The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 8

muet supply l<1T1, not if. (For 1tal ..• 6~, cf. Ver. 5-ch. ii. 28.-2. FrnsT MAI). DIVI• John v1. 51, whoro, oe hero, 1<al ie the lead- BION, God is Light. ing conjunctiou; in ,John viii. 16, 17 and V <;?. 5-ch. ii. 6.--(1) Positive side. What xv. 27, 61 lends.) "Blessed ai·e they that Bee 1101 and yet believe. It ie we who ore hero wnlking in the light involves; the cornlit.ion descl'ibccl, u;e who ore dceigno.ted. Then and conduct of the believer. (2) Oh. ii. 7- lot the blessedness te.ke ple.ce in us, of 28. Negrttive side. What walking in the which tho Lord predicted that it should Jigl.:t excludes; the things and persons t? ta.kc place. I.ot us firmly "old that which be avoided. wo sco nol·, becauso those tell us who have scon" (St. Augustine, in loc.). Ver. 5.-This verse constitntes the text Ver. 4.-While vers. 1-3 refer to the and ?asis of t1_1is div!s!on of the Epi.atlc, Goepel, thi, refers to the Epistle ; but, especially on its positive side. And tha although TavTa in eh. ii. 26 e.nd v. 13 message which we have heard . . . is this. refer to what p1·ecedee, there is no need to Again we have a remarkable parallel be- limit Tav..-a here to these opening verses ; it tween Gospel and Epistle ; both begin ,dth covers tho whole Epistle. The reading a 1ta.l (which connects the opening with fiµ,,s seems preferable to uµw, and fiµ&v to the introduction in a simple and artless uµwv. But fiµ,,s o.nd fiµwv nre not co-ordi- manner), and with the same kind of sen- 1rnle: 71µ.e,s is the opostolic "we;" riµwv tence: "And the witness of John is this." meaus "your joy a.a well o.s mine." This The reading l-rrar1e11.(a. (eh. ii. 25, and fre- verse take, the pince of the usual "grace and quent in tho New Testament) mnst be re- peace" in tbe opening of other Epistles; jected here and in eh. iii. 11 in favour or and as ver. 3 recalls John xvii. 21, so this c/.-y-yel\la (which occurs nowhere else in the recalls John xvii. 13. The joy is that of New Testament), on overwhelming evi- knowing that, though iu the world, they are dence. 'E1rayyel\la in the New Testo.ment not of it, but ore one with one onother, and means '' promise," which wonld be almost with the Father and with the Son. 1'he meaningless here. The change from ,.,,. gospel is e.lways joy: "Rejoice al way" ayyeM.oµev (ven 2, 3) to !z.va:"/'Ye/1.1'.aµev is (l Thess. v. 16); "Rejoice in tho Lord noteworthy : the one fa "declare," the other nlway" (Phil. iv. 4). To know thnt the "announce." The mesrnge received from Eternal Life has been manifested, that we Christ, the o.postle announces or reportB (re- have communion with him, and tluou"h nunciat) to hie reade:ra. He doee not name him with the Father, must be joy. Whenfue Christ (&.ir' a.i..-av); he ie so full of the Gnosticism, by denying the atonement, and thought of Christ that he Qmits to no.mo "the personal office of God in the salvation him (cf. John XX. 7, 9, 15). 'Ava.rreM.w of the worl<l,'' cuts off one great sphere of is used of aulhoritati-De announcements; of God's Jove, nnd consequently one great priests and Levites in the LXX. ; of the cause of the believer's joy. To sum up this Messiah (John iv. 25); of the Spirit (John introduction: St. John gives hie Goepel to xvi. 13, H, 15); of the apostles (Acts x.x. the Church (a.,rczyy,1'./l.o1«v) in order that 20, 27; 1 Pet. i. 12). St. John speaks with all may share iu the union for which Cl11·ist authority. God is light; not the Light, nor prnyed; and to the Gospel he adds th;s a light, but light; thot is hi;; nature. 'rhis Epistle (,cczl Tai:Ta -ypd.,paµev), that all may sums up the Divine essen~e on its intel- 1·ealize the joy resulting from this union- lectual side, as " God is lovo" ou its moral that our joy may be fulfilled. side. In neither case hos the predicate the In this introduction we find tlie following article : ,I Elebs ,PGs <<1Tiv; o Selis &.-y:f,r11 <<1T(v. Light and love e.re not attributes of expressions which are charncteristic of St. God, but himself. The connexion between John, serving to show the common author- this message ond the iutroduction is not nt ship of the Gospel ond Epistle, e.nd in some first obvious. But St. John writes with hi:, cases of the Revelation olso : cl Ao-yos, 71 Gospel beforo him, and the prologue to that ,.,.,,, ,pavep&.,, µapTVp<w, (wh alwvws, ~" wp&s, supplies tbe link. There, as here, three idens follow in order: /l.07as, (wfi, ,Pws. ;, xapa ii 1re1ril.11pwµ,v11, It is among the The1·e, ns here, ,Pws immediately suggests many excollencee of the Revieeil Version its opposite, 111t0Tla. It ie on the revelo.tio11 that characteristic expressions are marked of the Ao-yos ns ,p&s, and the consequeut by e. uuiform translation; whereas in tho struggle between ,pws and <11CaTla, that th.:i Authol'izcd Vereiou they ore obscured by Gospel is based. And this revelation is tho highest : meu alono ore cow petent to re- capriciously varying the t.nmslution: e.g. ceive or reject it. Olber organisms exhibit u.apTvplw is rendered in foul' different ways the creativo power os life: none but meu -" bear witnes~," "beo.r record," "givo can recoguize it os light. And to know the record," "testify" (of. p. x,). /1.oyos 11s light is to kuow the Father aa 4 THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL 01<' JOHN. [en. 1. 1-10,