INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF THE APOSTLE JOHN
PERSONAL MESSAGE AND ITS PLACE IN HISTORY
This work of John is called an “epistle,” but it does not have the beginning or ending typical of letters.
It contains neither the welcoming address nor the closing greetings that are present in Paul's epistles. And yet, anyone reading this message feels its highly personal character. Before the mind's eye of the person who wrote this message, without a doubt, there was a specific situation and a specific group of people. Someone has said that the form and personal character of 1 John can be explained by considering it as a “loving and anxious sermon” written by a loving pastor but sent to all churches.
Each of these messages was written on a truly pressing occasion, without knowledge of which the message itself cannot be fully understood. Thus, in order to understand the 1st Epistle of John, it is necessary to first try to reconstruct the circumstances that gave rise to it, remembering that it was written in Ephesus sometime just after the year 100.
DEPARTURE FROM FAITH
This era is characterized in the Church in general, and in places like Ephesus in particular, by certain trends.
1. Most Christians were already Christians in the third generation, that is, children and even grandchildren of the first Christians. The excitement of the early days of Christianity has, to some extent at least, passed away. As one poet said: “What bliss it is to live at the dawn of that era.” In the first days of its existence, Christianity was surrounded by an aura of glory, but by the end of the first century it had already become something familiar, traditional, indifferent. People got used to it and it lost something of its charm for them. Jesus knew the people and he said that “the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).
John wrote this epistle in an age when, for some at least, the first enthusiasm had died down, and the flame of piety had dimmed and the fire was barely smoldering.
2. Because of this situation, people appeared in the church who considered the standards imposed by Christianity on man as a boring burden. They didn't want to be saints
in the sense that the New Testament understands it.
The New Testament uses the word hagios to convey this concept,
which is often translated as
sacred.
Initially, this word meant
different, different, separate.
The Jerusalem Temple was
hagios
because it was different from other buildings;
Saturday was hagios;
because it was different from other days;
the Israelites were hagios
because they were
a special
people, not like the rest;
and the Christian was called hagios
because he was called to be
different,
not like other people.
There has always been a gap between Christians and the rest of the world. In the fourth Gospel, Jesus says: If you were of the world, the world would love its own; But because you are not of the world, but I delivered you from the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).
“I have given them Your word,” Jesus says in prayer to God, “and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world”
(John 17:14).
Ethical demands were associated with Christianity: it demanded from a person new standards of moral purity, a new understanding of kindness, service, forgiveness - and this turned out to be difficult. And therefore, when the first delight and the first enthusiasm cooled down, it became more and more difficult to resist the world and resist the generally accepted norms and customs of our age.
3. It should be noted that in 1 John there is no indication that the church to which he was writing was under persecution. The danger lies not in persecution, but in temptation. It came from within. It should be noted that Jesus also foresaw this: “And many false prophets will arise,” He said, “and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:11).
It was about this danger that Paul warned the leaders of the same church in Ephesus, addressing them with a farewell speech: “For I know that after I am gone savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
and from among yourselves men will arise who will speak perverse things, so as to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29.30).
The first letter of John was not directed against an external enemy who was trying to destroy the Christian faith, but against people who wanted to give Christianity an intellectual appearance. They saw the intellectual trends and currents of their time and believed that it was time to bring Christian doctrine into line with secular philosophy and modern thinking.
MODERN PHILOSOPHY
What was modern thinking and philosophy that led Christianity to false teaching? The Greek world at this time was dominated by a worldview known collectively as Gnosticism. At the heart of Gnosticism was the belief that only the spirit is good, and matter, in its essence, is harmful. And therefore, the Gnostics inevitably had to despise this world and everything worldly, because it was matter. In particular, they despised the body, which, being material, must necessarily be harmful. Further, the Gnostics believed that the human spirit is imprisoned in the body, as in a prison, and the spirit, the seed of God, is all-good. And therefore the purpose of life is to free this Divine seed imprisoned in an evil, destructive body. This can only be done with the help of special knowledge and carefully designed ritual, available only to a true Gnostic. This line of thinking left a deep imprint on the Greek worldview; it has not completely disappeared even today. It is based on the idea that matter is harmful, and only spirit is good; that there is only one worthy goal of life - to free the human spirit from the destructive prison of the body.
FALSE TEACHERS
With this in mind, let us now turn again to the First Epistle of John and see who these false teachers were and what they taught. They were in church, but moved away from it. They went out from us, but they were not ours” (1 John 2:19).
These were powerful men who claimed to be prophets.
“Many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
Although they left the Church, they still tried to spread their teachings within it and turn its members away from the true faith
(1 John 2:26).
DENIAL OF JESUS AS MESSIAH
Some false teachers denied that Jesus was the Messiah. “Who is a liar,” asks John, “if not he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” (1 John 2:22).
It is quite possible that these false teachers were not Gnostics, but Jews. It has always been difficult for Jewish Christians, but historical events have made their situation even more difficult. It was generally difficult for a Jew to believe in the crucified Messiah, and even if he began to believe in it, his difficulties did not stop. Christians believed that Jesus would return very soon to protect and vindicate His own. It is clear that this hope was especially dear to the hearts of the Jews. In 70, Jerusalem was taken by the Romans, who were so enraged by the long siege and resistance of the Jews that they completely destroyed the holy city and even plowed the place with a plow. How could a Jew, in the face of all this, believe that Jesus would come and save the people? The Holy City was deserted, the Jews were scattered throughout the world. How could the Jews, in the face of this, believe that the Messiah had come?
DENIAL OF INcarnation
But there were also more serious problems: within the Church itself there were attempts to bring Christianity into line with the teachings of Gnosticism. At the same time, we must remember the theory of the Gnostics - only the spirit is good, and matter in its essence is extremely vicious. And in this case, no incarnation can take place at all.
This is precisely what Augustine pointed out several centuries later.
Before accepting Christianity, Augustine was well aware of various philosophical teachings. In his “Confession” (6.9) he writes that he found in pagan authors almost everything that Christianity tells people, but one great Christian saying was not found and will never be found in pagan authors: “The Word became flesh and dwelt with us" (John 1:4).
Precisely because pagan writers believed that matter was essentially vicious, and, therefore, that the body was essentially vicious, they could never say anything like that.
