1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:1–2:6 God Is Light and Christ Is the Way. John begins his letter by directing attention to Christ’s divinity, incarnation, saving death, and intercessory ministry. He also stresses God’s ineffable brilliance (“light,” 1:5) and the ubiquity of human sin.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:1–4 Prologue. A dozen or so first-person plural references (“we,” “our,” “us”) highlight the eyewitness testimony of John and other early Christians, particularly the apostles. They know “fellowship with the Father and with his Son” (v. 3) and yearn to see it extend to readers.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:1 From the beginning could refer to the time of Jesus’ birth or the beginning of his ministry. But it more likely refers to the predawn of time (see John 1:1), just as the Septuagint uses the same expression (Gk. ap’ archēs) to say that the Lord existed “from the beginning” (Hab. 1:12 lxx) and that the origins of the Promised One would be “from the beginning” (Mic. 5:1 lxx). In other words, John is pointing to Christ’s preexistence. seen … looked upon … touched. John was an eyewitness to the physical and historical reality of Jesus’ life on earth. His message is not based on an ecstatic vision, grand idea, or mere human religious conviction.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:2 The repetition of made manifest (publicly seen and known) stresses the revelatory nature of Christ’s coming: he was sent from and revealed by God. Life … eternal life refers to the nature and quality of life in fellowship with God (cf. John 5:24), as revealed primarily in the life of Christ and then experienced secondarily by Christians. Such fellowship grows out of the vital and dynamic existence enjoyed by the Son with the Father.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:3 John is moved to proclaim what he has witnessed in keeping with the commission he and other apostles received (Matt. 28:19–20; Acts 1:8). The purpose of this proclamation is not just forgiveness of people’s sins (as a simplified view of evangelism would have it) but is far richer, for the gospel message binds together those who receive it: so that you too may have fellowship with us. Yet the purpose is still richer than mere human fellowship, for believers’ fellowship is with the Father and with his Son. Such “fellowship” is personal communion with the Father made possible by the mediation of the Son.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:4 writing … so that. One of 1 John’s several stated purposes is to promote joy. Jesus promoted joy as well (John 15:11; 16:24). It is difficult to decide between “our joy” (esv text) and “your joy” (esv footnote), for several very early and reliable manuscripts have one reading, and several have the other (the only difference is one letter in Greek). “Our” probably includes the readers (with the sense “all of our,” cf. 1 John 1:3).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:5–10 God’s Nature and Human Sin. “God is light” (v. 5) reflects an OT background where “light” symbolizes both knowledge and purity (see notes on John 1:4–5; 8:12). All of John’s writing flows from the reality of God in his spiritual perfection, moral excellence, and utter transcendence—his light (see 1 Tim. 6:16). This will contrast sharply with errant humans protesting their innocence (1 John 1:6, 8, 10).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:6 If we say. John may be paraphrasing what some were falsely claiming. If God is light (v. 5), then those who walk in darkness are not walking with God, no matter what they say.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:7 Walk in the light means to reflect God’s perfection (see v. 5) in the human sphere and includes both correct doctrine (truth) and moral purity (holiness). The symbolism of light as knowledge (see note on vv. 5–10) also implies that when Christians “walk in the light” their lives will be known, and will not contain hidden sins, falsehoods, or deception. Such walking “in the light” results in deep divine and human fellowship (see v. 3) and progressive cleansing from all sin.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:8 have no sin. See note on 3:9–10. we deceive ourselves. The devil (3:8) or the world (2:15) may contribute to human straying, but in the end each individual bears responsibility for his or her own sin. Some sin remains in every Christian’s life (“have,” present tense), even that of the elderly apostle John (“we”).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:9 Christians must confess (their) sins, initially to receive salvation and then to maintain fellowship with God and with one another (v. 3). faithful and just to forgive. God is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression” (Num. 14:18). Yet John also makes it clear (1 John 3:6, 9) that persistent unrepented sin is not the mark of a Christian—God “will by no means clear the guilty” (Num. 14:18).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 1:10 have not sinned. See note on 3:9–10. his word is not in us. A person may have heard and assented to the gospel message, but until it brings him to acknowledge his sin, it has not taken root.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:1–6 Jesus Christ in Everyday Life. The light (1:5) that God sheds on daily living comes through his Son.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:1 My little children. John’s way of addressing his readers (cf. vv. 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21) exemplifies the love to which he summons readers. may not sin. See note on 3:9–10. Jesus is an advocate, taking up the cause of believers in the presence of God the Father. Otherwise their sin would bring judgment upon them. Paul speaks of Christ as mediator (1 Tim. 2:5), and Heb. 8:1 refers to him as high priest.