I John 5 · The Lantern

Whosoever believeth that, Jesus, is the Christ, of God, hath been born: and, whosoever loveth him that begat, loveth him that hath been begotten of him.

All, therefore, are outside of the [Christian] dispensation, who, under pretext of knowledge, understand that Jesus was one, and Christ another, and the Only-begotten another, from whom again is the Word, and that the Saviour is another, whom these disciples of error allege to be a production of those who were made Aeons in a state of degeneracy.

John immediately joined love to faith, because without love faith is useless. According to charity, faith belongs to Christians, but without love it belongs to the demons. Moreover, those who do not believe are even worse than the demons.

And this is said in confirmation of the above. If we received from the Teacher the commandment to love one another, then, without a doubt, if we believe that our Teacher Jesus is the Christ, and He is the Christ in the sense that He is God and man together, we must also keep His commandments, as those of a Teacher and as those of God.

Hereby, perceive we, that we love the children of God, as soon as, God, we love, and, his commandments, we are doing.

Behold, sayest thou, I love the Father, and I love the Son: but this only, the Father God and the Son God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, that Word by which all things were made, and "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us:" this alone I love.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. And John adds this persuasion: that whoever loves the one who created him loves also the one who is born of him. Then he uses a change of discourse and says that love for brothers or the children of God confirms love for Him who created.

In this we know that we love the children of God, etc. Therefore, he alone is proven to love his neighbor rightly who is known to burn with the love of the Creator.

For, this is the love of God—that, his commandments, we be keeping, and, his commandments, are not burdensome;

And if we are called to the kingdom of God, let us walk worthy of the kingdom, loving God and our neighbour. But love is not proved by a kiss, but by kindly feeling. But there are those, that do nothing but make the churches resound with a kiss, not having love itself within.

Keeping the commandments is both the form and substance of our love for God. Those who obey them are brought close to God by them. If someone looks at them in the wrong way and says that they are heavy to bear, he is merely revealing his own weakness.

The commandments of God are irreproachable, because they contain nothing impossible: whence in First John: "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome." He premises: "this is the love of God": for to one having charity the commandments of God are easy and sweet, but to one not having charity they seem difficult.

Because, whatsoever hath been born of God, overcometh the world; and, this, is the victory that hath overcome the world—our faith.

[And] who is he that overcometh the world, save he that believeth that, Jesus, is the Son of God?

This, is he that came through means of water and blood, Jesus Christ: not, by the water, only, but, by the water and by the blood,—and, the Spirit, it is, that is bearing witness, because, the Spirit, is the truth.

Moreover, how could the Lord, with any justice, if He belonged to another father, have acknowledged the bread to be His body, while He took it from that creation to which we belong, and affirmed the mixed cup to be His blood? And why did He acknowledge Himself to be the Son of man, if He had not gone through that birth which belongs to a human being?

What flowed from his side was also the blood which cleanses us from sin and sanctifies the people of God.… It was not a mere man who appeared at the Jordan but the incarnate Word of God, to whom the Father also bore witness: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Similarly, when he was hanging on the cross, what sounded to the people like thunder was the voice of G…

The third firmness of faith is that which proceeds from the witness of truth as expressed through the inspired word: and this occurred with all the prophets. And we have heard this Word, for it is the Spirit that bears witness that Christ is the truth. Some have actually seen Him in the flesh.

Because, three, are they who are bearing witness—

The Lord says, "I and the Father are one;" and again it is written of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, "And these three are one." And does any one believe that this unity which thus comes from the divine strength and coheres in celestial sacraments, can be divided in the Church, and can be separated by the parting asunder of opposing wills?

Since there are three who bear witness on earth, etc. The Spirit has borne witness that Jesus is truth, when it descended upon Him at His baptism. For if he were not truly the Son of God, by no means would the Holy Spirit have come to Him with such a great manifestation.

1 John 5: Three are they who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one; I say one absolutely, which I say with no addition: therefore they are one absolutely: therefore the trinity does not take away unity.

The Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood; and, the three, are, [witnesses], unto one thing.

Three things then we know to have issued from the Body of the Lord when He hung upon the tree: first, the spirit: of which it is written, "And He bowed the head and gave up the spirit:" then, as His side was pierced by the spear, "blood and water." Which three things if we look at as they are in themselves, they are in substance several and distinct, and therefore they are not…

For there are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three are one. Therefore, since three bear witness to Jesus' adoption, namely baptism, crucifixion, and resurrection, there is no uncertainty in the Lord's adoption: by which adoption He also granted us, as He who was the first fruits of the entire human mass (Rom.