It is clear that the false prophets against whom 1 John is directed denied the reality of the incarnation and the reality of Jesus' physical body. “Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh is from God,” writes John, “but every spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh is not from God” (1 John 4:2.3).
In the early Christian Church, the refusal to recognize the reality of the incarnation manifested itself in two forms.
1. His more radical and more widespread line was called Docetism,
which can be translated as
illusionism.
The Greek verb
dokein
means
to appear.
The Docetists claimed that people only
believed
that Jesus had a body. The Docetists argued that Jesus was a purely spiritual being with only an apparent, illusory body.
2. But a subtler and more dangerous version of this teaching is associated with the name of Cerinthus. Cerinthus made a strict distinction between the human Jesus and the Divine Jesus. He declared that Jesus was the most normal man, was born in the most natural way, lived in special obedience to God, and therefore, after his baptism, Christ in the form of a dove descended on him and gave him from the power that is above all power, after which Jesus brought a testimony to people about the Father, about whom people knew nothing before. But Cerinthus went even further: he argued that at the end of His life, Christ abandoned Jesus again, so that Christ never suffered at all. Jesus the man suffered, died and rose again.
How widely such views were widespread can be seen from the letters of the Bishop of Antioch, Ignatius (according to tradition, a disciple of John) to several churches in Asia Minor, apparently the same as the church to which the First Epistle of John was written. At the time of writing these messages, Ignatius was in custody on his way to Rome, where he died a martyr's death: by order of Emperor Trojan, he was thrown into the circus arena to be torn to pieces by wild animals. Ignatius wrote to the Trallians: “Therefore, do not listen when someone testifies to you other than about Jesus Christ, who came from the line of David from the Virgin Mary, was truly born, ate and drank, truly was condemned under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died... Who really rose from the dead... But if, as some atheists - that is, unbelievers - claim, His suffering was only an illusion... then why am I in chains” (Ignatius: “To the Trallians” 9 and 10). He wrote to Christians in Smyrna: “For He endured all this for our sake, so that we might be saved; suffered truly...” (Ignatius: “To the Smyrnans”).
Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and disciple of John, used the words of John himself in his letter to the Philippians: “Whoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is Antichrist” (Polycarp: Philippians 7:1).
This teaching of Cerinthus is subject to criticism in 1 John. John writes about Jesus: “This is Jesus Christ, who came by water and blood (and the Spirit); not only with water, but with water and blood"
(5.6).
The meaning of these lines is that the Gnostic teachers agreed that the Divine Christ came by water,
that is, through the baptism of Jesus, but began to deny that he came by
blood,
that is, through the Cross, because they insisted that The Divine Christ abandoned the human Jesus even before the Crucifixion.
The main danger of this heresy lies in what can be called a mistaken reverence: it is afraid to recognize the fullness of the human origin of Jesus Christ, it considers it blasphemous that Jesus Christ actually had a physical body. This heresy has not yet died out and a fairly large number of pious Christians are inclined towards it, often completely unconsciously. But we must remember how one of the great fathers of the early Church uniquely expressed it: “He became the same as us, so that we could become the same as Him.”
3. The Gnostic faith had a certain influence on people's lives.
a) The indicated attitude of the Gnostics to matter and to everything material determined their attitude to their body and all its parts; this took three forms.
1. For some, this resulted in asceticism, fasting, celibacy, strict self-control, and even deliberately harsh treatment of their body. Gnostics began to favor celibacy over marriage and considered physical intimacy a sin; This point of view still finds its supporters today. There is no trace of such an attitude in John's letter.
2. Others declared that the body has no meaning at all, and therefore all its desires and tastes can be satisfied unlimitedly. Since the body will perish anyway and is a vessel of evil, then it does not matter how a person treats his flesh. This view was opposed by John in his First Epistle. John condemns as a liar the one who claims to know God, but at the same time does not keep God's commandments, for a person who believes that he abides in Christ must do as He did (1,6; 2,4-6).
It is quite obvious that in the communities to which this message was addressed there were people who claimed to have a special knowledge of God, although their behavior was far from the requirements of Christian ethics.
In certain circles these Gnostic theories were further developed. A Gnostic was a person with a certain knowledge, gnosis.
Some people, therefore, believed that the Gnostic should know both the best and the worst, and should know and experience life both in the higher spheres and in the lower ones.
One could perhaps even say that these people believed that man is obliged to sin. We find mention of this kind of attitude in the letter to Thyatira and Revelation, where the Risen Christ speaks of those who do not “know the so-called depths of Satan” (Rev. 2:24).
And it is quite possible that John has these people in mind when he states that “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all”
(1 John 1:5).
These Gnostics believed that God is not only a blinding light, but also an impenetrable darkness, and that man must comprehend both. It is not difficult to see the dire consequences of such a belief.
3. There was also a third variety of Gnosticism. The true Gnostic considered himself an exclusively spiritual person, as if he had shaken off everything material and freed his spirit from the bonds of matter. The Gnostics taught that they were so spiritual that they stood above and beyond sin and achieved spiritual perfection. John speaks of them as those who deceive themselves, claiming that they have no sins (1 John 1:8-10).
Whatever the form of Gnosticism, it had extremely dangerous consequences; It is clear that the latter two varieties were common in the communities to which John wrote.
b) In addition, Gnosticism also manifested itself in relation to people, which led to the destruction of Christian brotherhood. We have already seen that the Gnostics wanted to free the spirit from the prison of the human body through complex knowledge, understandable only to initiates. It is quite obvious that such knowledge was not available to everyone: ordinary people were so busy with everyday worldly affairs and work that they did not have time for the necessary study and observance of rules, and even if they had this time, many would are simply mentally incapable of comprehending the positions developed by the Gnostics in their theosophy and philosophy.
And this inevitably led to the fact that people were divided into two classes - people capable of living a truly spiritual life and people incapable of this. The Gnostics even had special names for people of these two classes. The ancients usually divided man into three parts - soma, psuche and pneuma. Soma, body -
the physical part of a person;
and psuhe
is usually translated as
soul,
but here one must be especially careful, because
psuhe
does not at all mean the same thing as we understand by
soul.
In the minds of the ancient Greeks,
psuche
was one of the main principles of life, a form of living existence.
All living things, according to the ancient Greeks, have a psyche.