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:2 Propitiation (Gk. hilasmos) here means “a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath and turns it to favor,” and that is also the meaning of the English word “propitiation.” (See note on Rom. 3:25.) As the perfect sacrifice for sin, Jesus turns away God’s wrath (see also 1 John 4:10). For the sins of the whole world does not mean that every person will be saved, for John is clear that forgiveness of sins comes only to those who repent and believe the gospel (see 2:4, 23; 3:10; 5:12; cf. John 3:18; 5:24). But Jesus’ sacrifice is offered and made available to everyone in “the whole world,” not just to John and his current readers.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:3 by this we know. Assurance of salvation is possible (see note on 2 Pet. 1:10). First John gives numerous means of self-diagnosis (cf. 1 John 1:7; 2:5; 3:14; 4:13; 5:2). Here the test is ethical: do professing Christians have a changed life and keep the Lord’s commandments? Obedience to God does not bring about justification (which comes by faith alone), but obedience as a pattern of life does give evidence that one has been born again. To know him involves a personal relationship that transforms practical behavior.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:5 love of God is perfected. This love is not only a feeling but also an ethical response (keeps his word). may know. See note on v. 3.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:6 walk in the same way. The way that led to the cross. Believers need not and cannot repeat Christ’s unique saving death, but they can mirror his faith, love, piety, obedience, and self-sacrifice, and this pattern of life will give greater assurance “that we are in him” (v. 5).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:7–17 The Abiding Commandment in a Transient World. John’s focus shifts to the love commandment and the challenge of living out the Christian message in a world where “darkness” (vv. 8, 9, 11) and “the evil one” (vv. 13, 14) seem to dominate.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:7–11 The Primacy of Love. It is easy to lose touch with the basics of knowing the God who is love (4:8).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:7 The old commandment is love for God and love for others, both of which are commanded in the OT (Lev. 19:18; Deut. 6:5). Jesus confirmed (Matt. 22:34–40) but also renewed these teachings, so they also constitute a new commandment (John 13:34). It is what the apostles were given from the beginning (cf. 1 John 3:11).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:8 the darkness is passing away. The age to come has not yet fully arrived (see 3:2), but it is progressively advancing in this world, for the true light is already shining. God’s people can reflect his light by embracing the new commandment to love.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:9–11 hates his brother. John often writes in black-and-white terms for emphasis (e.g., light vs. darkness, truth vs. lies). darkness has blinded his eyes. In contrast to “light” (see note on 1:5–10), “darkness” and “blindness” in Scripture often represent rejecting God’s truth and persisting in sin (see John 3:19; 12:39–40; 2 Cor. 4:4). On the central role of love in the Christian life, see note on John 13:34–35.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:12–14 The Confidence of God’s People. John knows his message is greater than the sinister realities against which he warns. I am writing to you … I write to you. The emphatic, repeated direct address points to John’s strong feeling and determination to bring assurance to his readers. He expresses his confidence in the role of the Father and the word of God in their lives. Some view (little) children, fathers, and young men as symbolizing the stages of spiritual maturity in a Christian’s life. Others think “little children” refers to all of John’s readers (cf. note on v. 1), while “fathers” refers to older believers and “young men” to those newer in the faith.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:15–17 The Lure of This Fleeting Age. The love of the Father implants a desire to break with idolization of the world.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:15 Do not love the world should not be read as an utter rejection of the world, for “God … loved the world” (John 3:16). Rather, John warns against devotion to a world system that is opposed to God (cf. John 12:31; James 4:4; 1 John 5:19). Love of the Father probably carries a double meaning, referring both to the love God has for his people and the love they have for him. The former generates the latter (4:7, 9–10).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:16 In warning against all that is in the world, John does not demonize the whole created order (cf. Gen. 1:31). Rather, he gives examples (desires of the flesh, etc.) of what the believer should guard against. Human desires are part of God’s creation and therefore not inherently evil, but they become twisted when not directed by and toward God.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:17 the world is passing away. Its appearance of permanence is deceptive. History is not an endless cycle but is speeding toward a conclusion willed by God (cf. v. 8). abides forever. Augustine in a sermon on this text wrote, “Hold fast to Christ. For you he became temporal, so that you might partake of eternity” (Homilies on the First Epistle of John 2.10).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:18–3:10 Overcoming Antichrist by Confession of the Son. John sketches details of the challenges Christians face and how these may be surmounted.
