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CHAPTER V.

View and Illustration of the Sentiments, Discoveries, and Precepts contained in this Chapter.

THE apostle, in the preceding chapter, having, from various considerations, inculcated the love of mankind in general, and even of enemies, goeth on in this to speak of the obligation we are under to love, in a more particular manner, all who are the sincere disciples of Christ. And first, to shew that such are worthy of being loved, he declares, that every one who believeth Jesus is the Christ, is begotten of God. He possesseth the nature of God, and thereby is more truly a Son of God than any Jew who claims that high relation, merely on account of his descent from Abraham, John viii. 39. Next, to shew the obligation all who love God are under to love the disciples of Christ, he observes that every one who loveth God the begetter, will love also the begotten of him he will love good men because they resemble God in his moral qualities, ver. 1.-Then, that they might judge with certainty of their own character, he told them, the best method of knowing, whether from love to God they really loved the children of God, was to consider, whether from love to God they performed to his children what he commands them to perform, ver. 2.-For, said he, this is the natural expression of our love to God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome to the children of God, because they are agreeable to their inclinations, ver. 3.-and because, by the power of their faith, they are able to overcome all the temptations which the world lays in their way to induce them to break the commandments of God, ver. 4.

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But that we may know who the children of God are who overcome the world, and what their faith is by which they obtain that victory, the person who overcometh the world by the power of faith, is he who believeth that Jesus is the Son of God, sent into the world to bestow eternal life on all who believe, ver. 5.—And such a person's faith in Jesus as the Son of God is well founded for he was demonstrated to be the Son of God by the water and blood, even Jesus the Christ was proved to be God's Son, not by the water alone, but by the water and the blood. For at his baptism with water, Jesus was declared to be God's Son by a voice from heaven. The same was declared by the shedding of his blood, that is, by his death: for by his resurrection from the dead, God demonstrated him to be his Son. Now it is the Spirit who, by the water and the blood, beareth witness to Jesus as the Son of God. For, by descending on him in a visible shape at his baptism, he pointed him out to the Baptist (John i. 32, 33.) and to the surrounding multitude, as the person concerning whom the voice from heaven spake. In like manner, the Spirit bare witness to Jesus as the Son of God by the blood; for it was the Spirit who raised him from the dead, ver. 6..

The apostle, having thus declared how Jesus came into the world, attested as the Son of God by the water and the blood, proceeds to inform us, that there are three in heaven, and three on earth, who are continually witnessing something concerning Jesus, which he does not explain till ver. 11. where he tells us that the facts which they attest are, that God hath given us eternal life, and that this life is through his Son. Now, the three in heaven who bear witness to these important facts, are the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, ver. 7.-and the three on earth who bear witness to the same facts, are the Spirit, and the water, and the blood. All these witnesses, the apostle tells us, agree in one and the same testimony, ver. 8. And because they attest these facts by the appointment of God, he calls the joint testimony of the three

in heaven and of the three on earth, the witness of God; and observes, that if we receive the testimony of men, and without hesitation rely on it, even in the most important matters, the witness of God is of much greater force, to establish what he attesteth concerning his Son, ver. 9.— especially as he who believeth on the Son of God hath the thing witnessed by God begun in himself, whereas he who doth not believe God's witness concerning his Son, endeavours to make God a liar, ver. 10.-To this account of the witnesses in heaven and on earth, and of the credibility of their testimony, the apostle at length subjoins a declaration of the important facts to which they bear witness, namely, that God will bestow eternal life on believers, and that this life is to be bestowed on them through his Son, ver. 11.-Then repeats what he had hinted, ver. 10. that he who acknowledgeth Jesus to be the Son of God, hath the eternal life which God hath promised to bestow through his Son assured to him by the graces and virtues which his faith produces in him; whereas he who doth not acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, hath no assurance of eternal life, ver. 12.-Lastly, the apostle told them who believed on the name of the Son of God, that he had written these things to them concerning the coming of Jesus into the world attested to be the Son of God by the water and the blood, and concerning the three in heaven and the three on earth who are continually bearing witness to Jesus, and concerning the facts which they attest, namely, that God hath promised to give believers eternal life through his Son, that they might be assured of obtaining eternal life through him, and that they might continue to believe on his name, ver. 13.