Psuche is that aspect, that principle of life that unites a person with all living beings.
In addition to this, there was also pneuma, spirit,
and it is the spirit that only man possesses that makes him related to God.
The goal of the Gnostics was to free the pneuma
from
soma,
but this liberation can, according to them, be achieved only through long and difficult study, to which only an intellectual with a lot of free time could devote himself.
And, therefore, the Gnostics divided people into two classes: psychic -
generally unable to rise above the carnal, physical principles and comprehend what is higher than animal life, and
pneumatic -
truly spiritual and truly close to God.
The result of this approach is completely clear: the Gnostics formed a kind of spiritual aristocracy, looking with contempt and even hatred at their lesser brothers. Pneumatics
They looked upon
the psychics
as despicable, earthly creatures, inaccessible to the knowledge of true religion.
The consequence of this, again, was the destruction of Christian brotherhood. This is why John insists throughout his letter that the true measure of Christianity is love for one’s fellow men. “If we walk in the light... then we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7).
“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness”
(2:9-11).
The proof that we have passed from death to life is our love for our brothers
(3:14-17).
The mark of true Christianity is faith in Jesus Christ and love for one another
(3:23).
God is love, and he who does not love has not known God
(4:7.8).
God loved us, therefore we must love one another
(4:10-12).
The commandment of John says that whoever loves God must love his brother, and whoever claims to love God and hate his brother is a liar
(4:20.21).
To put it bluntly, in the minds of the Gnostics, the sign of true religion was contempt for ordinary people; John, on the contrary, states in every chapter that the mark of true religion is love for all.
Such were the Gnostics: they claimed to be born of God, to walk in the light, to be completely sinless, to abide in God, and to know God. And this is how they deceived people. They, in fact, did not set as their goal the destruction of the Church and faith; they even intended to cleanse the Church of what was thoroughly rotten and to make Christianity a respectable intellectual philosophy, so that it could be placed next to the great philosophies of the time. But their teaching led to the denial of the incarnation, to the destruction of Christian ethics and the complete destruction of brotherhood in the Church. And therefore it is not surprising that John strives with such ardent pastoral devotion to defend the churches so beloved by him from such insidious attacks from within, for they posed a much greater threat to the Church than the persecution of the pagans; The very existence of the Christian faith was at stake.
JOHN'S TESTIMONY
The first letter of John is small in volume and does not contain a complete statement of the teachings of the Christian faith, but nevertheless, it is extremely interesting to carefully consider the foundations of faith with which John opposes the destroyers of the Christian faith.
PURPOSE OF WRITING A MESSAGE
John writes from two closely related considerations: that the joy of his flock may be complete (1,4),
and so that they do not sin
(2:1).
John clearly sees that, no matter how attractive this false path may seem, in its essence it cannot bring happiness. Bringing joy to people and protecting them from sin are one and the same thing.
THE CONCEPT OF GOD
John has something wonderful to say about God. First, God is light, and in Him there is no darkness. (1,5);
secondly, God is love.
He loved us even before we loved Him and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (4:7-10:16).
John is convinced that God Himself gives people revelation about Himself and His love. He is light, not darkness; He is love, not hate.
INTRODUCTION TO JESUS
Since Jesus was primarily the target of the false teachers, this epistle in response to them is especially valuable and useful to us for what it says about Jesus.
1. Jesus was from the beginning (1,1; 2,14).
When one encounters Jesus, one encounters the eternal.
2. Another way to put it is: Jesus is the Son of God, and John considers this conviction very important (4,15; 5,5).
The relationship between Jesus and God is unique, and in Jesus we see the ever-seeking and ever-forgiving heart of God.
3. Jesus - Christ, Messiah (2,22; 5,1).
For John this is an important aspect of faith.
One might get the impression that here we are entering a specifically Jewish area. But there is also something very important in this. To say that Jesus was from the beginning and that He is the Son of God is to emphasize His connection with eternity, and
to say that Jesus is the Messiah is to emphasize His connection with
history.
In His coming we see the fulfillment of God's plan through His chosen people.
4. Jesus was in every sense of the word a man. To deny that Jesus came in the flesh is to speak in the spirit of the Antichrist (4,2.3).
John testifies that Jesus was so truly human that he, John, himself knew Him, saw Him with his own eyes and touched Him with his own hands
(1:1.3).
No other New Testament writer asserts with such force the absolute reality of the incarnation.
Jesus not only became a man, He also suffered for people; He came by water and blood (5.6),
and He laid down His life for us
(3.16).
5. The coming of Jesus, His incarnation, His life, His death, His Resurrection and His Ascension had one purpose - to take away our sins. Jesus Himself was without sin (3:5),
and man is essentially a sinner, even if in his arrogance he claims that he is without sin
(1:8-10),
and yet the sinless one appeared to take upon himself the sins of sinners
(3:5).
Jesus speaks for sinful people in two ways:
a) He is the Intercessor
before God
(2.1).
In Greek it is
parakletos,
and
parakletos
is one who is called to help. This could be a doctor; often this is a witness testifying in favor of someone; or a lawyer called upon to defend the accused. Jesus asks for us before God; He, the sinless one, acts as the protector of sinful people.
b) But He is not only an Intercessor. John calls Jesus a propitiation
for our sins
(2.2; 4.10).
When a person sins, the relationship that existed between him and God is broken.
This relationship can only be restored by a sacrifice of propitiation, or rather by a sacrifice through which this relationship can be restored. This is a redemptive,
cleansing sacrifice that restores man’s unity with God.
Thus, through Christ the broken relationship between God and man was restored. Jesus not only intercedes for the sinner, He restores his unity with God. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin (1:7).
6 .
As a result, through Jesus Christ, people who believe in Him received life
(4:9; 5:11.12).
And this is true in two respects: they received life in the sense that they were saved from death, and they received life in the sense that life acquired true meaning and ceased to be mere existence.
7. It can be summed up by saying: Jesus is the Savior of the world (4,14).
But we must state this in full.
“The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (4:14).
We have already said that Jesus intercedes for man before God. If we stopped there, others might argue that God intended to condemn people, and only the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ turned Him away from these terrible intentions. But this is not so, because for John, as for all New Testament writers, all initiative came from God. It was He who sent His Son to be the Savior of people.
