form ' Son of God ' occurs also with some frequency (i Jno 3^ 4^^ ^5,12,13,20^ ^j^j quite a variety of ex- panded phrases appear by its side, such as ' God's only begotten Son' (i Jno 4^, cf. 5^^), 'Jesus, God's Son' ( I Jno i"^) , ' God's Son, Jesus Christ ' ( i Jno i^ 3^^
16 Cf. Westcott, Epistles of St. John, p. 131: "The title 'the Son' in various forms is eminently characteristic of the first and second Epis- tles, in which it occurs 24 (or 25) times (22 or 23+2), which is more times than in all the Epistles of St. Paul."
1^ In these two passages ' the Christ ' is an appellative.
^^ The designation ' Lord ' does not occur in these Epistles. Cf. Westcott, Epistles of St. John, p. 131: "It is remarkable that the title 'Lord' (xvpio<s^ is not found in the Epistles (not 2 Jno 3). It occurs in the narrative of the Gospel, and is frequent in the Apoca- lypse. It occurs also in all the other Epistles of the N. T. except that to Titus. The absence of the title may perhaps be explained by the general view of the relation of Christ to the believer which is given in the Epistles. The central thought is that of fellowship."
<y
272 The Designations of Our Lord
S"**)) * Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father' (2 Jno 3). By means of this constant designation of Jesus as ' the Son of God,' John keeps before his readers His divine dignity. He is not of the world, but has come into the world (5"*^) upon a mission, to destroy all that is evil (5^) and to save the world (i^ 4^^'^* 5^), where- unto He was sent (4^'^*^'^^), that all might have life in Him (5?'^-'^^) ; for God has given unto us eternal life and this life is in ' the Son,' so that He who hath 'the Son ' hath the life (3"'^^)- So closely is He asso- ciated with God the Father (i^ 3^^) that to deny Him is to deny the Father (2-^) and to confess Him is to confess the Father (2-^ 4^^) and to abide in Him is to abide in the Father (2-^, cf. i^). Obviously to John the 'Son of God' Is Himself God; and what Is thus implied in the current use of this title Is openly de- clared at the close of the Epistle, where of ' the Son of God, Jesus Christ ' it is solemnly affirmed, *' This is the True God and Eternal Life" (5"*').
In this remarkable concluding paragraph the Apostle
Is encouraging his readers in view of the sin which Is
in the world and which they feel to be
'True God' working In themselves. "We know," says he, " that every one who has been begotten of God " — that is to say, every truly Christian man, who has been born of the Spirit — " sinneth not " : not because he has of himself power to preserve himself pure, but because " He that was begotten of God " — that is to say, God's own Son, Jesus Christ — " keepeth him and the evil one toucheth him not." This Is but the Johannine way of saying what Peter says in his way when he assures his readers that Christians *' are guarded by the power of God through faith unto a salvation ready
The Catholic Epistles 273
to be revealed in the last time " ( i P i^) . But John proceeds with his encouraging message. " We know," he adds, " that we are of God and the whole world lleth in the evil one. And we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding, that we know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, in His Son Jesus Christ." God is He that is true; and what is said is that if we are in His Son Jesus Christ, we are in God. Why? Because Jesus Christ Himself, being His Son, is Himself just this God that is true; and therefore It is just this that the Apostle adds: "This is," he says with the emphatic de- monstrative,— '' this is the True God and Life Eternal" (5*°). The upshot of the whole matter, then, is that those who are in Jesus Christ need have no fear in the midst of the temptations of earth: for to be in Jesus Christ is to be in the only real God, since Jesus Himself is this ' Real God,' and as such ' Eternal Life.'
Here, then, are two new descriptive epithets applied to Jesus, as the ' Son of God.' He is ' Eternal Life,' — which recalls the figurative designation of Him as 'the Life' in the Gospel of John (14^ ii-% cf. i^-®, I Jno i^ cf. I Jno 2^). And He is 'the True,' 'the Real, God,' the God who corresponds in every respect to the idea of God, who is what God ought to be and is. There is " only one true God," John quotes his Master as declaring (Jno 17^), to know whom is eternal life: and now he tells us that Jesus Christ, be- cause the ' Son ' of this only true God, is Himself this ' True God ' and this ' Eternal Life.'^^ He then who
^^ For the exposition of this passage see especially Weiss (Meyer, 1900), pp. 160, 161. But on the clause, "He that is begotten of God," see Westcott, p. 185, column i.
274 The Designations of Our Lord