返回Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Chapter Three
1 John 3:1. See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called and be children of God.
Having spoken about the appearance of antichrists, and that all their teaching is corrupt, and having sufficiently persuaded the believers to hold unwaveringly to the teaching in which they were instructed, the apostle then mentions the reward appointed for this, so that by the brightness of the reward he might strengthen them even more, and says: "abide in Him." For what purpose? So that when He appears, we may have boldness before Him. For what can be more glorious or more desirable than boldness, that is, that when we reveal our labors in the present life, we may do so with boldness, not being ashamed in the least, at His coming? And since some might ask what one must do to become well-pleasing to Him, the apostle teaches this as well, saying: if you have known that He is righteous, then without doubt you also know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him; for the righteous one begets righteous ones. And how great an honor and boldness this bestows, each of you knows, as well as the love and goodness that He grants you. For you know that He has given you the right to be and to be called His children. But if those who belong to the world do not know this, that is, that you are children of God, do not marvel at this; for they do not know you because they have not known Him either, Who adopted you. By "the world" he means people who are wicked. Then, since he has proven the sonship, he speaks more clearly about the glory and boldness set before the adopted: "beloved, we are now children of God."
1 John 3:1. The world therefore does not know us, because it did not know Him.
The world refers to people who are vicious and impure, attached to nothing but a life of passion, like a pig to mud.
1 John 3:2. Beloved! We are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. We only know that, when it is revealed, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.
1 John 3:3. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
The Apostle speaks as if to say: from the foregoing you have undoubtedly learned that we have been received by God as children. Although this has not yet been revealed, do not be troubled. For what is now unknown will become manifest when He is revealed. And we, having been found to be like Him, will visibly demonstrate our adoption; for children are, of course, like their Father. And having boldness before Him, as children, we shall see Him as He is — not, however, according to His nature, for that is impossible for a created being, but in the sense that the pure shall see the Pure One, the righteous shall see the Righteous One; for like shall cleave to Like. This is precisely why I said before only that we shall be like Him, and not of the same nature as Him; for then I would have said not "like," but exactly the same; and since that will not be the case, I said "like," that is, in the quality of glory. It should also be noted that the Apostle did not say above: everyone who has done or will do righteousness, but rather — the one who is doing it; for virtues are active and have existence only during their performance, and when they cease or remain only in intention, they have no existence either.
1 John 3:4. Everyone who commits sin also commits lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:5. And you know that He appeared in order to take away our sins, and that in Him there is no sin.
Having confirmed the discourse on righteousness by the good things that come from righteousness, the apostle now wishes to show the same from the opposite side and what is found therein, and says: "everyone who commits sin." He speaks as if to say: you who have been adopted, practice righteousness and do not show yourselves idle in it. For just as with regard to sin, it is not the one who committed or will commit a sin who is a sinner or lawbreaker, but the one who clings to evil and does evil, so also the righteous one is not the one who does not act, but the one who practices righteousness. Sin is even out of place in you; for Christ appeared for the destruction of sin, and just as He Himself was without part in sin, so for you also, who have been united with Him and established in faith in Him, there no longer remains any room to sin. This is what the words mean: "everyone who abides in Him does not sin" (1 John 3:6). It is also necessary to know that sin is called a falling away from good, while lawlessness is a violation of positive law. Both have as their starting point: the one — a falling away from good, and the other — a transgression of positive law; but in essence both converge: the sinner has deviated from the goal appointed by nature and in nature (for the goal of human nature is to live according to reason, having far removed unreason); in exactly the same way the lawbreaker, rushing uncontrollably toward evil, transgresses the law implanted in nature.
1 John 3:6. Everyone who abides in Him does not sin.
That is, one who unwaveringly follows after the virtues and never ceases to practice them.