In a small message, the miracle, glory and mercy of Christ are most fully shown.
HOLY SPIRIT
In this letter, John speaks less about the Holy Spirit, for his main teaching about the Holy Spirit is set forth in the fourth Gospel. It can be said that, according to the First Epistle of John, the Holy Spirit functions as a link to the consciousness of the constant indwelling of God through Jesus Christ. (3,24; 4,13).
We can say that the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to realize the preciousness of the friendship with God that is offered to us.
THE WORLD
The Christian lives in a hostile, godless world. This world does not know a Christian because it has not known Christ (3,1);
he hates the Christian just as he hated Christ
(3:13).
False teachers are from the world, not from God, and it is because they speak his language that the world listens to them and is ready to receive them
(4,4.5).
The whole world, John summarizes, is under the power of the devil
(5:19).
That is why the world must win, and faith serves as a weapon in this fight against the world
(5.4).
This hostile world is doomed, and it is passing away, and its lust is passing away (2:17).
Therefore, it is madness to give your heart to worldly things;
he is heading towards his final death. Although Christians live in a hostile, passing world, there is no need to despair or fear. The darkness is passing and the true light is already shining (2:8).
God in Christ has invaded human history and a new age has begun. It has not yet fully arrived, but the death of this world is obvious.
The Christian lives in a vicious and hostile world, but he has something with which he can overcome it, and when the destined end of the world comes, the Christian is saved because he already has what makes him a member of the new community in the new age.
CHURCH BROTHERHOOD
John not only addresses the higher realms of Christian theology: he sets out some extremely practical problems of the Christian Church and life. No other New Testament writer stresses so tirelessly and so energetically the imperative need for church fellowship. John is convinced that Christians are connected not only to God, but also to each other. “If we walk in the light... we have fellowship with one another.” (1,7).
The man who claims to walk in the light but hates his brother is still in darkness;
He who loves his brother abides in the light (2:9-11).
The proof that a man has passed from darkness to light is his love for his brother.
A man who hates his brother is a murderer like Cain. A man who has the means to help his brother in poverty and does not do so cannot claim that the love of God abides in him. The meaning of religion is to believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and love one another (3:11-17,23).
God is love, and therefore a loving person is close to God.
God loved us and that is why we must love one another (4:7-12).
A man who claims to love God and yet hates his brother is a liar.
The commandment of Jesus is this: he who loves God must also love his brother (4:20.21).
John is confident that a person can prove his love for God only through love for his fellow men, and that this love should manifest itself not only in sentimental feelings, but also in real, practical help.
RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE CHRISTIAN
No other New Testament author makes such high ethical demands as John; no one condemns so much a religion that does not manifest itself in ethical actions. God is righteous, and His righteousness should be reflected in the life of every person who knows Him. (2,29).
Whoever abides in Christ and is born of God does not sin;
whoever does not do righteousness is not from God (3:3-10);
and the peculiarity of righteousness is that it is manifested in love for brothers
(3:10.11).
By keeping God's commandments, we prove our love for God and people
(5:2).
He who is born of God does not sin
(5:18).
In John's mind, knowing God and obeying Him must go hand in hand. It is only through keeping His commandments that we can prove that we truly know God. The person who claims to know Him but does not keep His commandments is a liar (2:3-5).
In essence, it is this obedience that ensures the effectiveness of our prayer. We receive from God what we ask of Him because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight (3,22).
True Christianity is characterized by two qualities: love for fellow human beings and keeping the commandments given by God.
MESSAGE ADDRESSES
The question of to whom the message is addressed poses difficult problems for us. The message itself does not contain the key to resolving this issue. Tradition connects him with Asia Minor and, above all, with Ephesus, where, according to legend, John lived for many years. But there are other special points that require explanation.
The prominent early medieval scholar Cassiodorus (c. 490-583) said that the First Epistle of John was written by Ad Partos,
that is, to the Parthians;
Augustine lists ten treatises written on the subject of the Epistle of John ad Partos.
One of the copies of this message kept in Geneva further complicates matters: it is called
Inferno Spartos,
and the word does not exist at all in Latin.
We can dismiss Hell Spartos
as a typo, but where did
Hell Partos come from!
There is one possible explanation for this.
From the Second Epistle of John it is clear that it was written to a chosen lady and her children (2 John 1).
Let us turn to the end of the First Epistle of Peter, where we read: “
The church chosen like you
in Babylon greets you”
(1 Pet. 5:13).
The words
you, church
are in petite, which of course means that these words are not in the Greek text, which does not mention the
church.
One translation of the English Bible reads: “She who is in Babylon, and also the chosen one, sends you greetings.”
As for the Greek language and text, it is quite possible to understand this not as a church,
but
as a lady, mistress.
This is exactly how many theologians of the early Church understood this passage.
Moreover, this chosen lady
is found in the Second Epistle of John. It would be easy to identify these two chosen ladies and suggest that the Second Epistle of John was written to Babylon. And the inhabitants of Babylon were usually called Parthians, and here is an explanation of the name.
But things didn't stop there. Chosen Lady -
in Greek
he elect;
and as we have already seen, ancient manuscripts were written in capital letters, and it is quite possible that
Elekte
should be read not as the adjective
chosen,
but as the proper name
Elekta.
This is apparently what Clement of Alexandria did, because his words have reached us that John’s epistles were written to a certain lady in Babylon named Electa and her children.
It is quite possible, therefore, that the name Hell Partos
arose as a result of a number of misunderstandings.
The chosen one
in the First Epistle of Peter, without a doubt, means the Church, which was duly reflected in the Russian translation of the Bible.
Moffat translated this passage as: “Your sister church in Babylon, chosen like you, welcomes you.” Moreover, it is almost certain that in this case Babylon
stands in place of
Rome,
which early Christian writers identified with Babylon, the great harlot drunk with the blood of the saints
(Rev. 17:5).
The name
Hell Partos
has an interesting history, but its origins are undoubtedly due to misunderstandings.
But there is another difficulty. Clement of Alexandria spoke of John's epistles as “written to virgins.” At first glance, this seems impossible, because such a name would simply be inappropriate. But where did this come from then? In Greek the name would then be, Pros Parthenous,
which is very similar to
Pros Partus,
and it so happens that John was often called
Ho Parthenos,
the Virgin, because he was unmarried and led a chaste life.