John had told them, chap. iv. 17. that if they imitated God in his benevolence, it would give them boldness in the day of judgment. Here he assured them, that, even in the present life, they who believe on Jesus have this boldness with the Father, that if they pray to him for any thing according to his will, he hearkeneth to them, ver. 14.

and granteth them what they ask, because they are the disciples of his Son, ver. 15.-This assurance the apostle gave to the spiritual men in particular, and perhaps it was applicable to them only, telling them, That if any of them found a brother labouring under a bodily disease, inflicted on him for some sin he had committed, and if, from the signs of repentance which the sick shewed, the spiritual man had reason to think his sin was not to be punished with bodily death, he might, on account of his faith in God's promise, ask his recovery, if moved to do so by an impulse of the Spirit: and God, in answer to his prayer, would grant a miraculous recovery to such a sick person, the temporal punishment of whose sin was not a disease to end in death. At the same time, by observing that there was a sin unto death, for the removing of the punishment of which he did not direct any spiritual man to pray, he insinuated that they were to pray for a miraculous recovery of the sick sinner only in the case of his having repented of the sin for which he was punished, ver. 16. And to shew this more clearly, he added, though every unrighteous action, especially those by which our neighbour is injured, is sin, there is a great difference in sins, according as they are repented of or obstinately continued in: For there is a sin not unto death, from the punishment of which the sinner may be delivered, because he hath repented, ver. 17.-However, to prevent them from falling into mistakes in judging what sins were unto death and what not, he told them, that no one who hath been begotten of God sinneth habitually, because such

a person keepeth himself from the dominion of the devil. By making this observation, the apostle, I think, insinuated to the spiritual men, that the persons for whose recovery by miracle they were to pray, were to be not habitual sinners, but the begotten of God, whose sins were of infirmity, of ignorance, or of surprise; and of which they knew that the sinner had repented, ver. 18.-He added, that by keeping themselves from the dominion of the devil, they would know that they were begotten of God; as, by the wickedness which then prevailed among infidels and idolaters, they knew that the whole of them were lying under the dominion of the devil, ver. 19.-But they knew also that the Son of God had come, and had given them understanding to acknowledge the true God; so that they were under the dominion of the true God, by being under his Son Jesus Christ, ver. 20.-He therefore entreated them to keep themselves from idols,

NEW TRANSLATION.

CHAP. V.-1 Every one who believeth that Jesus is the Christ, hath been begotten,2 of God and every one who loveth the begetter, loveth also the begotten of him.3

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.'

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not burdensome,'

4 ('OTI, 254.) Because all that is begotten of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory which overcometh the world, EVEN our faith.2

5 Who is it that overcometh the world, but he who believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?!

because by worshipping idols they withdrew themselves from their subjection to the true God, and put themselves under the power of the devil, ver. 21.

Concerning the spiritual men's praying for the recovery of sick sinners, and the sinner being restored to health miraculously in consequence of such prayers, of which the apostle speaks in this chapter, it is proper to observe, that the infliction of diseases in punishment of gross irregularities, and the removing of them by miracle at the intercession of the spiritual men, like all the other miraculous powers, was intended to render the Christian societies venerable in the eyes of the heathens, by shewing that God was actually among the Christians, 1 Cor. xiv. 25. and to inspire the heathens with the desire of becoming members of a community which was honoured with such extraordinary privileges.

COMMENTARY.

CHAP. V.-1 Every one who believeth that Jesus is the Christ, and abideth in his fellowship and doctrine, hath been begotten of God: he is more truly a Son of God, than if he were descended from Abraham. And every one who loveth God the begetter, loveth also the begotten of him: loveth all who bear his image.

2 By this we know that we love the children of God in a proper manner, when we love God, and from love to him obey his commandments; especially his commandment to love one another.

3 For this is the natural expression of our love to God, that we keep his commandments; which is not a burdensome thing to the begotten of God, because his commandments are agreeable to their inclinations, and

4 Because all that is begotten of God overcometh the temptations which the world layeth in their way, to induce them to break God's commandments. And this victory over the world, we the begotten of God obtain through the influence of our faith.

5 That ye may know who it is that overcometh the temptations of the world, and what the faith is by which that victory is obtained, he is one who believeth that Jesus is the Son of God.

Ver. 1.-1. Every one who believeth that Jesus is the Christ. This is not to be understood of a mere speculative belief, but of such a firm persuasion, as influenceth the person who is possessed of it to obey Jesus implicitly, from a sense of his authority as the Christ, or Son of God, sent into the world to save inankind.

2. Hath been begotten of God. See chap. ii. 29. note 1. where this translation of is supported.-The unbelieving Jews thought themselves the children of God, because they were descended from Abraham by Isaac, and possessed the knowledge of the true God and some even of the believing Jews built their title to that high honour on the same foundation. But the apostle assured both, that God having attested Jesus to be the Christ, the only thing under the gospel dispensation which made men his children, was their believing on Jesus as the Christ or Son of God, and their lov. ing the children of God.

3. Every one who loveth the begetter, loveth also the begotten of him.]-The apostle, knowing that all the children of God love him as their Father, declareth it to be a characteristical mark of the children of God, that they love all their brethren because they bear the image of their Father.