1 John 3:6. Everyone who sins has not seen Him and has not known Him.
1 John 3:7. Children! Let no one deceive you. He who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
Having said that the Son of God appeared and that He appeared in order to, having committed no sin of His own, take away, that is, destroy our sin, he adds: "everyone who sins has not seen Him." If you, he says, when He appeared, saw Him, and as a result of seeing Him received the power not to yield to sin, as being perfectly established in Him, then it is obvious that those who sin have not seen Him, and therefore have not known Him. By seeing Him he means not seeing by a mere glance of the eye or a light reproduction in one's imagination of something known, but an unwillingness to examine and investigate the matter at all and to join oneself to Him, as we said above. And having said this, he commands affirmatively: "let no one deceive you." The meaning is this: whoever does righteousness has known the Righteous One and is righteous, just as He, that is, God, is. On the contrary, whoever commits sin is of the sinner, that is, of the devil, for he sins from the beginning. Therefore God, who cares for His creation, being Himself righteousness and holiness, revealed Himself, that is, appeared in the world, in order to destroy the works of the devil.
1 John 3:8. Whoever commits sin is of the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God appeared, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Since the devil constantly revolves in sin, everyone who sins becomes a partisan of the devil; for the devil initiates sin in a person by suggesting evil thoughts to him, as he did to Judas (John 13:2). Someone may ask: how is the devil in those who sin, when they have already sinned before him by giving him a place? To such a person it must be said that to commit sin and to give place to the devil is one and the same thing; for he who sins gives him a place by submitting to lust, and with the acceptance of him already carries out sin in deed, for this is what it means to "commit sin." It is well said "who commits," and not "who has committed," also in the sense that the one who has repented is no longer of the devil, but only the one who is committing sin. Likewise, a slave of sin is the one who commits, and not the one who has committed sin; for "everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin" (John 8:34).
1 John 3:9. Everyone who is born of God does not commit sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1 John 3:10. The children of God and the children of the devil are recognized thus: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, likewise also he who does not love his brother.
Everyone who commits sin, because he sins, is of the devil and is called a son of the devil, as the Apostle Paul said to Elymas: "son of the devil! will you not cease to pervert the straight ways of the Lord?" (Acts 13:10). Evidently, he who is born of God, being a son of God, does not sin; because his seed is of God, that is, either the Spirit, Whom we received through the gift of which we were deemed worthy, and Who, abiding in us, makes our mind not to admit sin, or else Christ Himself, Who, dwelling in believers, makes them sons of God, just as Christ Himself in the seed of Abraham is a son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1). And in the seed of Abraham, it is said, that is, in Christ, the nations shall be blessed (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:16).
Explanation of Chrysostom. Every time we sin, we are born of the devil; and every time we perform virtue, we are born of God, because "His seed abides in him" (1 John 3:9). He calls the Spirit the seed, Whom we receive through baptism, and Who, abiding in us, makes our mind not admit sin. But if anyone is not born of God, he does not receive the Holy Spirit.
Another explanation. The seed of God is Christ, Who, dwelling in believers, makes them sons of God. Thus in the seed of Abraham, which is Christ, all nations are blessed. Otherwise, by "seed" he means the first generation of the progenitor, distinguished by virtues. The progenitor by his virtues, as it were, irrigates his lineage, and that by which he himself acquired glory, he also gives his successors the opportunity to be in glory, especially if they keep the merits of their ancestor untarnished, for they do not bestow glory on everyone indiscriminately. This is why the Jews, though in vain, said to Christ: "We are Abraham's seed" (John 8:33).
1 John 3:11. For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
1 John 3:12. Not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's deeds were righteous.
1 John 3:13. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
1 John 3:14. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren; he who does not love his brother abides in death.
The Apostle confirms by example how great an evil it is to hate one's brother. Look, he says, Cain hated his brother and killed him, despite the fact that he was his own brother. Cain performed the evil deeds of his father the devil, while Abel, doing righteousness, was a son in relation to God. Here the devil is contrasted with God, and evil deeds with good ones. For this reason Cain, being the opposite of his brother, killed him. Such is the explanation according to the course of the discourse. But the Apostle John altered this order, having a special purpose. For after he had mentioned the devil and the fact that those who do evil become his children, it was natural for him to set forth as an example the one who at the beginning of the world hastened to become a son of the devil through evil deeds. Having said what was necessary about Cain and about the fate inherited by those who imitate him, he again turns to love.
1 John 3:15. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 3:16. We have come to know love in this, that He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1 John 3:17. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him – how does the love of God abide in him?
1 John 3:18. My little children! Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
Having finished about Cain and about evil deeds similar to his deed, he again turns to love, and says that love inclined the Lord to lay down His soul for us, and that following His example we too must lay down our souls for the brethren. But since this is done rarely and by few, the apostle, as if shaming the faithful, beginning from something small, urges them toward brotherly love. He speaks as if to say: why speak of laying down one's soul for a brother, when we see that they do not supply their brethren with the necessities of life, and moreover not those poor in the means of life — of these I do not speak — but those possessing the wealth of an entire world? Therefore let them be ashamed! For if they closed their heart in this small matter and showed themselves unworthy of the love of God, then what would they show when something greater were required — to die for a brother? Then he continues further to rebuke those who limit love to word and reveal it only on the tongue. "Let us," he says, "love not in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth."
1 John 3:19. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him;
By this, that we love our brother not in word, but in deed and in truth. How do we know? Thus, that he who says one thing but does another, who does not make his deeds agree with his word, is a liar, and not true.
1 John 3:20. For if our heart condemns us, how much more so does God, because God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
1 John 3:21. Beloved! If our heart does not condemn us, we have boldness toward God,
1 John 3:22. And whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing before Him.
This means: through truth (and truth will be in us when our words correspond to our deeds) we shall reassure our conscience. For by the word "heart" he means conscience. How then shall we reassure it? By placing ourselves in such a position as to speak our words before God the Witness; for this is what the words "before Him" mean. If, he says, we do not do so, and our conscience or heart condemns us, then obviously we are sinning. And if during sin we cannot hide from our own conscience, which is limited, just as man is a limited being, then all the more we cannot hide from God, who is boundless and omnipresent. The meaning of this saying is as follows: children! let us not be liars before one another, loving only with the tongue, but let us prove our love by deed as well. Therefore we shall know that we are of the truth, that is, of God. And what we say, let us say as if before God; and who, even if he were more shameless than the demons, would allow himself to lie before God the Witness? But if we do not do so, and while we say that we love, our heart condemns us of lying, then we are sinning. How so? Because we think to hide from the omnipresent God. Therefore, beloved, let us dispose ourselves so as to be uncondemned before ourselves, let us walk in truth before one another, and then we shall receive boldness before God, and with this boldness we shall undoubtedly receive all that we ask of Him. Why? Because we keep His commandments. For when someone is asked, the obedience of the petitioners greatly inclines him to listen, provided they ask without doubting. And since we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing before Him, let us also hope that our prayers will not be in vain; because when two persons have a sincere mutual disposition toward each other, one usually acts immediately for the benefit of the other. And what commandment of His have we kept? The one that commands us to "love one another" (John 13:34).
1 John 3:23. And His commandment is this, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.
The word "that" must be understood in the sense of cause, namely thus: "because" His commandment is to believe. Since we have the commandment to believe in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, and to love one another, and we have done this, from this we also know that the grace of His Spirit, Whom He gave us, has been established in us. It must be known that the expression "to believe in the name" of our Lord is used in many places of Scripture. What then does "name" mean? Of course, nothing other than His will, glory, honor. For example, in the words "great is Your name in all the earth" (Ps. 8:2) it means glory and honor, and in the words "repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 2:38) it means His will. And what is the will of the Lord Jesus? To baptize all nations "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19).
1 John 3:23. And loved one another, as He commanded us.
1 John 3:24. And he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And that He abides in us, we know by the Spirit which He gave us.
The Lord commanded us to love one another with true affection. When? When He said: "as you wish people to treat you, so treat them also" (Luke 6:31). If we love for our neighbors to have true and guileless affection toward us, then we ourselves must have exactly the same affection toward them. And since this is the Lord's commandment, when we abide in Him, all the more He grants us Himself. For He cannot deny Himself, that is, one cannot suppose that He gives us His commandments in vain and will not fulfill them before all others Himself. And if so, then when we fulfill what He has commanded, without doubt He too will hear us in our petitions, and His gift will be firm in us. The whole thought is this: we must believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another truly, as He commanded. For he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And that He abides in us, we know by the spirit or gift which He gave us. And if it remains in us inviolate, then, beyond any contradiction, His bestowal will be irrevocable. And when is it inviolate? When we violate nothing of what He commanded us concerning love through our own negligence.
1 John 3:1. See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called and be children of God.
Having spoken about the appearance of antichrists, and that all their teaching is corrupt, and having sufficiently persuaded the believers to hold unwaveringly to the teaching in which they were instructed, the apostle then mentions the reward appointed for this, so that by the brightness of the reward he might strengthen them even more, and says: "abide in Him." For what purpose? So that when He appears, we may have boldness before Him. For what can be more glorious or more desirable than boldness, that is, that when we reveal our labors in the present life, we may do so with boldness, not being ashamed in the least, at His coming? And since some might ask what one must do to become well-pleasing to Him, the apostle teaches this as well, saying: if you have known that He is righteous, then without doubt you also know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him; for the righteous one begets righteous ones. And how great an honor and boldness this bestows, each of you knows, as well as the love and goodness that He grants you. For you know that He has given you the right to be and to be called His children. But if those who belong to the world do not know this, that is, that you are children of God, do not marvel at this; for they do not know you because they have not known Him either, Who adopted you. By "the world" he means people who are wicked. Then, since he has proven the sonship, he speaks more clearly about the glory and boldness set before the adopted: "beloved, we are now children of God."
1 John 3:1. The world therefore does not know us, because it did not know Him.
The world refers to people who are vicious and impure, attached to nothing but a life of passion, like a pig to mud.
1 John 3:2. Beloved! We are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. We only know that, when it is revealed, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.
1 John 3:3. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
The Apostle speaks as if to say: from the foregoing you have undoubtedly learned that we have been received by God as children. Although this has not yet been revealed, do not be troubled. For what is now unknown will become manifest when He is revealed. And we, having been found to be like Him, will visibly demonstrate our adoption; for children are, of course, like their Father. And having boldness before Him, as children, we shall see Him as He is — not, however, according to His nature, for that is impossible for a created being, but in the sense that the pure shall see the Pure One, the righteous shall see the Righteous One; for like shall cleave to Like. This is precisely why I said before only that we shall be like Him, and not of the same nature as Him; for then I would have said not "like," but exactly the same; and since that will not be the case, I said "like," that is, in the quality of glory. It should also be noted that the Apostle did not say above: everyone who has done or will do righteousness, but rather — the one who is doing it; for virtues are active and have existence only during their performance, and when they cease or remain only in intention, they have no existence either.
1 John 3:4. Everyone who commits sin also commits lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:5. And you know that He appeared in order to take away our sins, and that in Him there is no sin.
Having confirmed the discourse on righteousness by the good things that come from righteousness, the apostle now wishes to show the same from the opposite side and what is found therein, and says: "everyone who commits sin." He speaks as if to say: you who have been adopted, practice righteousness and do not show yourselves idle in it. For just as with regard to sin, it is not the one who committed or will commit a sin who is a sinner or lawbreaker, but the one who clings to evil and does evil, so also the righteous one is not the one who does not act, but the one who practices righteousness. Sin is even out of place in you; for Christ appeared for the destruction of sin, and just as He Himself was without part in sin, so for you also, who have been united with Him and established in faith in Him, there no longer remains any room to sin. This is what the words mean: "everyone who abides in Him does not sin" (1 John 3:6). It is also necessary to know that sin is called a falling away from good, while lawlessness is a violation of positive law. Both have as their starting point: the one — a falling away from good, and the other — a transgression of positive law; but in essence both converge: the sinner has deviated from the goal appointed by nature and in nature (for the goal of human nature is to live according to reason, having far removed unreason); in exactly the same way the lawbreaker, rushing uncontrollably toward evil, transgresses the law implanted in nature.
1 John 3:6. Everyone who abides in Him does not sin.
That is, one who unwaveringly follows after the virtues and never ceases to practice them.