This name was supposed to be the result of a confusion between Ad Partos
and
Ho Parthenos.
In this case, we can assume that tradition is right and all sophisticated theories are wrong. We can assume that these letters were written and assigned to Ephesus and the nearby churches of Asia Minor. John undoubtedly wrote to communities where his messages carried weight, and that was Ephesus and the surrounding areas. His name is never mentioned in connection with Babylon.
IN DEFENSE OF THE FAITH
John wrote his great epistle in the fight against some pressing threat and in defense of the faith. The heresies he opposed were undoubtedly more than just echoes of ancient times. They still live somewhere in the depths, and sometimes even now they raise their heads. Studying the letters of John will confirm us in the true faith and give us weapons to defend ourselves against those who might try to seduce us.
First Epistle of John, Chapter 4
1 Having mentioned (in 3:24
) about the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit inherent in Christians, the apostle now considers it necessary to warn readers against the possible danger from those who abuse the mentioned gifts.
In the primal church there was an abundance of spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the church ( 1 Cor 7:7-11
): teaching, prophecy, miraculous healings, glossolalia, etc. were manifestations of the divine Spirit in believers. But next to and in the likeness of the true inspiration from the Holy Spirit, with the true teachers and miracle workers, false inspiration appeared from the spirit of darkness - the devil; false teachers appeared, animated by the anti-Christian spirit, who could easily seduce and entice unsteady members of the Christian community. Therefore, the apostle warns Christians against such “spirits” or “false prophets.” John - “adds a sign to distinguish true brothers and neighbors, so that we, keeping this difference in mind, regarding the commandment of love, do not enter into close relationships with false brothers, false apostles and false prophets and thereby cause ourselves great harm. For, having fellowship with them, as those who have the same rights, we, firstly, will harm ourselves, without fear communicating the teaching of faith to the wicked and throwing the holy thing to the dogs, then we will harm those who are devoted to us. For our love for false brothers, false prophets and false apostles will incline many to accept them as teachers and to believe their teaching without caution, and they will fall into deception because of our treatment of them” (Blessed Theophylact).
2-3 The decisive sign of a true prophet or Christian teacher is the apostle’s confession of the appearance of God in the flesh in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ: this is the main dogma of Christianity, in the prologue of the Gospel of John expressed in the words: The Word became flesh ( John 1:14
). On the contrary, he who rejects this fundamental truth of the Incarnation thereby shows that he is not from God, but from the devil and the Antichrist: such were, for example, the Docetes mentioned by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, and also, probably, other similar false teachers of the same anti-Christian spirit. Antichrist in the strict and narrow sense of the word has not yet come, but the spirit of Antichrist is already active in many false teachers. “The Apostle says that the Antichrist is already in the world, of course, not in person, but in the person of false prophets, false apostles and heretics, anticipating and preparing his coming” (Blessed Theophylact). It is difficult to more accurately and closely determine the false teachings of those exposed, but in any case, these are not Gnostic heretical teachings of the 2nd century, but false teachings that have not yet developed into a system of false teachings of the 1st century.
4-6 To console and strengthen the believers, the apostle proclaims to them that the victory of the true teaching of the Gospel over false teaching is undoubted (cf. below 5:4
), since the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Christ, which dwells in the faithful, is immeasurably greater than the spirit of the will that acts in a world hostile to God in general, and especially in false teachers.
This apostolic consolation to believers fully corresponds to the saying of the Lord Himself to the disciples in His farewell conversation: “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world” ( John 16:33
), and like this promise of the Lord, it was powerful to bring complete encouragement to the hearts of Christians. But the pastoral love and care of the apostle also turns to the other side of the matter. The Apostle “gives them yet another sign for recognizing false prophets, in this, which much grieved the simple ones among the most faithful. Some of them, naturally, could grieve, seeing that many accepted them very zealously, but they were despised. The Apostle says: do not grieve if many despise you, but accept them, for like strives for like. They are from the world and speak worldly things, that is, they teach carnal desires, which is why they have the same listeners, that is, they are depraved depraved. And we, being from God and having removed ourselves from worldly lusts, become unpleasant to them. The one who listens to us is the one who lives chastely and therefore knows God and is ready to listen to us” (Blessed Theophylact). In the last words of Art. 6, the apostle, summing up everything that has been said about the discernment of spirits, “as if attaches a seal to what was said” (Blessed Theophylact).
7-10 Having revealed the doctrine of the true confession of faith in the incarnate Son of God and indicating the source of this confession in God ( v. 2
) in contrast to the false teaching of false prophets and antichrists, the apostle now shows that the second half of the divine “commandment” (
2:23
) - love for neighbors, the ability to love them also comes from God.
Explaining the concept of love, the apostle puts it in connection with knowledge: just as the knowledge of something presupposes a certain relationship between the knower and the known, and the higher our disposition and interest in the subject of knowledge, why the ancients said that like is known by like - Thus, a similar phenomenon occurs both in religious life and in religious knowledge. Here, wherever true love takes place, there it forms something that came to people from God; whoever loves, God has revealed himself to him, therefore, he knows God; born of God ( 2:29
;
3:9
) and being a child of God (
3:1
);
the lover knows God not only by faith, but also by direct inner feeling. On the contrary, someone who does not love his neighbor, much less is at enmity with him ( 3:15
), as a spiritual person and does not understand what comes from the Spirit of God (
1 Cor 2:14
), is inevitably alien to the correct knowledge of God - because God is love ὁ Θεтς ἀγάπη ἐστίν (v. 8). This is, without a doubt, the most complete and deepest definition of the moral nature of God, and theology could never create a higher and more consistent definition of the Christian concept of the moral being of God, like this definition of the apostle of love. St. Gregory the Theologian says: “If someone asked us: what do we honor and what do we worship? The answer is ready: we honor love. For, according to the saying of the Holy Spirit, our God is love, and this name is more pleasing to God than any other name” (Homily XXIII).
