The Pulpit Commentary — 1 John — Section 83

Yer. 3.-Thc hope: ih5 1nw~fying JJowe1·. Connecting link: The apostle hns just J>ointPrl out, the blessedness which gathers rounrl the new relationship of children of God, both as !o !ts prcrnnt p1:ivilege and as to its fnture glory. Aud if any one should rng-gest that _it 1s very questionable doctrine, to a~~ert merely that the eight of Christ liy-nnd_-by w!ll mRke them all that they ought to be, the 11nticipative reply is ready. That sight will but complete the resemblance which is even now being aimed at and approximated; and it will do this in every case, for even now the expectation of such nn is~uc has a purifying power 011 all who cherish it. " 1hence our topic-Pui·ijied by hope. I. THE CHILDREN OF Goo HA VE A DrSTINCT AND SPECIFfC HOPE. This is frequently referred to by Paul (Rom."· 5; Titus ii. 13; 2 'l'hess. ii.16); also by Peter (1 Pet. i. 3); but only here 1,y John. But with all three apostles the content of this hoi:e is the same. It is. in fact, the possession of this hope which in the apostles' time marked off t-hc Christiim from the l ~an and unbelieving world (cf. Eph. ii. 12; 1 Thess. iv. 13). And such 1s the case now. Never was it ruore· strikingly so. Even those who are most positive as to the evolution of the race are absolutely hopeless as to the survival of the individual. But the Christian hope is both a personal and collective one. Its features, as indicated here, are twofold. 1. "This hope." 'l'he .Apostle Paul, by the use of the definite ai1icle (Rom. v. 5), marks it off just as distinctly. For the autecedent matt.er of "this," we must go back to the preceding verses, and note the three data there specified (see previous homily). 2. "In him;" rather, "upon him." 'l'he initial letter of the pronoun should be a ea.pita!, indicating that the Lord Jesus is he on whom the hope is Fet. He it is who is at once the central Object of the hope itself. He it is who has promised to fulfil it. His death and resurrection set the seal to its validity. He by his Spirit will consummate and crown it. The hope is set on Christ from beginning to end. 'l'hese two features mark off the Christian hope from all vain and inferior ones. IL Tms HOPE HAS IN EVEUY CASE A PURIFTING POWER. This cannot be truly said concerning any other hope whatsoever. It is true of this only. He who cherishes it has the instinct of self-preservation within him ; he will discipline and train his nature in doing, bearing, resisting, and thus will aim to" perfect holiness in the fear of God." And the good hope that he shall not fall short is a constant inspiration to him. There are three ways in which this may be set forth. 1. It is necessarily so from the nature of the hope itself. Hope is commonly (and truly) defined as "a compound of desire and expectation." But either element of the hope has special weight here. Desire after the beatific vision includes delight in purity; therefore he who cherishes it will aim at being pure. Expectation of the beatific vision is regulated by the Word of God. It declares, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord;" ·and therefore he_ knows that, apart from holiness, hoping is impossible. Hence the conditions of the realization of the hope lead him to purify 1 himself. 2. It is a part of God's gracious plan that it should be so. (1) All in whom he bcgets this living hope he guards, guides, and trains towards its fulfilment. (2) The elation and joy which this hope crea1es are in themselves a blessed means of spiritual advancement. 3. The fact tho.t in this l,ope the believer is actually cUnging to a living Saviour ensures it. 'l'he charm of tl.iis hope is Christ himsil.f. But the expectation of seeing him hereafter keeps 116 by his side now. .And, abiding in him, we grow like him, and are preparing to stand before him at his coming. APPLICATION. 1. Let us admire the grace of God in drawing men out of sin by the force of " this blessed hope." God does not terrify and drive, but loves and wins and saves. 2. Let 116 nse the text as a touchstone. No pretence of hope avails npart from growth in purity. A man may, indeed, apart therefrom, have some hope, but it is not" this hope." 3. To refuse to indulge such a hope is a grievous sin, since i~ throws doubt upon the love of God, by insinuating that he does not care enough for his creatures to prepare such good for them as the Word reveals. Let us not thus wrong our God. 4. In the presence of such solid grounds of hope as are disclosed in the g9spel, how great a wrong is done to a man's own nature when his indifference or unbelief has reduced him to such a state of hopelessness that his highest achievement is that of submitting to the inevitable. ,ve do not know, and have no intention of 1 See a moet ve.luable note in Canon Weiltcott, in loc. 1 on the d.Uferenoo between