Ver. 2-By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.]-Grotius, to render the apostle's reasoning clear, thinks the original should be construed and translated in the following manner: Εν τούτω γινωσκομεν ότι τον Θεόν αγαπωμεν όταν αγαπομεν τα τεκνα του Θεού και τας εντολας MUTOU THENMI, By this we know that we love God, when we love the children of God, and keep his commandments.' But, not to mention that this construction is forced, it represents the apostle as giving a mark by which we may know when we love God; whereas his intention is to shew how we may know when we love the children of God in a right manner. Now this was necessary to be shewed, since men may love the children of God because they are their relations, or because they are engaged in the same pursuits with themselves, or because they are mutually united by some common bond of friendship. But love proceeding from these considerations, is not the love of the children of God which he requir eth. By what mark then can we know that our love to the children of God is of the right sort? Why, saith the apostle, 'by this we may know that we love the children of God' in a right manner, when we love God, and' from that excellent principle 'keep his commandments,' especially his commandment to love his children because they bear his image. True Christian love, therefore, is that which proceeds from love to God, from a regard to his will, and which leadeth us to obey all his commandments.

Ver. 3. And his commandments are not burdensome,]-or diffi cult to his children. This must be understood of the commandments of God in ordinary cases. For his commandment to suffer

the loss of liberty, the spoiling of goods, torture, and death, in times of persecution, must be excepted.-To a good inan in ordinary cir cumstances, the keeping of God's commandments is easy, being the delight of his soul.

Ver. 4-1. All that is begotten of God overcometh the world.]— John useth v, the neuter gender, to comprehend all sorts of persons, males and females, old and young, Jews and Gentiles, free. men and slaves.

2. And this is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith.]-Our faith is the cause of our victory over the world. The power of faith in enabling men to overcome the temptations laid in their way by the things of the world, and by the wicked men of the world, is finely illustrated by examples, Heb. xi. which shew, that before the coming of Christ the children of God, by believing the things which he discovered to them, whether by the light of natural reason or by particular revelations, resisted the greatest tempta tions, sustained the bitterest sufferings, and performed the most difficult acts of obedience, and thereby obtained a great and lasting fame. But now that Christ hath come, and made the gospel revelation in person and by his apostles, the faith of the children of God by which they overcome the world, hath for its object all the doctrines and promises contamed in that revelation, and particularly the great doctrine which is the foundation of all the rest, namely, that Jesus is the Son of God, and Saviour of the world, as the apostle observes in the following ver. 5.

Ver. 5. Who is it that overcometh the world, but he who believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ?)-That the Jews universally believed their Messiah, or Christ, was to be the Son of God, appears from the following passages of scripture. Matt. xvi. 16. Simon Peter answer. ed and said, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.'--Luke iv. 41. 'Devils also came out of many, crying out and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God.'-John xx. 31. These are written, that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.'-Acts ix. 20, 'He preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.' -Farther, that the Jews universally believed the Son of God to be God, appears from John v. 17. 'Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. 18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.' -John x. 33. 'The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a inan, makest thy self God.'-Matt. xxvi. 63. "The high-priest said to him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God. 64. Jesus saith to him, Thou hast said. 65. Then the high-priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy: Behold now ye have heard his blasphemy. 66. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.'

6 This is he who came (dia, 113.) by water and blood, EVEN Jesus the Christ: not () by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And it is the Spirit who witnessed;2 (TI, 254.) because the Spirit is truth. (See the Illustration of this verse.)

7 (Ori, 261.) Farther, there are three who bear witness in heaven; the Father, the

6 We have good reason to believe that Jesus is the Son of God: For this is he who was proved to be the Son of God by his baptism and death, even Jesus the Christ; not by his baptism only, when he was declared God's Son by a voice from heaven, but also by his death, when the same thing was demonstrated by his resurrection from the dead: And it is the Spirit who was employed to bear witness by these miracles, because the Spirit is a true witness: He can neither deceive nor be deceived.

7 Farther, there are three who bear witness in heaven; the Father, the Word, or the Son himself, and the Holy Spirit; and these The high-priest and council, composed of men of the highest rank from printed editions, have been stated with the greatest fidelity and learning among the Jews, equally with the common people, and accuracy by Mill in his long note at the end of John's first epis believed that the Christ was the Son of God, and that the Son of tle, where he observes, that this verse is wanting in all the ancient God is himself God; otherwise they could not have reckoned Jesus Greek MSS. of the New Testament which have coine down to us, a blaspheiner for calling himself Christ the Son of God. From except a few which shall be mentioned immediately. It is wanting these indisputable facts it is evident, that the modern Socinians likewise in the first Syriac, and other ancient versions, particularly contradict the gospel history in two of its essential articles when the Coptic, Arabic, and Ethiopic, and in many of the present Latin they affirin, that the first Jewish Christians, before their conver- MSS. With respect to quotations from the Fathers, Mill acknow sion, had no idea that their Messiah was to come down from hea- ledges, that few of the Greek writers who lived before the council ven, having never been taught to expect any other than a man like of Nice have cited this verse. The same he observes concerning themselves. Next, since John nath so frequently declared, and in those who, after that council, wrote in defence of the Trinity what followeth the verse under consideration hath proved, that against the Arians and other heretics, which he thinks shews Jesus is the Christ, and the Son of God, the same Socinians must that this verse was not in their copies. be mistaken, when they affirm that in this epistle John is silent concerning the divinity of Christ, and hath not in any part of it censured those who deny it. See chap. iv. 3. note 1.