9-10 But, proclaiming the doctrine of God as love, the apostle is dealing not with an abstract doctrine, but with a real event of the greatest world-historical importance: with the immeasurable event of God’s embassy into the world of His Only Begotten Son and those He brought to earth the priceless benefits of eternal life (v. 9). It was in this that the unimaginable Love of God for the world and humanity was revealed (v. 9; cf. 3:16
), and the special greatness of this love is evident from the fact that it was given to sinful people without any merit on their part, on the contrary, in the presence of their grave and varied guilt before God (v. 10; see
Rom. 5:8
;
8:32
). Thus, the source of love lies not in man, but in God. “Just as it is called goodness because through goodness he created the mental and sensory world, so out of love for us, sending His only begotten Son into the world, showed through this that He is also love” (Blessed Theophylact).
11-12 If thus love in its essence comes from God and, therefore, our love is a flame from the divine flame; if through the love of God we have become children of God from enemies, then love our neighbors, even our enemies (cf. Matthew 18:33
), is our most sacred duty (v. 11).
In addition, if love in its essence is from God, then our love for our neighbors replaces our lack of direct contemplation of God. God is completely inaccessible to sensory contemplation, and no one has ever seen God (v. 12, ff. John 1:18
;
6:46
) in His being (see
1 Tim 6:16
), only in the future life the righteous “will see Him, as it is” (
1 John 3:2
;
Matthew 5:8
). But if loving God is our primary duty, then our possible communication with Him is most perfectly reflected in our love for our neighbors: love for brothers shows that God abides in us, and God’s love in all its fullness and perfection has its dwelling in us ( Art. 12).
13-14 The gracious, close communication of Christians with God, which constitutes the goal of human life, is a real fact, certified by direct Christian consciousness: a Christian is internally convinced of the reality of his possession of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (v. 13). But the root of this grace-filled communication of ours with God and our love for our neighbors lies in the event of God sending His Son for the salvation of the world (v. 14, see art. 9
), I honor the Apostle on behalf of himself and other witnesses of the Word incarnate and testifies (cf.
1:1,2
).
Blazh. Theophylact gives such a paraphrase and such an interpretation of the words of the apostle in Art. 11-14: “Speaking of love for brothers, the apostle pointed out God as an example of love, who, out of love for us, gave up His only begotten Son to death. Another, having heard this, could ask: on what basis are you talking about invisible objects? In response to such a question, he says: I myself say the same thing, that no one has ever seen God, but out of love for each other we know that God is in us. And he says this rightly, because we learn many objects invisible to us from their actions. For example, no one has seen the soul, but from actions and movements we are convinced that it exists and operates in us. So we recognize God’s love for us through some movement and action... And this divine man proves by action that God is in us. What kind of action is this? Pure love for our neighbors. It is a sign of our abiding in Him and of Him in us, and also because He gave us of His Spirit. For the pure gives birth to the pure and undefiled. And since through pure love we have fellowship with Him, then from here we, who have seen Him in the flesh, have known and testified that the Father sent Him, the Savior of the world.” And so, we ourselves have seen, and from the Only Begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father ( John 1:18
), we have heard, and from the action of mutual love we know that God is in us, and has given us His Spirit, and we are in communion with Him. "
15-16 The inextricable connection between the confession of faith in Christ and love for others, which the apostle already spoke about (3:23
), is now affirmed with special force, since our very communication with God is made causally dependent on the confession of the Divinity of Jesus Christ and His saving work (v. 15), and, of course, the deeds of love accompanying faith are necessarily assumed (cf.
v. 12
) .
Art. 16 summarizes the content of the previous verses from vv.
7-8 , and the main position of the apostle’s entire speech is repeated: “God is love” (cf.
v. 8
). Summing up what has been said about the essence and origin of Christian love, the apostle at the same time provides here a point of support for further revelation of the true essence of love.
17-18 The Apostle clarifies the question: what is the highest degree of perfection of love that unites believers with God, and resolves this question in the sense that a decisive sign of the perfection of love is the readiness of believers and lovers to fearlessly appear on the day of judgment before the terrible judgment seat of Christ - perfect love has boldness, παρρησίαν (cf. 2:28
;
3:21
;
5:14
), that is, confidence and courage to be justified at the judgment of Christ.
This requires, however, that “we walk in this world as He does” (v. 17). “As He was blameless” and pure in the world... - so we will be in God, and God in us. If He is the teacher and giver of our purity, then we must carry Him in the world purely and immaculately... If we live like this, we will have boldness before Him and will be free from all fear” (Blessed Theophylact). If the hallmark of perfect love is boldness, then the opposite feeling of fear should not take place not only in love itself, but also in the area in which it acts: “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear,” there is in seemingly slavish fear, excited by the expectation of punishment and therefore containing torment; and “fearing imperfection in love” (v. 18). “Based on the words of David: “Fear the Lord, all you His saints” ( Ps 33:30
), others will ask: how does John now say that perfect love casts out fear?
Are God's saints so imperfect in love that they are commanded to fear? We answer. Fear is of two kinds. One is initial, with torment mixed in. A person who has committed bad deeds approaches God with fear, and approaches in order not to be punished. This is initial fear. Another fear is perfect. This fear is free from such fear, which is why it is called pure and abiding forever ( Ps 18:10
). What kind of fear is this and why is it perfect? Because the one who has it is completely delighted with love and tries in every possible way to ensure that he does not lack anything that a strong lover should do for his beloved” (Blessed Theophylact).
19-21 Having eliminated the imperfection of love in the form of fear ( v. 18
), the apostle proceeds to the conclusion of his speech about love for God and neighbors in the mutual relations of these two sides of love, indicating the need to base love for neighbors on love for God.
The first object of a Christian’s love should be God (v. 19), the One who, with His love, manifested before we knew Him, and even when we were still hostile to Him ( vv. 9-10
), kindled a flame in our soul true love. But love for God, if it really exists, must be reflected in a person’s actions and mainly in his love for his neighbor; a lack, and even more so a complete absence of love for our neighbors, certainly speaks of a lack of love for God, of only imaginary love - so that our love for God can be measured by love for our neighbors (v. 20). “Love is obviously formed through treating each other; conversion presupposes that a person sees his brother and, by treating Him, becomes even more attached to Him with love, for vision attracts a lot to love. If so, then whoever places much more value on the desire for love does not love the brother whom he has seen, how can he be recognized as true when he says that he loves God, whom he has not seen, who is neither in his dealings with him nor embraced by any feeling” (Blessed Theophylact). The apostle concludes his speech by indicating that the close, inextricable connection of love for neighbors with love for God constitutes a direct, positive commandment of God (τὴν ἐντολὴν αὐτου̃), v. 21.