b.yvl,,u, and 1<a8ap(,...,, on. m.1~-24.J THE FIRST EPJSTLJ<: GENERAL OF ,JOilN. rn trying to discover, to what degree of acquiescence in this a man may attain. But it ie absulutcly certain that iu such a case anything approximating, anything worthy to be compared with, the "joy unspeakable and foll of glory" is absolutely impossible. The lJeace of God can never make the face radiant with heavenly brightness when o:ice tho light of hope is gone. When there is nothing to lighten the beart there can be nothiug to brighten the face. 5. And when this catastrophe occurs in lnnmn nature, the spur to purity is gone. Abstractly, a ground and reason for purity may exist qnitc apart from 11ny hope of immortality, This is possible. Ilut in actual fact, take away the hope, and life's inspiration is gone I It becomes forthwith a mere question of time as to how soon the hopeless one will succumb to the maxim, "Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die I " Vera. 4-12.-Sinning in every way incompati'ble with the 01,ristian life. Connect- ing linlc: 'l'he apostle had just Faicl that every one with the Christian hope would purify himself" as Christ the Lord is pure." .As if to guard this absolutely universal statement," every one," against the possibility of question, he gors on to illustr:ite the varied aspects of sin-in its bearing on law; as regards the Pcr,on and work of Christ; as related to the new lifo of the children of God; and with reference to the everlasting statute of the gospel. 'l'hua giving an overwhelming force to the doctrine indicated by the topic before us. Topic-Sinning impossible to the ,ildren of God. 1 The apostle deals here, not with detailed sins, but with sinning; not with isolated acts (if, indeed, there can be any such), but with the continuous life of sinning. As ~ 1ro,wv •dw ouc11,o- o-~v1w is "one who lives a life of righteousness," so d 1ro,iv .,-tµ, a.µ:zp.,-!av is "one who lives a life of sin.u 'l'errible thought (and yet how true to fact!) that of living a life which is all sin, without any righteousness in it at all I The man who Jives for self- pleasing rather than for the sake of pleasing God-who consults his fancies, and not hiij duty; who carffi only for himself, and not at all for his brother-is living in sin every day and all the day long, however glossy his external self may seem. It is to the manifold contrarieties of such a life that the apostle here calls our attention. Let us look at such a life- I . .As IT CONCERNS THE LAW OF Gon. "Sin is the transgression of law;" literally, "lawlessness." "It is," says Westcott, "the assertion of the selfish will against a para- mount authority. He who sins breaks, not only by accident or in an isolated detail, but essentially, the' Law' which he was created to fulfil "--of right go,·emment of self, of concern for our brother, of loyalty to God. Hence the spirit of the Law is broken 'in its entirety, whatever form the details of his life may assume. II. As IT ooNCERNB THE CHRIST HIMSELF. (Ver. 5.) 1. As to his Person. "In him there is no sin." How black does a sinful, selfish life appear by the side of the life of the Lord ·Jesus Christ I 2. As to his work. "He was manifested to take away sins;" not only (as Paul shows in Rom. iii.) to demonstrate God's righteousness in forgiving sin, but also "to take away sins" 2 (Revised Version)-to remove them altogether. To this end hie whole eartl:ly manifestation was directed, from the manger to the cross. And in thus doing, he would destroy " the works of the devil," who "sinneth from the beginning" (cf. John xii. 31; Col. ii. 15; Heh. ii. 14, 15). Hence it is clear that one who is leading a sinful life is in constant opposition to the Person, will, and work of the Son of God ! III. As IT 00NOERNB THE NEW BIRTH AS A DIVINE PRODUCT. 1. Sinning is altogether inconsistent with abiding in Christ (var. 6; cf. John xv. 5). 2. It is altogether opposed to the true knowledge of Christ (ver. 6). 3. It is co-ntrary to the fw.tures w.1iich always mark God's children (ver. 10). God's children are re-born-born to a life of righteous- ness and love. Hence (ver. 9) whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for the • 1 May we be allowed here to remark, once for nll, that each one of the clivisions in a homily on e. pe.ragro.ph like this suggests a topic for separate discourso ? But it would swell the Commentary beyoncl o.11 reasonable limits were we to adopt such II plan. Besides, we hold it to be the clesign in this department to suggest rather than !o oxp:iucl-to exhibit the order of the lines on which the apostle's thoughts proceed, tbo.n to uovelop nt large the thoughts themselves. Such development, with the np1llic11tion thereof, we leave for the pulpit. 1 Not " our sins."  so THI<~ FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF JOHN. [err. 111. 1-24,