Ver. 6.-1. This is he who came by water and blood, even Jesus the Christ.]-The coming of Jesus the Christ, here spoken of, is his coming into public life, attested or proved to be the Christ and Son of God. Jesus came thus attested, first, by means of his bap tism in water; secondly, by means of his blood or death, followed by his resurrection.-The proof by water is mentioned before the proof by blood, because his baptism was prior to his death.Concerning Christ's baptism let it be remarked, that it was not the baptism of repentance; for Jesus had no sin to be repented of, 1 Pet. ii. 22. But it was the baptism of righteousness, Matt. iii. 14, 15.; that is, a baptism by which his righteousness, in calling himself Christ the Son of God, was manifested to the surrounding multitude. So the Baptist himself declared, John i. 31. That he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore I am come baptizing with water.' He was sent to baptize the people with water, that, being gathered together, they might hear and see Jesus proved to be the Son of God. Accordingly, when Jesus was baptized, coming up out of the water, Matt. iii. 17. Lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' This miraculous attestation Jesus himself called a greater witness of his being the Son of God, than the witness which John bare to him. And this witness being borne to him in the hearing of the multitude after his baptism, our apostle had good reason to say, This is he who came attested as the Son of God by means of water. And it was with great propriety that Jesus began his ministry immediately after receiving this miraculous attestation. See note 2.-But Jesus came attested by blood also; that is, he was attested to be Christ the Son of God by means of his death. For, 1. In his sufferings and death all the ancient prophecies concerning the sufferings of the Christ were fulfilled. 2. During his trial, Jesus expressly called himself 'Christ the Son of the blessed God,' before the Jewish council, and before Pontius Pilate. This is called, 1 Tun. vi. 13. his witnessing a good confession;' and for that confession he was put to death as a blasphemer. 3. During his sufferings and death, God bare witness to him as his Son, by the three hours of darkness, the earthquake, the rending of the rocks, and the splitting of the veil of the temple. 4. Jesus being put to death for calling himself Christ the Son of God, his resurrection from the dead was an infallible proof of his being the Son of God. For if he had falsely claimed that high title, God never would have raised him from the dead. On all these accounts, therefore, our apostle had good reason to affirm, that Jesus came attested as the Son of God by blood as well as by water.

2. And it is the Spirit who witnessed;}-namely, by the water and the blood. The Spirit bare witness to Jesus by means of the water; for after Jesus came out of the water in which he was bap. tized, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost was seen descending in a bodily shape, and lighting upon him, whilst he pray. ed. By this miracle the Spirit pointed him out to all present as the person of whom the voice from heaven spake. Accordingly, John Baptist told the Jews, that Jesus was pointed out to him as the Christ by that witness of the Spirit: John i. 32. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33. And I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.'-It is the Spirit likewise who witnessed, that Jesus is the Son of God by means of the blood. For it was the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, and thereby gave him that great attestation of his being the Son of God. So St. Peter affirmeth, 1 Pet. iii. 18. Hence he is said by St. Paul, 1 Tim. iii. 16. to have.been 'justified by the Spirit.'

3. Because the Spirit is truth;]-that is, the Spirit is true: for in the Hebrew tongue substantive nouns were often used for their corresponding adjectives. See Ess. iv. 17.-The apostle's meaning is, that the Spirit was einployed to bear witness to Jesus as God's Son, by means or on occasion of the water and the blood, because he is a witness who can neither deceive nor be deceived. Ver. 7.-1. For there are three, &c.]-In modern times the authenticity of this verse hath been the subject of much controversy. The arguments on both sides of the question, taken from ancient Greek MSS. and versions, and from quotations made by the Fathers, and

