Remarks on 1 John 2:28-3:11

• 10 min. read • grade level: 9

If faith in the leading of the Spirit is lost, and we desire to be led, there is nothing flatters and pleases some men more than to lead us; to be religious “superiors,” with an usurped authority which practically sets aside that of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. In verse 28 observe that the apostle does not say “you” but “we.” It is the same in his second Epistle, (ver. 8). He felt his responsibility for the sheep (so Paul in 1 Thess. 5:23²³And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23) R.V. and Peter, 1 Peter 5:1-4¹The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: ²Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; ³Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. ⁴And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. (1 Peter 5:1‑4)). In 1 Thess. 2:19¹⁹For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? (1 Thessalonians 2:19), we see the joy of Paul in the hope of meeting in glory those to whom he had ministered here.

John looks seriously at another possibility, and touchingly says, “And now, my children, abide in Him that when He shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” What true pastors the apostles were! (Read Rom. 14:10-12¹⁰But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ¹¹For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. ¹²So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:10‑12); 1 Cor. 4:5; 2⁵Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. (1 Corinthians 4:5) Cor. 5:10.) The thought of that supreme moment when the Lord Himself will give to every saint the fullest light on the things in his course that have been acceptable to Him, and on those that have not been acceptable—His final judgment on the good and the evil which each hath done, and about which there is hesitancy now—this thought leads to the third great subject of this Epistle, a very full and clear description of the two “seeds” that now are in the world and of their doings. There are those who are of God, and there are those who are of the devil (3:8, 9); and the issues of life can be only of the same nature as their source, an oft-forgotten truth.

God is righteous; the devil sinneth from the beginning, that is, from the moment of his fall he has done nothing but evil. Now “if ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that does righteousness, is horn of him.” Man by nature does unrighteousness, cover it over as he may. (See from Gen. 6:5⁵And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5) to Eph. 2:3³Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (Ephesians 2:3) and the final and eternal judgment of the lost, Rev. 20:15¹⁵And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15).) Then let the child of God in taking a step, in doing a deed, yea in speaking a word, keep in mind that he is “born of God.” He is not indebted to “blood” (that is natural generation, however godly his parents) “nor to the will of the flesh, nor to the will of man.” For this endearing relationship to God (John 1:12, 13¹²But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: ¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12‑13)) is the work of God alone, and the spring of love that was in His heart, when He begat His child, is as full for that child all the way through as at first. Hence the rapturous joy with which the third chapter of our Epistle begins; surely, written by one who knew it well.

1 John 3:1¹Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1 John 3:1). With holy delight and admiration the greatness of the love of God is set before the new affections of the quickened soul. “Behold what love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God.” The personal ministry of the Lord when here was ever to this end, that His disciples should know and enjoy this manner of love (John 17:6-26⁶I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. ⁷Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. ⁸For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. ⁹I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. ¹⁰And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. ¹¹And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. ¹²While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. ¹⁸As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. ²⁰Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; ²¹That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. ²²And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: ²³I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. ²⁴Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. ²⁶And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:6‑26)); and in His absence the Holy Spirit continues the work in every believer (Rom. 8:15, 16¹⁵For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. ¹⁶The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:15‑16)). The disciples were not only taught the truth of it, but witnessed it livingly in Him. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father” (John 1:14¹⁴And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)), and of “the only-begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18¹⁸No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)). They thus affirm His eternity, but equally declare that they beheld Him in the relationship and the affection which they were called to share. “My Father, and your Father” (John 20:17¹⁷Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)). With reverence we feel and own His pre-eminence: He—infinite, divine, eternal: we—begotten in time, who were once children of wrath even as others (Eph. 2:3³Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (Ephesians 2:3)); and are prepared to read the remainder of our verse in the heart-cheering light of this beginning” — Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” All His goodness, His innumerable acts of mercy, did not shield Him from the world's hatred (John 15:24²⁴If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. (John 15:24)). He who was the well-beloved of the Father was despised and rejected of men. Can we not see the fitness of the “therefore” to follow such a “because?”

Again in verse 2 the apostle says “Beloved,” addressing those whom the world knows not, many of them suffering from its hatred. He sees them in all the dignity of their relationship to God, his own enjoyed relationship far more to him than his apostleship. “Beloved, now are we children of God;” not a question, not a doubt about it. There is more than this. He looks at what we shall be when Jesus is manifested (or appears). Then all that is unlovely in us will forever pass away, “we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is;” or, as expressed by Paul, we shall be “conformed to the image of His Son, that He may be the first-born among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29²⁹For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)). This divine way of regarding those who believe in Jesus is important, and a study of John 17:20²⁰Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; (John 17:20) to 24 will greatly help to an understanding of the verses we are considering. The desires of the Lord are, by the Spirit, very present with the apostle.

