he apostle admires the love of God in making believers his
children. (1,2) The purifying influence of the hope of seeing
Christ, and the danger of pretending to this, and living in sin.
(3-10) Love to the brethren is the character of real Christians.
(11-15) That love described by its actings. (16-21) The
advantage of faith, love, and obedience. (22-24)
Verse 1,2: Little does the world know of the happiness of the real
followers of Christ. Little does the world think that these
poor, humble, despised ones, are favourites of God, and will
dwell in heaven. Let the followers of Christ be content with
hard fare here, since they are in a land of strangers, where
their Lord was so badly treated before them. The sons of God
must walk by faith, and live by hope. They may well wait in
faith, hope, and earnest desire, for the revelation of the Lord
Jesus. The sons of God will be known, and be made manifest by
likeness to their Head. They shall be transformed into the same
image, by their view of him.
Verses 3-10: The sons of God know that their Lord is of purer eyes than
to allow any thing unholy and impure to dwell with him. It is
the hope of hypocrites, not of the sons of God, that makes
allowance for gratifying impure desires and lusts. May we be
followers of him as his dear children, thus show our sense of
his unspeakable mercy, and express that obedient, grateful,
humble mind which becomes us. Sin is the rejecting the Divine
law. In him, that is, in Christ, was no sin. All the sinless
weaknesses that were consequences of the fall, he took; that is,
all those infirmities of mind or body which subject man to
suffering, and expose him to temptation. But our moral
infirmities, our proneness to sin, he had not. He that abides in
Christ, continues not in the practice of sin. Renouncing sin is
the great proof of spiritual union with, continuance in, and
saving knowledge of the Lord Christ. Beware of self-deceit. He
that doeth righteousness is righteous, and to be a follower of
Christ, shows an interest by faith in his obedience and
sufferings. But a man cannot act like the devil, and at the same
time be a disciple of Christ Jesus. Let us not serve or indulge
what the Son of God came to destroy. To be born of God is to be
inwardly renewed by the power of the Spirit of God. Renewing
grace is an abiding principle. Religion is not an art, a matter
of dexterity and skill, but a new nature. And the regenerate
person cannot sin as he did before he was born of God, and as
others do who are not born again. There is that light in his
mind, which shows him the evil and malignity of sin. There is
that bias upon his heart, which disposes him to loathe and hate
sin. There is the spiritual principle that opposes sinful acts.
And there is repentance for sin, if committed. It goes against
him to sin with forethought. The children of God and the
children of the devil have their distinct characters. The seed
of the serpent are known by neglect of religion, and by their
hating real Christians. He only is righteous before God, as a
justified believer, who is taught and disposed to righteousness
by the Holy Spirit. In this the children of God are manifest,
and the children of the devil. May all professors of the gospel
lay these truths to heart, and try themselves by them.
Verses 11-15: We should love the Lord Jesus, value his love, and
therefore love all our brethren in Christ. This love is the
special fruit of our faith, and a certain sign of our being born
again. But none who rightly know the heart of man, can wonder at
the contempt and enmity of ungodly people against the children
of God. We know that we are passed from death to life: we may
know it by the evidences of our faith in Christ, of which love
to our brethren is one. It is not zeal for a party in the common
religion, or affection for those who are of the same name and
sentiments with ourselves. The life of grace in the heart of a
regenerate person, is the beginning and first principle of a
life of glory, whereof they must be destitute who hate their
brother in their hearts.
Verses 16-21: Here is the condescension, the miracle, the mystery of
Divine love, that God would redeem the church with his own
blood. Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so
loved. The Holy Spirit, grieved at selfishness, will leave the
selfish heart without comfort, and full of darkness and terror.
By what can it be known that a man has a true sense of the love
of Christ for perishing sinners, or that the love of God has
been planted in his heart by the Holy Spirit, if the love of the
world and its good overcomes the feelings of compassion to a
perishing brother? Every instance of this selfishness must
weaken the evidences of a man's conversion; when habitual and
allowed, it must decide against him. If conscience condemn us in
known sin, or the neglect of known duty, God does so too. Let
conscience therefore be well-informed, be heard, and diligently
attended to.
Verses 22-24: When believers had confidence towards God, through the
Spirit of adoption, and by faith in the great High Priest, they
might ask what they would of their reconciled Father. They would
receive it, if good for them. And as good-will to men was
proclaimed from heaven, so good-will to men, particularly to the
brethren, must be in the hearts of those who go to God and
heaven. He who thus follows Christ, dwells in Him as his ark,
refuge, and rest, and in the Father through him. This union
between Christ and the souls of believers, is by the Spirit he
has given them. A man may believe that God is gracious before he
knows it; yet when faith has laid hold on the promises, it sets
reason to work. This Spirit of God works a change; in all true
Christians it changes from the power of Satan to the power of
God. Consider, believer, how it changes thy heart. Dost not thou
long for peace with God? Wouldst thou not forego all the world
for it? No profit, pleasure, or preferment shall hinder thee
from following Christ. This salvation is built upon Divine
testimony, even the Spirit of God.
he apostle admires the love of God in making believers his
children. (1,2) The purifying influence of the hope of seeing
Christ, and the danger of pretending to this, and living in sin.
(3-10) Love to the brethren is the character of real Christians.
(11-15) That love described by its actings. (16-21) The
advantage of faith, love, and obedience. (22-24)