The only proofs, therefore, of the authenticity of the verse under consideration are,-1. Some of the most ancient and most correct Vatican Greek copies, (for others of them want this verse), from which the Spanish divines formed the Complutensian edition of the Greek Testament, and with which they were furnished by Pope Leo X. but especially the one which Mill thus describes, Proleg. No. 1090. Insignis ille præ cæteris Codex exime vetustatis spectatæque fidei, quem tanquam Archetypum Complutensibus nostris tradidit Leo decimus, quemque proinde secutos eos ait Erasmus." 2. A Greek copy, called by Erasmus Coder Britannicus, on the authority of which he inserted this verse in his edition anno 1522, but which he had omitted in his two former editions. This is supposed to be a MSS. at present in the Trinity College Library, Dub. lin, in which this verse is found with the omission of the word y before νμлTO. It likewise wants the last clause of ver. 8. name ly, xul of Tells 015 TO SV II.-Concerning this MS. Porson, in his letters to Travis, page 107. says, "It is certainly not earlier than the 15th century." 3. All Stephen's MSS., being seven in number, which contain the Catholic epistles, have this verse; only they want the words overv. But Wetstein says, he himself examined five of the seven of Stephen's MSS., which all omit from the words τω ουρανω to the words εν τη γη. 4. The Vulgate version, in most of the MS. copies and printed editions of which it is found, with some variations. 5. The testimony of Tertullian, who, according to Hammond, Bull, Mill, and others, alludes to this verse, Praxæam. c. 25. and who lived in an age in which, he saith, Præscript. c. 30. the authentice litera of the apostles were read in the churches. By authentica litera Mill understands, either the autographs of the apostles, which the churches to whom they were written had carefully preserved, or correct transcripts taken from these autographs. Also the testimony of Cyprian, who flourished about the middle of the third century, and who, in his epistle to Jubajanus, expressly cites the latter clause of this verse.-The objections which have been raised against the testimonies of Tertullian and Cyprian, Mill hath mentioned and answered in his long note at the end of 1 John v. which see in page 582. of Kuster's edition. 6. The testimony of many Greek and Latin fathers in subsequent ages, who have cited the last clause of this verse; and some of whom have appealed to the Arians themselves as acknowledging its authenticity. Lastly, the Complutensian edition, anno 1515, had this seventh verse exactly as it is in the present printed copies, with this difference only, that instead of και ούτοι οι τρεις έν εισι, it hath substituted the last clause of ver. 8. xo Tesis 14S TO BU SIT, and hath omitted it in that verse. These arguments appeared to Mill of such weight, that af ter balancing them against the opposite arguments, he gave it as his decided opinion, that in whatever manner this verse disap peared, it was undoubtedly in St. John's autograph, and in some of the copies which were transcribed from it.

Many modern critics, however, of greater note, are of a different opinion. Wherefore, instead of passing any judgment on a matter which hath been so much contested, I shall only observe,-1. That this verse, properly interpreted, instead of disturbing the sense of the verses with which it is joined, rather renders it more connected and complete; as shall be shewn in the course of the notes. 2 That in ver. 9. the witness of God is supposed to have been before appealed to; 'If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.' And yet, if ver. 7. is excluded, the witness of God is nowhere mentioned by the apostle. 3. That in the opinion of Beza, Calvin, and other orthodox commentators, the last clause of ver. 7 hath no relation to the unity of the divine essence; see note 6. It so, the Trinitarians, on the one hand, need not contend for the authenticity of this verse, in the view of supporting their doctrine; nor the Arians, on the other, strive to have it excluded from the text, as opposing their tenets. 4. That the doctrine which the Trinitarians affirm to be asserted in this verse is contained in other places of scripture. So Wall saith. Benson likewise in his dissertation written to prove this verse not genuine, saith, "If it were genuine, there could nothing be proved thereby but what may be proved from other texts of scripture."-But of these things every reader will judge for himself.

2. Who bear witness.]-Hammond translates or in the beginning of this verse quemadmodum, and x in the beginning of ver. 8. ita: 'As there are three who bear witness in heaven,-so there are three who bear witness on earth.' But this signification of T is uncom.

Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three

are one.

8 (K) And there are three who bear witness on earth, the Spirit, and the water,2 and the blood: (xi di тgus us to ev e) and these όσ three agree in one.1

9 If we receive the witness of men,' the witness of God is greater.? (OT, 261.) Now, this is the witness of God which he hath witnessed concerning his Son.

three are one: these three are one in respect of the unity of their testimony.

8 And there are three who bear witness on earth to the truth I am going to mention, ver. 11. the Spirit, the water, and the blood. And these three witnesses on earth agree in one and the same testimony. See ver. 7. note 6.

9 If we receive the testimony of men as sufficient to prove even the most important facts, the testimony of God by the witnesses in heaven and on earth certainly is better and more worthy of credit than the testimony of men. Now, this is the witness of God, which he hath borne by the witnesses in heaven and on earth, concerning

his Son. mon. Here or is a simple conjunction, as every one will acknowledge who perceives that the sentiment which it introduces is no reason for what is asserted in ver. 6. I have therefore translated it by the word farther, to intimate that a new subject is brought in, which is carried on to ver. 11.-MagTugouvr; in this verse, and Tov in ver. 6. being the participle both of the present and of the imperfect of the indicative; the former, as the participle of the present tense, denotes the continued witnessing of the three in heaven and of the three on earth; but the latter, as the participle of the imperfect tense, signifies that the witnessing of the Spirit, first by water and next by the blood, (ver. 6.), are actions passed and finished. Because the apostle hath not told us, ver. 7. and S. what the things are to which the three in heaven and the three on earth bear witness, some suppose it to be the fact mentioned ver. 5. namely, That Jesus is the Son of God.' But the intelligent reader, who attends to the connexion of the apostle's discourse, will be sensible that the declaration of the things witnessed is suspended to ver. 11.; and that they are there said to be, That God hath given to us eternal life,' and that 'this life is through his Son;' which are facts entirely different from the one which the Spirit is said, ver. 5. to have witnessed by 'the water and the blood; that is, by the miracles which accompanied our Lord's baptism and death.

