Vv. 18-20. The Certainties of Christian Faith. St. John has been speaking of a dark mystery, and now he turns from it: ‘‘Do not brood over it. Think rather of the splendid certainties and rejoice in them.”
Ver. 18. Our Security through the Guardianship of Christ. οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει, see note on ili. 6. The child of God may tall into sin, but he does not continue in it; he is not under its dominion. Why? Because, though he has a malignant foe, he has also a vigilant Guardian. ὅ γεννηθεὶς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, {.ε., Christ. Cf. Symb. Nic. : Κύριον ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν, τὸν Yiov τοῦ Θεοῦ, γεννηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς. As distinguished from γεγεννη- µένος the aor. γεγνήθεις refers to the “Eternal Generation”. The rendering “he that is begotten of God (the regen- erate man) keepeth himself (ἑαυτὸν), qui genitus est ex Deo, servat setpsum (Calv.), is doubly objectionable: 6) It
17---21.
πονηρὸς οὐχ | ἅπτεται αὐτοῦ.
1g. οἴδαμεν ὅτι " ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐσμεν,
199
1 Luke vii. 14, 39;
καὶ 6 κόσμος ὅλος * ἐν τῷ πονηρῷ κεῖται. 20, οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι 6 vids a xx.
τοῦ Θεοῦ ° ἤκει, καὶ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν διάνοιαν ἵνα ’ γινώσκωμεν ! τὸν ™ iii. 8.
4 ο aes) 9 ~ q2 aA 3 an tn Cpe ey NC A
ἀληθινόν ' καί ἐσμεν ἐν τῷ ἃ ἀληθινῶ, ἐν τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ ‘Inood Χριστῷ' οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ 7 ἀληθινὸς Θεός, kal’ ἡ ” ζωὴ αἰώνιος. Τεκνία, " φυλάξατε ἑαυτοὺς ὃ ἀπὸ τῶν " εἰδώλων.
τι. 4.
q ii. 8. tz Cor. x. 14; Eph. v. 5.
i. 12, 14.
n Luke ii. 12, 16.
ο John viii. 42.
P (-ομεν) 1 Cor. iv.6; Gal.iv.17.
21. ἁμήν."
5 Luke xii. 15; John xii. 25, xvii. 12; 2 Thess. iii. 3; 1 Tim. vi. 20; 2 Tim.
1 γινωσκοµεν SAB*LP, edd.—an itacism.
24 om. SAB, edd.
5 eautous ΝΑΚΡ; εαυτα $Q*BL, edd.
4apnv KLP, Vg.; om. SQAB, Syrvg ph, Cop., Sah., Aeth., Arm., edd. A common
ecclesiastical addition.
ignores the distinction between perf. and aor.; (2) there is no comfort in the thought that we are in our own keeping ; our security is not our grip on Christ but His grip onus. Calvin feels this : “ Quod Dei proprium est, ad nos transfert. Nam si quisque nostrum salutis suz sit custos, miserum erit presidium”. Vulg. has generatio Dei, perhaps representing a variant 4 Ὑγέννησις τοῦ Θεοῦ. τηρεῖ, see note on ii. 3. ἅπτεται, stronger than “toucheth,” rather “ graspeth,” ‘‘layeth hold of”. A reference to Ps. cv. (LXX civ.). 15: μὴ ἄψησθε τῶν χριστῶν µου, Nolite tangere christos meos (Vulg.).
Ver. 19. Our Security in God’s Em- brace. ὁ κόσμος: ‘Non creatura sed seculares nomines et secundum concupis- centias viventes” (Clem. Alex.). See note on il. 15. τῷ πονηρῷ, masc. as in prev. vers. κεῖται, in antithesis to οὐχ ἅπτεται. On the child of God the Evil One does not so much as lay his hand, the world lies in his arms, On the other hand, the child of God lies in God’s arms. Cf. Deut. xxxiii. 27. Penn, Fruits of Solt- tude: “If our Hairs fall not to the Ground, less do we or our Substance without God’s Providence. Nor can we fall below the arms of God, how low so- ever it be we fall.”
Ver. 20. The Assurance and Guarantee of it all—the fact of the Incarnation (ὅτι 6 Yids τοῦ Θεοῦ ἥκει), an overwhelming demonstration of God’s interest in us and His concern for our highest good. Not simply a historic fact but an abiding
operation—not “‘ came (ἠλθε),”΄ but “hath come and hath givenus”. Our faith is not a matter of intellectual theory but of personal and growing acquaintance with God through the enlightenment of Christ's Spirit. τὸν ἀληθινόν, “ the real” as opposed to the false God of the here- tics. See note on ii. 8. ἐν τῷ ἀληθινῷ, as the world is ἐν τῷ πογηρφῷ.
Ver. 21. Filioli, custodite vos a simu- lacris (Vulg.). The exhortation arises naturally. ‘‘This”—this God revealed and made near and sure in Christ—‘‘is the True God and Life Eternal. Cleave to Him, and do not take to do with false Gods: guard yourselves from the idols.” St. John is thinking, not of the heathen worship of Ephesus—Artemis and her Temple, but of the heretical substitutes for the Christian conception of God. τεκνία gives a tone of tenderness to the exhortation. Φυλάσσειν is used of “ guarding” a flock (Luke ii. 8), a deposit or trust (r Tim. vi. 20; 2 Tim. i. 12, 14), a prisoner (Acts xii. 4). Φυλάσσειν, “watch from within” ; τηρεῖν (see note on ii. 3), “watch from without”. Thus, when a city is besieged, the garrison φυλάσσουσι, the besiegers τηροῦσιν. The heart is a citadel, and it must be guarded against insidious assailants from without. Not φυλάσσετε, “be on your guard,” but φυλάξατε, aor. marking a crisis. The Cerinthian heresy was a desperate assault demanding a decisive , repulse.