The “last days” (the day of salvation, 2 Cor. 6:2) have already come but the “last day” (the day of salvation and wrath, 1 Thess. 5:1–11) has not yet arrived. The following are equivalent expressions for the “last days” (the period of time between Jesus’ death and resurrection and the final judgment).
View this chart online at http://kindle.esvsb.org/c221
| “the last days” | Acts 2:17; 2 Tim. 3:1; Heb. 1:2; James 5:3 |
| “the last hour” | 1 John 2:18 |
| “the last time” | Jude 18 |
| “the last times” | 1 Pet. 1:20 |
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:18–27 Warning and Assurance. The existence of “antichrist” (v. 18) and those trying to deceive (v. 26) Christians is alarming. But John is confident that they can find the resources to abide in Christ (v. 29).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:18 The last hour began with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (cf. Heb. 1:2); his second coming could occur at any time (cf. notes on Acts 2:17; 1 Cor. 7:29–31; 2 Tim. 3:1; see chart). Antichrist is mentioned with this name in the NT only here and in 1 John 2:22; 4:3; 2 John 7 (but cf. the “man of lawlessness,” 2 Thess. 2:1–10; see note on 2 Thess. 2:3). Broadly, an “antichrist” is anyone “who denies that Jesus is the Christ” (1 John 2:22). More specifically, John understands such a person to be a human representative of the “evil one” of whom Jesus spoke (John 17:15). many antichrists. Persons doing the devil’s bidding and not God’s will.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:19 John’s readers had recently seen people leave the church (out from us). Though they outwardly belonged to the church, their departure revealed that they were not truly of us; that is, they did not have genuine faith. If they had been of us, that is, if they had been genuine Christians, they would have continued with us. This implies that those who are truly saved will never abandon Christ, for they will be kept by his grace (cf. Jude 24). That it might become plain shows divine purpose behind the departure of this group.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:20 Anointed by the Holy One probably means being regenerated by the Holy Spirit. In the OT, physical anointing with oil (cf. Ex. 28:41; 1 Sam. 16:13) was an outward sign of the inward transforming and empowering work of the Holy Spirit (cf. Isa. 61:1; 2 Cor. 1:21).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:22 John clearly describes the antichrist as he who denies that Jesus is the Christ and who denies the Father and the Son (see note on v. 18).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:23 Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also (cf. 5:13; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; note on John 3:18). The world’s religions do not constitute “many paths to the one God,” for all except the Christian faith refuse to confess that Jesus is God’s Son (cf. notes on 1 John 4:3; 4:15).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:24 what you heard from the beginning. The original and authentic saving message of Christ’s death for sin and his conquest of death.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:27 anointing. See note on v. 20. That this anointing abides implies that Christians have the resources to discern doctrinal error. no need that anyone should teach you. Yet by writing this letter, John is obviously teaching them. He means, rather, that they have no need for any instruction that diverges from the gospel message.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:28–3:3 Christians as Children of God. Having reaffirmed his readers’ commitment to the true Son of God, not the Antichrist (vv. 18–27), John urges them to strive for the ethical integrity and sense of urgency appropriate to their spiritual identity.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:28 abide in him. See notes on John 8:31; 15:4. so that. Maintaining one’s personal relationship with Christ will prevent straying into doctrine or conduct of which one will be ashamed at his coming. When he appears, many will lack confidence and will shrink from him, because he will come in judgment.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 2:29 To know that he is righteous is to have placed one’s faith in Christ, not in one’s own moral uprightness.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:1 the world does not know us. There is built-in friction between those who know and serve Christ and those who do not.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:2 What we will be means having glorified bodies that will never be sick or grow old or die, and being completely without sin. No one like that has yet appeared on earth (except Christ himself after his resurrection). we shall be like him. In eternity, Christians will be morally without sin, intellectually without falsehood or error, physically without weakness or imperfections, and filled continually with the Holy Spirit. But “like” does not mean “identical to,” and believers will never be (e.g.) omniscient or omnipotent as Christ is, since he is both man and God.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:4–10 Children of God and the Forsaking of Sin. To confess the Son and to have the Father (2:23) profoundly alters daily living.