3. The Father.]-The Father is here represented as continually witnessing in heaven that he hath given us eternal life through his Son, because on his Son's return from the earth, by placing him at his own right hand, he invested him with the government of the universe, for the purpose of destroying the enemies of mankind; and that, by his sentence as judge, he might acquit believers, and bestow on them eternal life. Farther, by accepting the sacrifice of his crucified body, which he came into heaven to offer, and declaring on that occasion the oath by which he had constituted him a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec, and appointing him to minister as a priest in heaven, the true tabernacle, or habitation of the Deity, God declared the efficacy and acceptableness of the propitiation which his Son had made for the sins of the world. Wherefore, Christ's continued possession of the government of the universe by the appointment of the Father, and his remaining a priest in heaven by the same appointment, is fitly called the Father's continual witnessing in heaven that he hath given us eternal life through his Son.

4. The Word.)-Oys. This appellation John hath given to the Son of God, both in his gospel and in this epistle. If the foregoing explication of the witness which the Father continually bears in heaven to the fact, that he hath given us eternal life through his Son, is admitted, it will easily be allowed, that the Son's exercising the government of the universe, for the purpose of protecting behevers from their spiritual enemies, and perfecting them in holiness, and his officiating continually for the purpose of opening heaven to their prayers now, and to their persons after the general Judgment, may with equal propriety be called, the continual witnessing of the Word in heaven to the truth, that the Father hath given us eternal life through his Son.

5. And the Holy Spirit.]-As the Son of God was conceived, or made flesh, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and was raised from the dead in the human nature by the same power, his exercising in heaven the offices of King and Priest, in the human nature, which was communicated to him by the Holy Spirit, is fitly termed the Holy Spirit's continual witnessing in heaven that God hath given us eternal life through his Son.

6. And these three are one.]-Ouro Tesis v. To under. stand the meaning of this passage, the substantive which agrees with the adjective iv must be known. Those who think the doctrine of the Trinity is here declared, suppose that i agrees with some word expressive of the divine nature. But that word can neither be, nor quis, nors; because all these being feminine words, none of them can be joined with iv, which is in the neuter gender. The only word which can be joined with it, is either sexy. MA, or Gov, or Sov. If we yua is fixed on, the meaning will be, These three are one thing, or being. But since it does not fol low that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are God, because they are one thing or being, any more than it follows that any par ticular man is God, because his soul, and body, and spirit, is one being, it will not serve the purpose of the Trinitarians to fix on the word exy. Far less will it serve their purpose to adopt the word TETOV, these three are one person; because this would destroy the distinction of persons in the Godhead. The only word therefore that remains is, which being itself an adjective, the substantive sexy must be joined to it thus, These three are one divine thing or Godhead, or God; for so To Sr signifies, and is translated, Acts xvii. 29. But if this had been John's meaning, he would not have written, these three are is, but i;; leading us directly to supply the word as, agreeably to the common phraseology, of which St. Paul hath given us a remarkable example, 1 Cor. viii. 6.

To us there is (55) one God the Father.'-Besides, it was not to John's purpose to speak here of the unity of the heavenly wit nesses, in respect either of their nature or of their number. I am therefore of opinion, that when he wrote όντα, οι τρεις ἐν εισι, he meant only that they are one in respect of the agreement of their testimony, conformably to the use of the phrase, I Cor. iii. 8. where signifies, not unity of number, but of design: 'Outeumu di XXI Ó MOTICON ivy, 'Now the planter and the waterer are one:' they have one end in view; namely, that the thing which they plant and water may grow to maturity. The phrase thus understood, must, both in 1 John v. 7. and in 1 Cor. iii. 8. be completed as follows: Toivo, they agree in one thing.' Accordingly, both Beza and Calvin, by the oneness of the heavenly witnesses, understand, not unity of number, but unity of testimony. Beza's note on the passage is: "Ita prorsus consentiunt ac si unus testi essent, uti revera unum sunt, si over, spectes. Sed de illa, ut mihi videtur, non agitur hoc in loco, quod et glossa interlinearis, quem vocant, agnoscit. Sed et Complutensis editio legit, To id est, in unum consentiunt, uti legitur in sequenti membro." In like manner Calvin, "Quod dicit, tres esse unum, ad essentiam non refertur, sed ad consentum potius."

Ver. 8.-1. The Spirit.]-Although in this verse, the three mentioned, ver. 6. as bearing witness, are said to bear witness a second time to Jesus, namely, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, it is no tautology; because the water, the blood, and the Spirit, in ver. 8. are different from the water, the blood, and the Spirit, in ver. 6. as will appear immediately; not to repeat what was said before, that the thing witnessed by them is indifferent. And this perhaps is the reason that these witnesses are mentioned in a different order in the two verses.

