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5:1 Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is
born of God: and
every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten
of him.
5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love
God, and keep his
commandments.
5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and
his commandments are not
grievous.
5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is
the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith.
5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that
Jesus is the Son of God? 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood,
even
Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it
is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the
Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and
the water, and the
blood: and these three agree in one.
5:9 If we
receive the
witness of men, the witness of God is greater:
for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
5:10 He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself:
he that believeth not God hath made him a
liar; because he believeth
not the record that God gave of his Son.
5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us
eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of
God hath not
life.
5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of
the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that
ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
5:14 And this is the
confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask
any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 5:15 And if we know
that he hear us,
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions
that we desired of him.
5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he
shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto
death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for
it.
5:17 All
unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is
begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in
wickedness.
5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him
that is true, even in his Son
Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and
eternal life.
5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Amen.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
1 John
Book: 1 John
Chapter: 5
Overview:
Brotherly
Love is the effect of the new
Birth, which makes
obedience to all
God's
Commandments pleasant.
(1-5) Reference to
witnesses agreeing to prove that
Jesus, the
Son of God, is the
true
Messiah.
(6-8) The satisfaction the believer has about
Christ, and eternal
Life through him.
(9-12) The
Assurance of
God's hearing and answering
Prayer.
(13-17) The happy condition
of true believers, and a charge to renounce all
Idolatry.
(18-21)
1-5 True
Love for the people of
God, may be distinguished from
natural kindness or party attachments,
By its being united with
the
Love of
God, and obedience to his commands. The same Holy
Spirit that taught the
Love, will have taught obedience also;
and that
Man cannot truly
Love the children of
God, who,
By
habit, commits
Sin or neglects known duty. As
God's commands are
holy, just, and good rules of liberty and happiness,
So those
who are born of
God and
Love him, do not count them grievous,
but lament that they cannot serve him more perfectly.
Self-denial is required, but true Christians have a principle
which carries them above all hindrances. Though the conflict
often is sharp, and the regenerate may be cast down, yet he will
rise up and renew his combat with resolution. But all, except
believers in
Christ, are enslaved in some respect or other, to
the customs, opinions, or interests of the world.
Faith is the
cause of victory, the means, the instrument, the spiritual
Armour By which we overcome. In and
By Faith we cleave to
Christ, in contempt of, and in opposition to the world.
Faith
sanctifies the
Heart, and purifies it from those sensual lusts
By which the world obtains sway and dominion over souls. It has
the indwelling
Spirit of
Grace, which is greater than he who
dwells in the world. The real
Christian overcomes the world
By
Faith; he sees, in and
By the
Life and conduct of the
Lord Jesus
On Earth, that this world is to be renounced and overcome. He
cannot be satisfied with this world, but looks
Beyond it, and is
still tending, striving, and pressing toward
Heaven. We must
all, after
Christ's
Example, overcome the world, or it will
overcome us to our ruin.
6-8 We are inwardly and outwardly defiled; inwardly,
By the
power and pollution of
Sin in our nature. For our cleansing
there is in and
By Christ Jesus, the
Washing of
Regeneration and
the renewing of the
Holy Ghost. Some think that the two
sacraments are here meant:
Baptism with water, as the outward
sign of
Regeneration, and purifying from the pollution of
Sin By
the Holy
Spirit; and the
Lord's
Supper, as the outward sign of
the shedding
Christ's
Blood, and the receiving him
By Faith for
Pardon and
Justification. Both these ways of cleansing were
represented in the old ceremonial sacrifices and cleansings.
This water and
Blood include all that is necessary to our
Salvation.
By the water, our souls are washed and purified for
Heaven and the
Habitation of saints in
Light.
By the
Blood, we
are justified, reconciled, and presented righteous to
God.
By
the
Blood, the
Curse of the
Law being satisfied, the purifying
Spirit is obtained for the internal cleansing of our natures.
The water, as
Well as the
Blood, came out of the side of the
sacrificed
Redeemer. He loved the
Church, and gave himself for
it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
Washing of
water
By the
Word; that he might present it to himself a
glorious
Church, Eph 5:25-27. This was done in and
By the
Spirit of
God, according to the
Saviour's declaration. He is the
Spirit of
God, and cannot
Lie. Three had borne
Witness to these
doctrines concerning the person and the
Salvation of
Christ. The
Father, repeatedly,
By a voice from
Heaven declared that
Jesus
was his beloved Son. The
Word declared that He and the
Father
were One, and that whoever had seen him had seen the
Father. And
the
Holy Ghost, who descended from
Heaven and rested
On Christ
at his
Baptism; who had borne
Witness to Him
By all the
prophets; and gave
Testimony to his resurrection and mediatorial
office,
By the
Gift of miraculous powers to the apostles. But
whether this
Passage be cited or not, the doctrine of the
Trinity in Unity stands equally firm and certain. To the
doctrine taught
By the apostles, respecting the person and
Salvation of
Christ, there were three testimonies. 1. The Holy
Spirit. We come into the world with a corrupt,
Carnal
disposition, which is
Enmity to
God. This being done away
By the
Regeneration and new-creating of souls
By the Holy
Spirit, is a
Testimony to the
Saviour. 2. The water: this sets forth the
Saviour's purity and purifying power. The actual and active
purity and
Holiness of his disciples are represented
By Baptism.