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:4 Lawlessness (Gk. anomia) is activity bereft of God’s guidance and in violation of his law. sin is lawlessness. Even Christians sin (1:9; 2:1), so it may seem like a trivial matter. But to disregard sin’s grave implications is disastrous.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:5 Jesus appeared in order to take away sins, not only so that sin might be forgiven (1:9) but also so that it might cease to exercise its tyrannical bondage. in him there is no sin. A reminder that “God is light” (1:5), and his Son embodies his sinlessness.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:6–7 No one who abides … keeps on sinning. True followers of Christ do not recklessly and habitually violate what their anointing (2:20, 27) has planted within them (see note on 3:9–10). Those who do habitually sin have neither seen him nor known him. They are not genuine Christians. On “abides,” see also notes on John 8:31; 15:4.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:8 The reason the Son of God appeared restates v. 5 but here specifies the connection of sin to the devil. Knowing Christ means becoming involved in an all-out war against the works of the devil, that is, the practice of sinning.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:9–10 born of God. See John 3:3–8. God’s seed. Some take this to be the Word of God that brings about the new birth (cf. James 1:18, 22; 1 Pet. 1:23, 25). Others see it as a way of speaking of the Holy Spirit in his regenerating and transforming presence within the believer. Since the Holy Spirit works through the Word in regeneration, both of these ideas are likely intended here. In other words, because the Word is present in the believer’s heart through the work of the Spirit, the believer cannot keep on sinning. Thus the hearts of genuine Christians (those who are truly children of God) have been so transformed that they cannot live in a pattern of continual sin—though this does not mean that Christians are ever completely free from sin in this life (see 1 John 1:8–10). By this it is evident. Or, as Jesus said of false prophets, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:16). does not love his brother. John returns to the ethical dimension, the true barometer of what people really believe, whatever they may say.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:11–4:6 Overcoming Evil by Listening to the Apostle. The beginning of this section (3:11, “this is the message”) and its summary (4:6, “Whoever knows God listens to us”) mark these verses as describing how to avoid the “practice of sinning” and “lawlessness” (3:4).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:11–24 Overcoming Cain’s Malice. In John 8:44 Jesus points to the devil as the arch liar and murderer. Here John uses Cain (Gen. 4:1–16) to introduce discussion of what Christians must both avoid and pursue.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:13 Do not be surprised. Abel did the right thing and was bitterly opposed (v. 12). John knows this dynamic is at work in every age (see John 16:2–3, 33).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:14 We know … because we love. An assurance of salvation is the inner drive that leads one to care for fellow believers (see note on 2:3).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:15 is a murderer. John agrees with the teaching of Jesus (Matt. 5:22, 28) that outward conformity to God’s command (“You shall not murder,” Ex. 20:13) is not enough, for even a heartfelt desire to break the command violates it (note the command about inward desires in Ex. 20:17).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us. Jesus’ path to the cross marks the selfless, self-giving way of life to which his followers are called.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:20 whenever our heart condemns us. Whenever one has an inward conviction of sin. It is vital in such times to have a living faith; the proposition that God is greater than our heart grants us assurance that he has forgiven us through the atoning work of Christ.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:21 A clear conscience before God leads to boldness and confidence before God in prayer.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:22 whatever we ask we receive. Cf. note on 5:15. Because we keep his commandments implies a direct connection between obeying God and receiving answers to prayer. Do what pleases him implies it is possible to do things each day that actually “please” God.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:23 his commandment, that we believe. Personal trust in Christ is just as important as the ethical behavior stressed in vv. 11–22.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 3:24 the Spirit. This is the letter’s first explicit mention of the third person of the Trinity (see also 4:2, 6, 13; 5:6, 8). But as author of the Fourth Gospel, John would have presupposed from the start of this letter the existence and importance of the “Helper,” “the Spirit of truth,” whom Jesus promised to send (see John 14:16–18, 26; 15:26; 16:7–14; 20:22).