In verse 3 our practical condition is brought powerfully home to the conscience, “Every one that hath this hope (set) on Him purifieth himself even as He is pure.” How feebly have we estimated His perfect purity (see John 17:19¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. (John 17:19)), and sought in the light of it to be separated to God from all that is evil! He was, is, and ever will be pure. As in Him, there is no spot on us (1 Cor. 6:11¹¹And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)); but as to walk here, though clean every whit, we have need continually to have the feet washed. Contact with the world, unless cleansed as to our ways by the word, defiles us. A study of John 13:1-10¹Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. ²And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him; ³Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; ⁴He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. ⁵After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. ⁶Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? ⁷Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. ⁸Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. ⁹Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. ¹⁰Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. (John 13:1‑10) will throw much light on this, and check the proneness to rest in present attainment as well as self-complacency. When Stephen was wholly occupied with the Lord Jesus as He is, “looking up steadfastly into heaven,” how closely he resembled Him when here in grace (see Luke 23:34, 46³⁴Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. (Luke 23:34)
⁴⁶And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46) and Acts 7:60⁶⁰And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:60)), and how the world, yea the most religiously enlightened in it, knew him not, even as they knew not his Lord and Savior. He was full of the Holy Ghost Whom they always resisted; and while he was praying for them, they were stoning him

Now (ver. 4), it is doing sin that defileth men, and sin is—what? Not as in the A.V., “the transgression of the law” for sin was in the world when there was no law (Rom. 5:13, 14¹³(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. (Romans 5:13‑14)), but “sin is lawlessness” (see R. V.), and we are conceived in it. Rebelliousness is natural to us. As Paul, looking at man as man, says, “the mind of the flesh is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7⁷Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)).

John on the other hand, looking only on the life bestowed on the believer, says, “the seed of God abideth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God” (ver. 9). He, in this important statement, leaves aside the flesh which Paul affirms never does anything but sin. The Christian as a Christian, does not live after the flesh, although exposed to being drawn aside by it. These first principles of our most holy faith must be apprehended to follow the teaching of this chapter. For it deals with the fact, solemn to realize, that God sets His children in the presence of the children of the devil as a testimony for His glory, and for their blessing (see Phil. 2:15, 16¹⁵That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; ¹⁶Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. (Philippians 2:15‑16)); God loved the world, and sent His Son, not to judge it, but that it might be saved (John 3:17¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17)); and He is the propitiation for the whole world (1 John 2:2²And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)).

The difficulty therefore in the case of the sinner lies not in the fact of his fallen state, nor in the hopelessness of making the flesh better, nor in the powerlessness of nature to overcome the wicked one. It lies wholly in his unwillingness to look to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, for salvation from it all. When the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness, the difficulty was not with the fiery serpents, however numerous; nor was it in the deadly character of the poison instilled by their bite; but whether or not the bitten would look to the serpent which Moses by God's command had lifted up, and realize in the new life given the undoing of the work of the serpents. So here in verse 5, “the Son of God was manifested to take away our sins,” and in verse 8, “to destroy” (lit. undo)” the works of the devil,” the latter as truly as the former. We are not only to rejoice in full and everlasting forgiveness —for if He shall have taken away our sins, who shall bring them back?—but the works of the devil, and all his untiring energy of evil, are overcome, and in the believer undone. The prey is taken from the mighty, the lawful captive is delivered (Isa. 49:24²⁴Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? (Isaiah 49:24)), and

“He owns himself the Savior's prize,

Mercy from first to last.”

Hence the ninth verse is all-important. The seed of God is not only communicated to, but remaineth in, every one that is born of Him. There is no such seed in the unbeliever. He may be accredited as having it by those who assume to be the church, but to rest on that is to build on sand. The seed of God is the new life from God by which a man becomes a partaker of the divine nature, and joys in God. Can the receiver of it lose it? Never. “It remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.” Faith, strong in its simplicity, will do this word of God justice, and say with Paul, “I have been crucified (perfect tense) with Christ, yet I live; no longer I, but Christ liveth in me,” and will add, conscious of need, “that life which I now live in the flesh, I live in faith (the faith), which is in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20²⁰I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20), R.V.).

Beyond cavil the blessing of such teaching is great, its moral power most precious, and for testimony in the world—where neither divine righteousness nor divine love exists—it is of supreme value. To manifest both, Christians are left in it (ver. 10), not righteousness without love, nor love apart from righteousness. A further “message” from the Lord is given in verse 11, (for this compare John 15:12-17¹²This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. ¹³Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. ¹⁵Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. ¹⁶Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. ¹⁷These things I command you, that ye love one another. (John 15:12‑17)): a “message” from Him Whose love passeth knowledge and never fails; and it is only by learning of Him the truth of divine righteousness and love that the learner can become a doer (see ver. 16).

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