As the Spirit inspired the apostles and evangelists with the know. ledge of the gospel, and moved them to record in their writings God's promises of eternal life through his Son; and as these writings are continually preserved and read in the churches, the Spirit, by whose inspiration they were written, may with great propriety be said by them to bear continual witness on earth to the great truth, that God hath given us eternal life through his Son.-Nor is this all: The Spirit may be said to bear witness continually to the same truth, by his ordinary influences producing in the minds of believers those dispositions by which they become the children of God and heirs of eternal life, Rom. viii. 16. Hence they are said by our apostle, ver. 10. to have the witness in themselves.'

2. The water; that is, the rite of baptism, regularly administered in the Christian church to the end of the world, witnesseth continually on earth that God hath given us eternal life through his Son. For, baptism being instituted in commemoration of Christ's resurrection, and to be an emblematical representation of our own resurrection, the continued administration of it in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is a solemn assurance of our obtaining eternal life through the Son. So St. Paul informs us, Rom. vi. 4. We have been buried together with him by baptism into his death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also shall walk in a new life.'

3. And the blood.]-As the water signifies the rite of baptism continually administered in the church, in commemoration of Christ's resurrection, and for a pledge of our own resurrection to eternal life, so the blood signifies that commemoration of the shedding of the blood of Christ for the remission of sin, which is daily made in the Lord's Supper. Wherefore, as the remission of sin will be followed with the gift of eternal life, the blood, that is, the Lord's Sup per, often celebrated through the Christian world, is a continual witness on earth, that God hath given us eternal life through his Son. 4. And these three agree in one.]-They agree in testifying one and the same truth, as is plain from the account just now given of their testimony. They agree likewise with the three in heaven, who testify the same important truth.

Ver. 9.-1. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. The apostle here alludes to Christ's words, recorded John viii. 17. It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. 18. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of ine."

2. The witness of God is greater.]-In the 7th verse, the Father in particular is said to bear witness in heaven. But in this verse his witness is considered in conjunction with the witness, not only of the other witnesses in heaven, but of the three on earth: and the whole is termed the witness of God, because in witnessing they all act in subordination to him, and agree with him in witnessing the great truth mentioned ver. 11. namely, that he hath promised to give us eternal life through his Son." This witness of God, John affirms, is greater, that is, more certain and more worthy of credit, than the witness of men, be they ever so numerous or ever so respectable for their understanding and their integrity; so that we may rely on it with the greatest assurance.

10 (He who believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness' in himself. He who believeth not God, hath made (Ess. iv. 1.) him a liar, because he hath not believed the witness which God hath witnessed concerning his Son.)

11 (Ka, 204.) Now this is the witness, that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is (w, 167.) through his Son,' (See chap. iv. 9.)

12 (Oxv) He who acknowledgeth1 the Son, hath this life. He who acknowledgeth not the Son of God, hath not (TW, 71.) this life.

13 These things I have written to you who believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life; and that ye may cONTINUE TO believe on the name of the Son of God.

14 And this is the boldness which we have (@ges) with him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, (axss, 45.) he hearkeneth to us.1

15 And if we know that he hearkeneth to us CONCERNING whatever we ask, we know that we shall have the petitions which we have asked from him.

10 (But before I declare what the thing witnessed is, I must take notice, that he who believeth on the Son of God hath the thing witnessed by God begun in himself. But he who believeth not God's witness concerning his Son, hath endeavoured to make him a liar, by refusing to believe the witness which God hath witnessed con- . cerning his Son.)

11 Now, this is the thing which God hath witnessed by the three in heaven and the three on earth; namely, that God will give to us who believe eternal life, and that this life is to be bestowed on us through his Son.

12 He who acknowledgeth the Son, hath this life begun in him, and made sure to him, by the virtues which his faith produceth in him: He who acknowledgeth not the Son of God, hath no reason to expect this eternal life which is through Christ.

13 These things concerning the water and the flood, and concerning the witnesses in heaven and on earth, and concerning the things which they have witnessed, I have written to you who believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may be certain ye shall have eternal life through his Son; and that ye may continue to believe on the name of the Son of God.

14 And this is the boldness which we have with the Father through our believing on his Son, that if we ask any miracle according to his will, for his glory and the good of our sick brethren, he lendeth a favourable ear to us.

15 And if we are assured that he lendeth a favourable ear to us concerning what we ask, because we are the disciples of his Son, we have reason to believe that we shall have the petitions granted which we have asked from him.

16 Having this boldness with the Father through our believing

16 If any one see his brother sinning' a sin Ver. 10.-1. He who believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself.]-Here, as in the next verse, the witness, by an usual metonymy, is put for the thing witnessed. And the thing witnessed being, that God hath given us eternal life through his Son,' he who believeth on the Son of God may justly be said to have eternal life, the thing witnessed, in himself, because by his faith on the Son, being begotten of God, he hath, in the dispositions of God's children communicated to him, eternal life begun in him, which is both a pledge and a proof that God in due time will completely be stow on him eternal life through his Son.