The incarnation cannot be known unless one is aware of the distinction of Persons. For if you do not know the Trinity, the Father could have been incarnated and have suffered as well as the Son: and this is Sabellianism and Patripassianism. Likewise, if you suppose the Trinity and not the incarnation, you have a witnessing in heaven, but you do not receive it on earth.

If, the witness of men, we receive, the witness of God, is, greater. Because, this, is the witness of God—in that he hath borne witness concerning his Son,—

He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness, within himself: He that doth not believe God, false, hath made him,—because he hath not believed on the witness which, God, hath witnessed, concerning his Son—

And, this, is the witness:—that, life age-abiding, hath God given unto us, and, this life, is, in his Son:

He that hath the Son, hath, the life,—he that hath not the Son of God, hath not, the life.

We believe not the testimony of God in which He testifies to us of His Son. "He that hath not the Son, hath not life." And that man has not the Son, who believes Him to be any other than the Son.

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. Therefore, whoever has the Son through holy baptism has life. For as many as we have been baptized into Christ, we have also, according to His command, put on Christ. But whoever does not have the Son of God through baptism does not have life, but is dead.

He who has the Son, has life, etc. So that it may not seem too little to say that life is in the Son, he added that the Son Himself is life. Which the Son, glorifying the Father, also showed when He said: For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself (John V).

These things, have I written unto you—in order that ye may know that ye have, Life Age-abiding—unto you who believe on the name of the Son of God.

I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God: that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God.

These things I have written to you, that you may know that you have eternal life, etc. That you may know, he says, that you may be certain of your future blessedness, who believe in Christ, so that you are not deceived by the fraud of those who deny that Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore assert that nothing will benefit those who have believed in His name.

Here a kind of conclusion is drawn. I have written this to you, he says, as heirs of eternal life. For to those who do not live according to the hope of eternal life, this could not have been written, because to give what is holy to dogs and to cast pearls before swine is not praiseworthy (Matt. 7:6).

And, this, is the boldness which we have towards him: that, if, anything, we ask, according to his will, He doth hearken unto us.

"And this is the confidence which we have towards Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us." He does not say absolutely what we shall ask, but what we ought to ask.

And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him. Then, since there is no other sign of this unquestionable faith except trust, which we find in Him through irreproachable faith, as we have also said before.

Then he says that the sign of this undoubted faith is none other than the boldness which we find before Him through blameless faith, as we also said above, and that in turn the sign of such boldness is the obtaining of everything we ask.

And, if we know that he doth hearken unto us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the things asked, which we have asked of him,

If one should see his brother committing a sin, not unto death, he shall ask, and He will grant unto him life,—for them who are sinning, not unto death. There, is, a sin, unto death: not concerning that, am I saying, that he should make request.

John, too, manifestly teaches the differences of sins, in his larger Epistle, in these words: "If any man see his brother sin a sin that is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life: for these that sin not unto death," he says. For "there is a sin unto death: I do not say that one is to pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not unto death."

But what presses harder upon the present question is that saying of the apostle John, "If any man know that his brother sinneth a sin not unto death, he shall ask, and the Lord will give life to that man who sinneth not unto death: but there is a sin unto death: not for that do I say that he should ask." For it manifestly shows that there are some "brethren" whom we are not com…

Having said that God fulfills our requests that are in accordance with His will, the apostle now clearly expresses his desire concerning what we should ask for according to God's will.

All unrighteousness, is, sin, and there, is, a sin, not unto death.

We know that, whosoever hath been born of God, is not committing sin,—Nay, he that hath been born of God, He keepeth him, and, the wicked one, doth not touch him.

We know that, of God, are we; and, the whole world, in the wicked one, is lying.

We know, moreover, that, the Son of God, hath come, and hath given us insight, so that we are getting to understand, him that is Real,—and we are in him that is Real, in his Son Jesus Christ. This, is the Real God, and life age-abiding.

Dear children! Guard yourselves from idols.

John did not tell us to keep away from worship, but from idols, that is, from their very likeness. For it is wrong for you, who are created in the image of the living God, to become the image of an idol and a dead man.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. "keep yourself from idols." Some have questioned: If John writes this to the perfect, why does he now command them to beware of idols? We therefore say that because he wrote to the whole Church, which was not made up of a select people, but there were also some among them who were less affected.

Since the apostle wrote this epistle to mature believers, some asked why he commands them to keep themselves from idols. We answer: the apostle wrote this to the entire Church, which was not entirely filled with chosen people, but among them some were also of wrong disposition. To such people he gives this commandment, fearing for their weakness.

I John5