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:1–6 Overcoming the Antichrist’s Deception. It is not only Cain’s bad precedent of lack of love that John fears for his readers; it is also the forces of spiritual deception. John furnishes a litmus test to detect them.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:1 do not believe every spirit. Christian faith is not spiritual gullibility. test the spirits. The unseen spiritual influences that guide people’s speech and actions can be “tested” by observing their doctrine and conduct as well as by the gift of spiritual discernment (cf. 1 Cor. 12:10; 14:29). False prophets are people who claim to speak for God but are actually speaking by demonic influence (1 John 4:3–4). In today’s age of “tolerance,” discriminating discernment can be viewed as being judgmental (cf. “Judge not,” Matt. 7:1). Yet Jesus also taught, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment” (John 7:24).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:2 By this you know. John establishes a doctrinal standard, specifically a Christological one, for testing spirits (see v. 1). If a spirit (or a person moved to speak by such a spirit) does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, that spirit or person is misleading God’s people. Apparently many false teachers were saying that Jesus only “appeared” to be human. This was probably based on a false idea that the material creation was inherently evil and therefore physical bodies were evil.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:3 every spirit that does not confess Jesus. That is, whoever refuses to acknowledge that Jesus is God the Son, “who has come in the flesh” (v. 2). Anyone can talk about Jesus and even believe that he lived on earth, as other religions, cults, and philosophies often affirm. But unless such people affirm both the full deity and the full humanity of Jesus, they are not truly “confessing Jesus,” but, as John states in unequivocal terms, they are under the influence of the spirit of the antichrist.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:4 he who is in you. The Holy Spirit (see vv. 2, 6). he who is in the world. Satan and, by implication, his demons (cf. v. 3; 5:19).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:5 They are from the world … the world listens to them. Jesus himself did not convince most leaders of his time (John 7:48; Acts 4:26), and even the common people who followed him were often fickle (John 6:66). they speak from the world. Their speech originates from and is empowered by the world’s viewpoint and values.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:6 does not listen to us. People who are not true believers resist sound doctrine. It does not make sense to them and does not fit their man-centered, materialistic system of thought (cf. 1 Cor. 2:14).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:7–21 The Assurance of God through the Love of God. John’s teaching in these verses bears comparison with the apostle Paul’s “love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:7–12 The Perfecting of God’s Love. The closing words of this section, “his love is perfected in us” (v. 12), capture the direction of John’s claims and exhortation.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:7 whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. This does not rule out the need for faithful confession of Christ (2:23; 4:2) and ethical integrity (3:16). But love completes the picture of a life in fellowship with God. Love is presented here as a consequence of, not a precondition for, being born of God. Unbelievers can love others to some degree, but not in the way that God’s indwelling presence enables Christians to love (cf. 4:8–11).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:8 does not know God, because God is love. The person who lacks love shows himself to be unchanged at the core of his being by the gospel message. John is not saying that God is only love (he has numerous other attributes), nor that love is God (a statement for which there is no scriptural support). “God is love” means that God continually gives of himself to others and seeks their benefit. There was eternal love between the persons of the Trinity even before the world was created (John 17:24), and God’s love is the ultimate source of any love that Christians are able to display (1 John 4:11, 12, 19).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:9 God’s love is not an abstract principle or sentiment but was made manifest in the sending of his only Son into the world, so that sinful humanity might live, i.e., receive eternal life.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:10 not that we have loved God. God’s love sets the standard for the love Christians are called to embody. propitiation. See note on 2:2. Sin brings divine wrath. On the cross, Jesus bore that wrath for our sins (see 2 Cor. 5:21).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:11 Here and in v. 7 John uses a strong term of endearment, beloved (Gk. agapētoi), evidence that he himself has been mastered by the love he calls for. He uses the same word also at 2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1. See also note on 2:1, “my little children.”