3. The
Blood which he shed: and this was our
Ransom, this
testifies for
Jesus Christ; it sealed up and finished the
sacrifices of the Old
Testament. The benefits procured
By his
Blood, prove that he is the
Saviour of the world.
No wonder if
he that rejects this evidence is judged a blasphemer of the
Spirit of
God. These three witnesses are for one and the same
purpose; they agree in one and the same thing.
9-12 Nothing can be more absurd than the conduct of those who
doubt as to the
Truth of Christianity, while in the common
affairs of
Life they do not hesitate to proceed
On human
Testimony, and would deem any one out of his senses who declined
to do
So. The real
Christian has seen his guilt and misery, and
his need of such a
Saviour. He has seen the suitableness of such
a
Saviour to all his spiritual wants and circumstances. He has
found and felt the power of the
Word and doctrine of
Christ,
humbling, healing, quickening, and comforting his soul. He has a
new disposition, and new delights, and is not the
Man that he
formerly was. Yet he finds still a conflict with himself, with
Sin, with the
Flesh, the world, and wicked powers. But he finds
such strength from
Faith in
Christ, that he can overcome the
world, and travel
On towards a better. Such
Assurance has the
Gospel believer: he has a
Witness in himself, which puts the
matter out of doubt with him, except in hours of
Darkness or
conflict; but he cannot be argued out of his belief in the
leading truths of the
Gospel. Here is what makes the
unbeliever's
Sin So awful; the
Sin of unbelief. He gives
God the
Lie; because he believes not the record that
God gave of his
Son. It is in vain for a
Man to plead that he believes the
Testimony of
God in other things, while he rejects it in this.
He that refuses to trust and honour
Christ as the
Son of God,
who disdains to submit to his teaching as
Prophet, to rely
On
his
Atonement and intercession as High
Priest, or to obey him as
King, is dead in
Sin, under condemnation; nor will any outward
morality, learning, forms, notions, or confidences avail him.
13-17 Upon all this evidence, it is but right that we believe
On the name of the
Son of God. Believers have eternal
Life in
the
Covenant of the
Gospel. Then let us thankfully receive the
record of
Scripture. Always abounding in the work of the
Lord,
knowing that our labour is not in vain in the
Lord. The
Lord
Christ invites us to come to him in all circumstances, with our
supplications and requests, notwithstanding the
Sin that besets
us. Our prayers must always be offered in submission to the will
of
God. In some things they are speedily answered; in others
they are granted in the best manner, though not as requested. We
ought to pray for others, as
Well as for ourselves. There are
sins that
War against spiritual
Life in the soul, and the
Life
above. We cannot pray that the sins of the impenitent and
unbelieving should, while they are such, be forgiven them; or
that
Mercy, which supposes the forgiveness of sins, should be
granted to them, while they wilfully continue such. But we may
pray for their
Repentance, for their being enriched with
Faith
in
Christ, and thereupon for all other saving mercies. We should
pray for others, as
Well as for ourselves, beseeching the
Lord
to
Pardon and recover the fallen, as
Well as to relieve the
tempted and afflicted. And let us be truly thankful that
No Sin,
of which any one truly repents, is unto
Death.
18-21 All mankind are divided into two parties or dominions;
that which belongs to
God, and that which belongs to the wicked
one. True believers belong to
God: they are of
God, and from
him, and to him, and for him; while the
Rest,
By far the greater
number, are in the power of the wicked one; they do his
Works,
and support his cause. This general declaration includes all
unbelievers, whatever their profession, station, or situation,
or
By whatever name they may be called. The Son leads believers
to the
Father, and they are in the
Love and favour of both; in
union with both,
By the indwelling and working of the Holy
Spirit. Happy are those to whom it is given to know that the Son
of
God is come, and to have a
Heart to trust in and rely
On him
that is true! May this be our privilege; we shall thus be kept
from all idols and false doctrines, and from the idolatrous
Love
of worldly objects, and be kept
By the power of
God, through
Faith, unto eternal
Salvation. To this living and true
God, be
Glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen.