man, and the liberal man, and the refined man, can possibly be cast out of God. But the test which God applies is this, He that hath the Son hath life; and He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. The Bible admits, indeed, that there may be much beauty of character, as well as of form, without vital Christianity, but it denies that this beauty of character, any more than beauty of form, is a title to heaven. There is often a charm of natural disposition which makes a man like a sunbeam in all the relations of life, so that you cannot help but love him, and yet there may withal be no devotion of heart to God. There is often integrity of purpose, benevolence of heart, courtesy of manner, refinement of taste, cultivation of mind, power of intellectall very precious giftsand yet no godliness, no poverty of spirit, no mourning for sin, no hungering after righteousness, no love of Christ, and therefore no possession of Him, and no title to His Kingdom. The Creator who gave all these may be, and often is, forgotten by the creature who receives them all. Christ, in Whom are hid all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom, is often slighted by those to whom He has imparted the highest of human powers. And the Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, Whose gentle strivings would lead every man to Christ, is neglected, resisted, and quenched. Can there be a deeper sin than this? Is not this the principle of all sin, that the thing formed should be indifferent to the God Who formed it, that the man redeemed should be unconcerned about the Son of God Who redeemed him with His own Blood? Here then, in the presence of Him before Whom all hearts are open; in the presence of Him by Whom we must all soon be judged, I ask you, whether younger or older than myself, to search your own hearts and consciences on this point: Have I such an abiding faith in, and love of, my Saviour, Jesus Christ, that I can say, I humbly trust that He is mine, and I am His? Do not think lightly of the question. Look at it on its own merits; in your own closet, on your knees before God your Judge and Jesus Christ your Saviour, try to obtain something like an answer to the question, Have I the Son of God, or have I not? For He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. He is dead; and the wrath of God abideth on him.
II. This life will manifest itself in a very decided manner in contrast with the comparative death which is around it.He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked. Life is not a mere name, but a reality; not an idea, but an active principle. Christian life is not a profession or an observance, but an appropriation of the wisdom, the love, and the energy of God. And if, as it is most just to admit, man may be so much and do so much without it, to what a moral grandeur and glory ought he to rise with it! What do ye more than others? is the question which Christ addresses to His living members; and shame upon them if they must answer, Nothing; for others have but mans strength, they the strength of God. Man is a dependent being, he must lean on some one. Other men lean on one another, and fall together to the ground. The Christian leans on the everlasting arm of Christ. His life is borne up by the constant realisation of a living, personal Friend, Whose loving eye looks on him as on St. Peter, gently to rebuke his sin; Whose mighty arm is underneath him, as it was underneath St. Paul, mightily to strengthen him in the hour of his need.
(a) This life has its inner and its outer workings, its root and its branch; within there is the ever fresh conviction of sin, the ever-repeated confession of unworthiness, the struggles of faith with sense, the wrestlings of prayer, the kindlings of hope and love. Sometimes it seems almost extinguished as the old nature reasserts its strength; sometimes it seems almost to reach heaven, to have its conversation there, and to be above the rise and fall of this worlds troubled waves. Death knows nothing of this; it has no feeling; the dead soul has no fears or doubts, no struggle, no agony. Feeling, though it be ever so painful, is better than this; better than the cold numbness of mortification; it is at least a sign of life, and this life will struggle through the cloud and darkness to the clear, calm light of day. For peace and joy are the proper healthy life of the Christian soul. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day; and in Thy righteousness they shall be exalted. And yet the holiest of all will be the foremost to confess that they are ever falling short; others feel their holiness and wonder at it; but they are ever conscious of sin, and the more they have of life, the keener are their eyes to see, and their touch to feel, the slightest speck of sin. But, blessed be God, He does not depart from us because we have yet remaining corruption. Not our perfect life, but His perfect righteousness forms our title. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
(b) This life manifests itself in outward action, setting man to work, not for himself, but for Christ; making it his ambition to do great things for Gods honour, rather than for his own pleasure; implanting in him, as the great principle of his life, that whether he eat or drink, he shall do all to the glory of God. And it will have a most triumphant manifestation hereafter, when the scattered dust of our bodies shall rise again, body and soul be reunited, and death swallowed up of life.
(c) And this resurrection of the body is no little part of life; you will feel the truth of this if for a moment you conceive yourself standing by the dead body of that person whom you love above all else on earth. You are gazing upon what? Mere corruption, upon mere dust and ashes, if there be no resurrection of the body. And can a belief in the immortality of the soul calm you? Can you endure the thought that you shall never, never see that face again? I think not. It might be the heart that you most loved; it might be the character that you most admired; it might be the Christian spirit to which you were most devoted; but it was still heart and character and spirit mirrored in the glance of that eye and the smile of that lip, in the earnestness of that brow and the melody of that voice; and if it were only with the spirit you were again to have intercourse, you would feel it was but half your friend. Death would not be swallowed up. But our Forerunner has gone up to heaven, Bone of our bone, and Flesh of our flesh. He has swallowed up death in victory. Where He is, there we shall be also.
Rev. Canon F. Morse.
Illustration
The records of pastoral visitation press the distinction upon us with the emphasis of actual fact. On the bed of sickness and of death, the contrast between him who has but a name and him who has Life is often very striking. The one gifted, it may be, with intellect and acquirements, and familiar with the facts of Christianity, clearly understands the scheme of salvation, and admires its perfect adaptation to the wants of man. I can see how it suits others, he says, but, alas! I cannot apply it to myself. I believe the facts, but I cannot take them as for me. Christ Jesus is indeed a Saviour, but I cannot think He is my Saviour. Argument is in vain with such a man. He knows all the Scripture you can bring before him. It has floated for years on the surface of his understanding, but has never reached the depths of his heart. He sees, knows the history of, admires, but he has not, Christ. And between this admiring and this having the difference is infinite. To the other Christ is Life, Christ is all. You may see him poor, desolate, afflicted, his bones wearing through his flesh, his last remaining earthly comfort removed; yet he tells you that he would not be without his trials for the world, they keep him near his Saviour, and that is all he wants. He has no more doubt of his acceptance in Christ than you have of your existence as you stand beside his bed. He tells you in the simple language of a poor sailor that his sins are cast, not into the shallow water, but into the depths of the sea; that his name is enrolled, not in the Queens books, but in the Lambs book of Life; that he has good anchorage, the harbour is in view, and as he has often cried in the dark night-watch at sea, All is well. Who can pass from one such scene to another, and not feel that they re-echo with solemn emphasis, He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life?
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
1Jn 5:12. The foregoing important truths are summed up in the conclusion that to have life one must have the Son by sincere belief in Him as the source of that life.