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:12 No one has ever seen God. See note on John 1:18.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:13–21 The Assurance of God’s Spirit. God’s Spirit (v. 13) gives impetus for and assurance in the high calling of mutual love.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:13 The presence and activity of the Holy Spirit within Christians are evidence that they are abiding in God (see notes on John 8:31; 15:4).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:14 we have seen and testify. This was particularly and uniquely true for apostles like John, who were Jesus’ hand-picked witnesses. By extension and through faith, all subsequent believers testify to the same truths. Savior occurs in John’s writings only here and in John 4:42.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:15 Jesus is the Son of God, not in the derived sense that all Christians as God’s children are his adopted “sons” and heirs (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 3:26) but in a unique sense (the Son of God) in which Jesus is acknowledged as personally divine and as sharing fully every attribute of God (see note on John 1:14). In 1 John 4:2 it was required that true teachers affirm Christ’s full humanity; here it is required that they affirm his full deity.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:16 we have come to know and to believe. Assurance of salvation, while never an arrogant presumption, can become a settled state of mind and heart (see notes on 2:3; 5:13).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:17 By this refers to the previous verse, where John speaks of believers abiding in God and God abiding in them. confidence for the day of judgment. Either eternal life or eternal punishment awaits all humanity (see John 3:36), and God’s love furnishes a sure hope for those who have trusted in him. as he is so also are we in this world. Just as the Son was and is present in the world in a loving fashion that in no way attracted divine displeasure, so are the Son’s followers. The love that Christ embodied and lived out among believers is their confidence in the day of judgment.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:18 No fear in love does not rule out the presence and constructive effect of “the fear of the Lord” that is “the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). Here John speaks of fear of final judgment (cf. 1 John 4:17). God’s perfect love for believers casts out the fear of wrath and eternal punishment.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 4:19 We love because. Christian love is a gift from God, demonstrated supremely in the cross (see Rom. 5:8). God’s love always takes the initiative, and the love of Christians is a response to that love. Likewise, all morally good human actions are good not because they conform to some arbitrary human standard of good but because they are rooted in imitation of the morally perfect character of God and conform to God’s commands.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:1–12 Faith in the Son as the Way to Life. So far, John has spoken much of love and obedience but not so much of faith. The emphasis now shifts to believing in the Son. Of 1 John’s 10 references to believing, seven are in ch. 5.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:1–5 Faith Keeps the Commandments of God. The road to love—such a great concern of John’s—is paved with faith in Christ.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:1 Everyone who believes that. The word “that” underscores that saving faith has a particular content. It is not a vague religious commitment but a wholehearted trust in the saving work of Christ. Everyone who believes has been born of God. Regeneration precedes faith (cf. 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; note on Eph. 2:5).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:2 Obeying God’s commandments in Scripture is the way to love the children of God because God’s commandments show believers the true way to do good for others (cf. Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14). Love and law are complementary.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:3 not burdensome. God’s love in his people gives them the desire to love and please him. So with eagerness they keep his commandments. Rightly understood and followed, God’s commandments bring believers great joy and freedom, not a sense of oppression (cf. Matt. 11:28–30).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:4 overcomes the world. Genuine Christians are not defeated by the world’s hostility or compelled by it to turn from Christ.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:6–12 Faith Receives the Testimony of God. Having taught and urged so many things in his letter, John underscores the basis for his authority: the testimony of God (v. 9) in the coming of Jesus, which John personally witnessed.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:6 Water most likely refers to Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. Blood signifies Christ’s atoning death on the cross. the Spirit is the one who testifies. The structure of the verse emphasizes that it is the characteristic work of the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the fact that Christ came (see v. 6a). It is the inward work of the Spirit in the heart of the believers to convict of sin and to open their eyes to see the truth of who Christ is and to understand the meaning of his atoning death for their sins (cf. 5:10). Likewise, the indwelling presence of the Spirit is given to abide in believers and to teach them the truth of God’s Word (2:27; 4:13).