2. He who believeth not God, -that is, believeth not the witness which God bare concerning Jesus, when at his baptism he declared him his Son by a voice from heaven, and when after his death he demonstrated Jesus to be his Son, by raising him from the dead. The refusing to believe these testimonies, John terms a making, that is, an endeavouring to make God a liar, or false witness.Some MSS. and ancient versions, particularly the Vulgate, instead of have here Tv, He who believeth not the Son;' which Grotius and Bengelius think the true reading. But, like most of the various readings, this makes no alteration in the sense of the passage.

Ver. 11. Now this is the witness, (this is the thing witnessed; see ver. 10. note 1.), that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is through his Son.]-Here I suppose the apostle had in his eye his Master's words, which he himself had recorded in his gospel, chap. xvii. 2. Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.'-Though the apostle, in what goes before, hath 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 mind of his readers.-In this, as in other passages of scripture, the preterite tense, God hath given, is used instead of the future, God will give us eternal life, to shew the certainty of our obtaining that great blessing through his Son. See Ess. iv. 10.

Ver. 12. O v, He who acknowledgeth the Son hath this life.] -As the word x is used in the sense of acknowledging by our apostle, chap. ii. 23. note, I am of opinion the scope of the passage directs us to take it in that sense here. For notwithstanding in the last clause of this verse is used in its ordinary signification, it is no uncommon thing in scripture to find the same word used in different senses in the same passage.

Ver. 13. And that ye may (TS) continue to believe.]-This is the true translation of the clause: For in John's style wi often signifies continuing to believe, John ii. 11. xi. 15. xx. 31.

Ver. 14. Now this is (en) the boldness which we have with him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he hearkeneth to us. It is cominonly thought that this and the following verse is spoken of Christians in general, to assure them, that if they ask any thing necessary to their own salvation, God will grant it to them. In this sense Estius understood the apostle. See his note on these verses, where he describes the qualifications of a prayer according to the will of God.' Nevertheless, from verses 16, 17. it is plain that the apostle is speaking, not of our asking spiritual blessings for ourselves, but of our asking 'life for a brother who hath sinned a sin not unto death.' Others, therefore, think John, in these verses, directs Christians in general to pray for the eternal pardon of each other's sins. But as no person's sins will be pardoned at the request of another, a better interpretation will be suggested by observing, that in this direction there is an allusion to the promise which our

Lord made to his apostles, and which John himself hath recorded in his gospel, chap. xiv. 12. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works shall he do, because I go unto my Father. 13. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.'-Also chap. xvi. 23. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.'-Now, since in the first mentioned passage, Christ promised that his apostles should do greater miracles than he himself had done, and, that whatsoever they should ask in his name, he would do it, the meaning plainly is, that whatever miracle they should ask for the confirmation of their mission as his apostles, he would do it.-In like manner, when he promised, in the second mentioned passage, that whatsoever they should ask the Father in his name, he would give it them; and then said to them, Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full;' it cannot be doubted, that the things he directed them to ask of the Father, were miracles for the manifestation of his character as the Son of God, and for the successful propagation of the gospel, where. by their joy as his apostles would be rendered complete.-These declarations and promises were the foundations of the boldness which the persons of whom John speaks 'had with the Father, that if they asked any thing according to his will, he would hearken to them. That John is speaking of their boldness in asking miracles, is evident from ver. 16. where he saith, 'Let him ask God, and he will grant to him life for those who sin not unto death.' Tillotson being sensible that the boldness in asking of which John speaks, was boldness in asking miracles, supposes that this is to be under stood of the apostles alone. But that this boldness belonged also to such of the disciples as, in the first age, were endowed with the gift of healing diseases miraculously, is evident from Mark xvi. 17. These signs shall follow them that believe, &c. 18. They shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover.'

Ver. 16.-1. If any one see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, let him ask God, and he will grant to him life for those who sin not unto death.-According to Benson, the sin not unto death,' of which John speaks, is any single sin which a good man commits through infirmity, or surprise. According to Doddridge, it is any sin whatever, except that which Christ himself declared unpardonable. But as no sin will be pardoned which is not sincerely repented of, the circumstance by which the sinner for whom life might be asked, is distinguished from those for whom life might not be asked of God, namely, that his sin is 'not a sin unto death, implies that he hath repented of his sin. In this persuasion, the learned persons above mentioned give it as their opinion, that John here authorizes any pious person whatever to ask of God eternal life for all penitent sinners, excepting those who have sinned against the Holy Ghost; and assures him, that, in answer to his prayer, God will grant to him eternal life for such sinners. But their opinion is liable to two great objections:-1. No ordinary Christian, however pious, can know certainly whether the person, for whom he asketh life, hath sincerely repented of his sins; and yet, unless he certainly knows this, he is not warranted to ask life for him; far less to ask it with the boldness mentioned in the 14th verse. 2. Although any pious person, as an exercise of his own benevolence, may pray for eternal life to his brother, the scripture gives no one ground to think, that his asking eternal life for his brother hath any influence in procuring that blessing for him. As little doth right reason warrant such an expectation. Nevertheless in this verse, according to Benson

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