Gospel of John. Chapter 4
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1 When Jesus learned about that had reached
the
Pharisees, that He was making more disciples and baptizing than John, - [1] Jn. 3:26. 2 Although Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples did, 3 He left Judea and went again to Galilee.
4 Now He had to pass through Samaria.
5 So He comes to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.[5] Life 33:19; 48:22. Nav. 24:32.
6 There was Jacob's well. Jesus, weary from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about six o'clock.
7 A woman comes from Samaria to draw water. Jesus says to her: Give me something to drink.
8 For his disciples went into the city to buy food.
9 The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How can you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” for Jews do not communicate with Samaritans.[9] 2 Kings 17:24. OK. 9:53.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that says to you, Give Me a drink, then you yourself would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.[10] Is. 12:3; 44:3. Zach. 14:8.
11 The woman said to Him: Master! you have nothing to draw with, but the well is deep; Where did you get your living water from?
12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it, and his children and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.
15 The woman said to Him: Master! give me this water so that I won’t be thirsty and won’t have to come here to draw.
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.”
17 The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus says to her, “You are right when you say that you have no husband, 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; That's right what you said.
19 The woman said to Him: Lord! I see that you are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where we should worship is in Jerusalem.[20] Deut. 12:6; 16:6. 1 Kings 9:3.
21 Jesus said to her, Believe Me, that the time is coming when you will worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You do not know what you worship, but we know what we worship, for salvation is from the Jews.[22] Life 12:3. 2 Kings 17:29. Is. 2:3. Rome. 9:5.
23 But the time will come, and has already come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such worshipers for Himself.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.[24] 2 Cor. 3:17. Phil. 3:3.
25 The woman said to Him: I know that the Messiah will come, that is, Christ; when He comes, He will tell us everything.
26 Jesus said to her, “It is I who speak to you.”
27 At this time His disciples came and were surprised that He was talking to the woman; however, not one said: what do you require? or: what are you talking to her about?
28 Then the woman left her waterpot and went into the city, and said to the people: 29 Come, see a man, who told me all things that I have done: is not this the Christ?
30 They left the city and went to Him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples asked Him, saying: Rabbi! eat.
32 But He said to them, “I have food that you do not know.”
33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Who brought Him anything to eat?”
34 Jesus saith unto them, My food is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.
35 Do you not say that there are still four months and the harvest will come? But I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, how they are white and ripe for harvest.[35] Mf. 9:37. OK. 10:2.
36 He who reaps receives his reward and reaps fruit for eternal life, so that both he who sows and he who reaps will rejoice together, 37 for in this case the saying is true: one sows, and another reaps.
38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor: others labored, but you entered into their labor.
39 And many Samaritans from that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman, who testified that He told her all that she had done.
40 And therefore, when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.
41 And an even greater number believed at His word.
42 And they said to the woman, “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we ourselves have heard and known that He is truly the Savior of the world, Christ.”
43 And after two days He left from there and went to Galilee,[43] Matt. 4:12. Mk. 1:14. 44 For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.[44] Mf. 13:57. Mk. 6:4. OK. 4:24.
45 When He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, seeing all that He did in Jerusalem on the feast, for they also went to the feast.
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he turned water into wine. || There was a certain nobleman in Capernaum whose son was sick.[46] In. 2:11.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he came to Him and asked Him to come and heal his son, who was about to die.
48 Jesus said to him, “You will not believe unless you see signs and wonders.”
49 The nobleman said to Him: Lord! come before my son dies.
50 Jesus said to him, “Go, your son is well.” He believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went.
51 On the road his servants met him and said, “Your son is well.”
52 He asked them: at what time did he feel better? They told him: yesterday at seven o'clock the fever left him.
53 From this the father knew that this was the hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son is well, and he and his whole house believed.”
54 Jesus performed this second miracle when he returned from Judea to Galilee.
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Chapter 1
To the chapter: | | | |
About what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, about the Word of life - Luke 1:2, 24:39; John 1:1
For life has appeared, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you this eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us - John 1:1
what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, so that you also may have fellowship with us: and our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. John 15:10; 1 Cor 1:9
And we write this to you so that your joy may be complete.
And this is the gospel that we have heard from Him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. John 8:12
If we say that we have fellowship with Him, but walk in darkness, then we lie and do not act in the truth; 2 Cor 6:14; Eph 5:11
if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 Peter 1:19; Hebrews 9:14; Rev 1:5
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 Kings 8:46; Proverbs 20:9; Eccl 7:20
If we confess our sins, then He, being faithful and righteous, will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 2 Samuel 12:13; Ps 31:5; Proverbs 28:13
If we say that we have not sinned, then we represent Him as a liar, and His word is not in us.
Chapter 2
To the chapter: | | | |
My children! I write this to you so that you will not sin; and if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; Rom 8:34; 1 Tim 2:5
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. Acts 5:31; 1 John 1:9, 4:10; Heb 2:10
And we know that we have come to know Him by keeping His commandments.
He who says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and there is no truth in him;
and whoever keeps His word, in him is truly the love of God perfected: by this we know that we are in Him.
He who says he abides in Him must do as He did. John 13:15
Beloved! I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an ancient commandment which you had from the beginning. The ancient commandment is the word that you have heard from the beginning. John 13:34
But at the same time I write to you a new commandment, which is true both in Him and in you: because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. John 1:9; Rom 13:12
He who says that he is in the light, but hates his brother, is still in darkness. 1 Cor 13:2
He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no temptation in him.
But he who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. John 12:35
I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake. Acts 4:12, 10:43
I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known Jehovah from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I am writing to you, youths, because you have come to know the Father. Luke 10:18–19
I wrote to you, fathers, because you have come to know the Beginningless One. I wrote to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Eph 6:10
Do not love the world, nor the things in the world: whoever loves the world does not have the Father’s love in him. Matthew 6:24
For everything that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but from this world.