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:7–8 three that testify. The gospel is not based on merely human testimony. John indicates that there are in fact “three that testify,” namely, the witness of the Spirit (cf. note on v. 6), the water baptism of Jesus (including the “Spirit descending on him like a dove” and the voice of the Father from heaven; Mark 1:10–11; cf. John 1:32–34), and the blood (which “cleanses us from all unrighteousness”; 1 John 1:7). These three agree, thereby providing persuasive confirmation for believing in Jesus as the “Son of God” (5:10). The OT taught that every charge must be confirmed by “two or three witnesses” (Deut. 17:6; 19:15), a principle continued in the NT (Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:9 the testimony of God. In the strongest possible terms, John claims divine authority for his teaching. It is not merely his testimony; it is God’s.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:10 has the testimony in himself. This is the “inward testimony of the Spirit,” the internal realization that Christians have of the Holy Spirit’s presence and work within them. has made him a liar. People who reject the Son of God as Savior, or are indifferent to the Son, are provoking God to his face.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:11 The testimony supporting faith in Christ is not a vague spiritual inkling but has definite substance. It is the message of Jesus’ incarnation, death, and resurrection, through which eternal life has been made available through faith in his Son.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:12 Has the Son implies a faith that is evident in love for others and devotion to God. Whoever does not have life is subject to eternal punishment (John 3:36). On Jesus as the one and only way to God, see notes on John 14:6; 1 John 2:23.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:13–21 Final Call to Faith and Understanding. John summarizes and extends many things already discussed. “Know” occurs seven times in these verses, indicating his focus on the assurance and even certainty of Christian faith and salvation.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:13 The Confidence that Faith Furnishes. Belief can be shaky, and John writes to believers who have seen their congregation split (cf. 2:19). That you may know implies that it is possible for Christians to have assurance of salvation (cf. 2:3; 3:14; note on 2 Pet. 1:10).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:14–17 The Prayer that Faith Enables. Prayer is central to a living faith. By refining his readers’ understanding of prayer, John promotes healthy and growing faith.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:14 To ask God according to his will does not mean that, before Christians can pray effectively, they need somehow to discover God’s secret plans for the future (sometimes called his “hidden will” or “will of decree”; cf. Deut. 29:29). Rather, it means they should ask according to what the Bible teaches about God’s will for his people (sometimes called God’s “revealed will” or “will of precept”). If Christians are praying in accordance with what pleases God as found in the teaching of Scripture, then they are praying according to his will (cf. Matt. 6:10; Eph. 5:17).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:15 To know that he hears us in whatever we ask is enough, because communion with God is the goal of prayer. we have the requests. Human experience testifies that Christians do not always receive all the things they ask from God, even things that seemingly accord with his revealed will (see note on v. 14). This verse must be understood in light of other passages of Scripture which show that praying according to God’s will includes the need to pray in faith (Matt. 21:22; James 1:6), with patience (Luke 18:1–8), in obedience (Ps. 66:18; 1 Pet. 3:12), and in submission to God’s greater wisdom (Luke 22:42; Rom. 8:28; 1 Pet. 4:19).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:16 Sin not leading to death is sin for which forgiveness is possible because (1) forgiveness is sought and (2) God is willing to grant it. Death and eternal life are present spiritual states as well as ultimate actual destinies (hell, heaven). Sin that leads to death is probably sin that is (1) unrepented of and (2) of the kind or nature that John has warned about throughout the letter: resolute rejection of the true doctrine about Christ, chronic disobedience to God’s commandments, persistent lack of love for fellow believers—all indications of a lack of saving faith—which will not be forgiven. I do not say. John leaves open whether to pray for that situation if it arises. It would be better in such cases to pray for repentance.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:17 All wrongdoing is a matter of grave concern given God’s utter perfection and zealous love. However, not all sin leads to death, so Christians should be proactive in praying for their own and others’ forgiveness.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:18–21 The Understanding that Faith Grants. The letter concludes on a note of high confidence and deep spiritual insight.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:18 does not keep on sinning. See notes on 3:6–7; 3:9–10. He who was born of God is a reference to Jesus Christ, who in his physical birth was “born of God” in that he was sent from God the Father and was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) and in his resurrection from the dead was “born of God” in that he was brought back to life (Col. 1:18). The evil one does not touch believers in the sense of causing permanent spiritual loss. See 1 John 4:4.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:19 we are from God. Christians have been spiritually reborn and are in that sense children of God. the whole world. See note on 2:15.
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:20 Has come points to the incarnation. given … understanding. Christians receive grace in order to grasp biblical teaching and receive the will to put it into practice. so that we may know him. True knowledge of God is a gracious act and gift of God (John 1:13).
1 JOHN—NOTE ON 5:21 Most NT letters contain final words of warning in their closing lines. Keep yourselves from idols means keep yourselves from trusting, obeying, revering, and following—that is, in effect, worshiping—anyone or anything other than God himself, and his Son Jesus Christ.