IT will be observed that John is not named, either in the introduction or at the conclusion of this Epistle, as its author; it comes down to us, however, attributed to him, from the very earliest times. It is also strikingly characterized by those peculiarities of style and expression which mark the other writings of this apostle.

      As its title imports, it appears to have been addressed to the Christian community at large, and not to any one class or company of believers. It is filled with general exhortations and instructions, many of which, undoubtedly, had particular reference to errors or sins prevailing at the time when it was penned, but which convey lessons of warning or instruction suited to all times. It is supposed to have been written at a very late period of the apostolical history; for John survived most, if not all, of the other apostles, and attained to a great age. Many turns of thought and expression occur in the Epistle, which indicate that it was written at a late period of his life, when age and infirmity were advancing upon him, warning him, that he was drawing near to the eternal world. The whole composition is pervaded, in fact, by a certain tone of subdued and quiet gentleness, often characteristic of age.

      1. From beginning; the beginning of the new dispensation, that is, from the commencement of the ministry of Christ.--Which we have heard, &c. By these expressions John intends to declare, emphatically, that he had every conceivable means of knowledge that his testimony in respect to the life, death, and resurrection, of Christ was true.--Of the word of life; Jesus Christ

      2. And show unto you; declare John in unto you.--Which was with, the Father. This corresponds in a striking manner with the declaration in John 1:1, 2:14. [535] that he who was manifested in the flesh, as the Savior of men, previously coëxisted with the Father.--Was manifested; by becoming flesh, and dwelling upon the earth.

      3. May have fellowship with us; may join with us in acknowledging and obeying him.

      4. That your joy may be full; that you may attain to perfect and eternal joy.

      5. That God is light. There are several of the divine perfections which might be represented metaphorically by light. That holiness is the one here intended, is evident from v. 7, where it appears that it is an attribute of God, in respect to which men are bound to conform to him.

      6. With him; with God.--Walk in darkness; live in sin.--Do not the truth; do not act consistently with truth.

      7. The blood of Jesus Christ. The blood of Christ denotes the death of Christ, and the sufferings attendant upon it,--including the whole of that protracted scene of suffering, which, commencing at Gethsemane, and ending on the cross, constituted the great propitiatory sacrifice by which the world was redeemed.

      10. Make him a liar; since he has in so many ways declared that the conduct and characters of all men are entirely inconsistent with the requirements of his law.

      1. My little children. This is a term of endearment; it was rendered appropriate in this case by the venerable age of the apostle.

      2. He is the propitiation for our sins; having made atonement for them by his death.

      5. Perfected; exemplified and fulfilled. [536]

      6. To walk; to live and act.

      7. I write no new commandment; that is, in the principle which he had been inculcating above, namely, that a conformity to the will of God in heart and life, is the only test of the honesty of religious professions.

      8. A new commandment; the precept enjoining brotherly love, enforced in the following verses. John designates it as a new commandment, in imitation of the language used by the Savior in John 13:34.--Is true in him; is exemplified in him.

      12. Many conjectures have been offered in regard to the distinctions intended by the writer in the several classes of persons addressed in this passage (12-14,) and in the nature and appropriateness of the reasons assigned in each case. But it is not certain that any accurate logical distinctions were intended. We are probably to regard the changes in the forms of expression as only designed to give variety to the mode of presenting the considerations by which the various classes of Christians should feel impelled to give most serious and earnest attention to the instructions which they received.

      13. Him that is from the beginning; the Redeemer. (ch. 1:1.)

      18. Antichrists; false teachers; whose doctrines and characters are more particularly described in verses which follow.--Whereby we know, &c. The Savior had predicted the [537] appearance of false Christs and false prophets, as a sign of the approach of great changes, the nature of which was only obscurely intimated. (Mark 13:22-30.) It is probable that John here refers to that prediction. In precisely what sense, however, he uses the expression the last time, is somewhat uncertain.

      20. An unction; an anointing, considered as the ceremony or induction to office. The idea is, that they had been admitted to the station and privileges of the children of God by the Holy One himself, and would not prove apostate, like those mentioned in the preceding verse.

      21. No lie is of the truth; no false doctrine can come from true piety.

      22. Antichrist, that denieth, &c.; that is, by denying that Jesus is the Christ, he denies both the Father and the Son, as is shown in the next verse.

      23. The latter part of this verse is so printed in all copies of the common English version, on account of a doubt by the translators, whether the words which represent it properly belong in the original, They are found in some manuscripts, and are wanting in others.

      24. Let that therefore; that belief.

      26. Them that seduce you; the false teachers.

      27. The anointing; the unction referred to in v. 20. [538]

      3. Purifieth himself; that is, his hope of being hereafter joined to Christ in happiness and glory, leads him to seek now to resemble him in character.

      5. He was manifested; Christ was manifested, that is, appeared upon this earth.

      6. Whosoever sinneth; that is, willingly and habitually.

      15. Is a murderer; in the spirit and temper of his mind.

      16. To lay down our lives, to be willing to lay them down.

      18. Not--in word, neither in tongue, not in empty professions.

      19. And hereby; that is, by the habitual temper and spirit of our minds.

      20. Our heart; our conscience. [539]

      1. Every spirit; every pretended spiritual influence by which men may claim to be influenced.--Try the spirits; examine them by the tests given above, that is, by their obedience and brotherly love, and also by those mentioned below.

      2. Is of God; is true; teaches the truth.

      4. Have overcome them; have successfully resisted them,--that is, the false spirits.

      7. Is born of God; is formed anew by the power of God, and become his child. [540]

      17. The idea intended is, that by this may we know that our love to God is true and sincere, and such as will be our security in the day of judgment, namely, by seeing that our conduct and character here correspond with the image of God.

      18. Perfect love; established and genuine love.

      20. Hateth, does not love.

      1. The Christ; the promised Messiah. Compare Matt. 1:16, and note. The meaning is, Whosoever truly and from his heart receives Jesus as his Redeemer, and obeys him as such, is born of God; that is, this new spirit of mind is formed in him by divine power.--Him that begat; the Father.--Him also that is begotten; the Son.

      3. Grievous, oppressive and impracticable.

      4. Overcometh the world. By being born of God, he is endued with a spirit which enables him to rise above the world, and resist its allurements to sin.

      6. Not by water only, &c. Water is the symbol of purification,--blood, that of an atonement. The meaning, therefore, is, that this is he who came not only to imbue the heart with future purity and holiness, but to atone for its sins.

      7, 8. Whether that portion of these two verses, beginning with the words in heaven, and ending with in earth, properly belongs here, has long been a subject of dispute. The controversy respecting the triune nature of the Godhead, arose in a very early period of the church, and it is supposed that, in the unhallowed heat of it, this passage was either inserted without authority in some copies, by one party, or omitted by the other. The reason for this supposition is, that the ancient manuscripts which have come down to us, disagree, the passage being [541] found in some of them, while it was wanting in others. The preponderating sentiment among biblical scholars is against its genuineness.--Agree in one; agree in bearing witness to one,--that is, to Christ.

      10. In himself; in his heart,--in the moral change which has been effected in him.

      16. There is a sin unto death; that is, there is an extreme of inveterate and outrageous hostility to God, which transcends all bounds, and leaves no hope of reformation and pardon. This most solemn declaration of the apostle corresponds with what the Savior expressly taught, and what his terrible denunciations against hardened and determined offenders often implied. (Compare Matt. 12:31, 32. Mark 3:28-30. Matt. 23:29-36, and note.)

[AINT 535-542]