And the world passes away, and its lusts, but he who does the will of God abides forever. Isa 40:6, 1 Cor 7:31
Children! Lately. And as you have heard that the Antichrist will come, and now many antichrists have appeared, then we know from this that the last time. Luke 21:8
They left us, but they were not ours: for if they were ours, they would have remained with us; but they came out, and through this it was revealed that they were not all ours. Acts 20:30
However, you have anointing from the Holy One and know everything. Matthew 11:25; 2 Cor 1:21
I wrote to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, as well as the fact that every lie is not from the truth.
Who is a liar if not he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, rejecting the Father and the Son.
Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; and he who confesses the Son also has the Father. Mark 8:38; John 8:19
Therefore, whatever you heard from the beginning, let it remain in you; If that which you have heard from the beginning abide in you, then you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
The promise that He promised us is eternal life.
This is what I wrote to you about those who deceive you.
However, the anointing that you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you; but just as this very anointing teaches you everything, and it is true and not false, whatever it has taught you, abide in it. John 14:26; 1 John 2:20
Therefore, children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
If you know that He is righteous, know also that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
Chapter 3
To the chapter: | | | |
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called and be children of God. The world does not know us because it has not known Him. John 1:12
Beloved! we are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We only know that when it is revealed, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is. Matthew 5:8; 1 Cor 13:12
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. 2 Cor 7:1
Whoever commits sin also commits iniquity; and sin is lawlessness. 1 John 5:17
And you know that He appeared to take away our sins, and that in Him there is no sin. Isa 53:4, 1 Peter 2:22
No one who abides in Him sins; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him.
Children! Let no one deceive you. He who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. Eze 18:9
Whoever commits sin is of the devil, because the devil sinned first. For this reason the Son of God appeared, to destroy the works of the devil. John 8:44
Whoever is born of God commits no sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 5:18
The children of God and the children of the devil are recognized this way: everyone who does not do righteousness is not from God, and neither does he who does not love his brother.
For this is the gospel which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, John 13:34, 15:12; 1 John 4:21
not like Cain, who was of the evil one and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, but his brother’s deeds were righteous. Gen 4:8; Matthew 23:35; Hebrews 11:4
Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. John 15:18
We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers; He who does not love his brother remains in death. Lev 19:17; Eph 2:5
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
We have come to know love in the fact that He laid down His life for us: and we must lay down our lives for our brothers. John 15:13; Rom 5:8; Eph 5:2
And whoever has wealth in the world, but, seeing his brother in need, closes his heart from him - how does the love of God abide in him? Deuteronomy 15:8; Luke 3:11; James 2:15
My children! Let us begin to love not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth.
And this is how we know that we are of the truth, and we calm our hearts before Him; John 18:37
for if our heart condemns us, how much more does God, because God is greater than our heart and knows everything.
Beloved! if our heart does not condemn us, then we have boldness towards God, 1 John 2:28; Heb 10:22
and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. Matthew 21:22; John 15:7; 1 John 5:14
And His commandment is that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He commanded us. John 6:29, 13:34, 17:3
And whoever keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know that He abides in us by the spirit that He gave us. John 14:23
Chapter 4
To the chapter: | | | |
Beloved! Believe not every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Matthew 7:15; Rev 2:2
Know the Spirit of God (and the spirit of error) this way: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh is from God;
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh is not from God, but it is the spirit of the Antichrist, about whom you heard that he would come and is now already in the world. 1 John 2:22; 1 Cor 12:3
Children! you are from God, and you have overcome them; for greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 2 Chronicles 32:7
They are from the world, that’s why they speak worldly, and the world listens to them. John 15:19
We are from God; He who knows God listens to us; He who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we recognize the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. John 8:47
Beloved! let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
He who does not love has not known God, because God is love.
God's love for us was revealed in the fact that God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we could receive life through Him. Isa 9:6; John 3:16; 2 Cor 5:19
This is love, that we did not love God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 2:2; Rom 5:8
Beloved! if God loved us so much, then we should love each other. Matthew 18:33; John 15:12
No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, then God abides in us, and His love is perfect in us. Exodus 33:20; John 1:18; 1 Tim 6:16
We know that we abide in Him and He in us from what He has given us from His Spirit. 1 John 3:24
And we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 1 John 5:5; Rom 10:9
And we knew the love that God has for us and believed in it. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 1 John 3:24
Love reaches such perfection in us that we have boldness on the day of judgment, because we act in this world as He does.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because in fear there is torment. He who fears is imperfect in love.
Let us love Him because He first loved us.
He who says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, is a liar: for he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? 1 John 2:4, 3:17
And we have this commandment from Him, that he who loves God should also love his brother. Matthew 22:37, 39; John 13:34; 1 John 3:11
Chapter 5
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Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begat Him also loves Him who was born of Him. John 4:15
We learn that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments.
For this is love for God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous. Matthew 11:30
For everyone who is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. John 16:33; 1 Cor 15:57
Who overcomes the world if not the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 4:4
This is Jesus Christ, who came by water and blood and the Spirit, not by water only, but by water and blood, and the Spirit bears witness of Him, because the Spirit is truth. John 19:34
For three bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. Matthew 3:16–17, 28:19
And three bear witness on earth: spirit, water and blood; and these three are about one. John 1:33
If we accept the testimony of man, the testimony of God is greater, for it is the testimony of God, with which God testified about His Son. Matthew 3:17; John 8:18
He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; He who does not believe God represents Him as a liar, because he does not believe in the testimony with which God testified about His Son. John 3:33
This testimony is that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
He who has the Son (of God) has life; He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. John 3:36
I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that by believing in the Son of God you have eternal life. John 20:31
And this is the boldness we have towards Him, that when we ask anything according to His will, He listens to us. Jer 29:12–13; 1 John 3:21–22
And when we know that He listens to us in everything we ask, we also know that we receive what we ask from Him.
If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin that does not lead to death, then let him pray, and God will give him life, that is, the one who sins a sin that does not lead to death. There is a sin leading to death: I’m not talking about praying. Numbers 15:30; 1 Samuel 2:25; Jer 7:16, 15:1; Matthew 12:31; Luke 12:10
All untruth is sin; but there is a sin that does not lead to death. 1 John 3:4
We know that everyone born of God does not sin; but he who is born of God keeps himself, and the evil one does not touch him. 1 John 3:9
We know that we are from God and that the whole world lies in evil.
We also know that the Son of God came and gave us light and understanding, so that we may know the true God and may we be in His true Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
Children! keep yourself from idols. Amen.
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