1 John 3:6. Everyone who sins has not seen Him and has not known Him.
1 John 3:7. Children! Let no one deceive you. He who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
Having said that the Son of God appeared and that He appeared in order to, having committed no sin of His own, take away, that is, destroy our sin, he adds: "everyone who sins has not seen Him." If you, he says, when He appeared, saw Him, and as a result of seeing Him received the power not to yield to sin, as being perfectly established in Him, then it is obvious that those who sin have not seen Him, and therefore have not known Him. By seeing Him he means not seeing by a mere glance of the eye or a light reproduction in one's imagination of something known, but an unwillingness to examine and investigate the matter at all and to join oneself to Him, as we said above. And having said this, he commands affirmatively: "let no one deceive you." The meaning is this: whoever does righteousness has known the Righteous One and is righteous, just as He, that is, God, is. On the contrary, whoever commits sin is of the sinner, that is, of the devil, for he sins from the beginning. Therefore God, who cares for His creation, being Himself righteousness and holiness, revealed Himself, that is, appeared in the world, in order to destroy the works of the devil.
1 John 3:8. Whoever commits sin is of the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God appeared, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Since the devil constantly revolves in sin, everyone who sins becomes a partisan of the devil; for the devil initiates sin in a person by suggesting evil thoughts to him, as he did to Judas (John 13:2). Someone may ask: how is the devil in those who sin, when they have already sinned before him by giving him a place? To such a person it must be said that to commit sin and to give place to the devil is one and the same thing; for he who sins gives him a place by submitting to lust, and with the acceptance of him already carries out sin in deed, for this is what it means to "commit sin." It is well said "who commits," and not "who has committed," also in the sense that the one who has repented is no longer of the devil, but only the one who is committing sin. Likewise, a slave of sin is the one who commits, and not the one who has committed sin; for "everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin" (John 8:34).
1 John 3:9. Everyone who is born of God does not commit sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1 John 3:10. The children of God and the children of the devil are recognized thus: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, likewise also he who does not love his brother.
Everyone who commits sin, because he sins, is of the devil and is called a son of the devil, as the Apostle Paul said to Elymas: "son of the devil! will you not cease to pervert the straight ways of the Lord?" (Acts 13:10). Evidently, he who is born of God, being a son of God, does not sin; because his seed is of God, that is, either the Spirit, Whom we received through the gift of which we were deemed worthy, and Who, abiding in us, makes our mind not to admit sin, or else Christ Himself, Who, dwelling in believers, makes them sons of God, just as Christ Himself in the seed of Abraham is a son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1). And in the seed of Abraham, it is said, that is, in Christ, the nations shall be blessed (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:16).
Explanation of Chrysostom. Every time we sin, we are born of the devil; and every time we perform virtue, we are born of God, because "His seed abides in him" (1 John 3:9). He calls the Spirit the seed, Whom we receive through baptism, and Who, abiding in us, makes our mind not admit sin. But if anyone is not born of God, he does not receive the Holy Spirit.
Another explanation. The seed of God is Christ, Who, dwelling in believers, makes them sons of God. Thus in the seed of Abraham, which is Christ, all nations are blessed. Otherwise, by "seed" he means the first generation of the progenitor, distinguished by virtues. The progenitor by his virtues, as it were, irrigates his lineage, and that by which he himself acquired glory, he also gives his successors the opportunity to be in glory, especially if they keep the merits of their ancestor untarnished, for they do not bestow glory on everyone indiscriminately. This is why the Jews, though in vain, said to Christ: "We are Abraham's seed" (John 8:33).
1 John 3:11. For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
1 John 3:12. Not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's deeds were righteous.
1 John 3:13. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
1 John 3:14. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren; he who does not love his brother abides in death.
The Apostle confirms by example how great an evil it is to hate one's brother. Look, he says, Cain hated his brother and killed him, despite the fact that he was his own brother. Cain performed the evil deeds of his father the devil, while Abel, doing righteousness, was a son in relation to God. Here the devil is contrasted with God, and evil deeds with good ones. For this reason Cain, being the opposite of his brother, killed him. Such is the explanation according to the course of the discourse. But the Apostle John altered this order, having a special purpose. For after he had mentioned the devil and the fact that those who do evil become his children, it was natural for him to set forth as an example the one who at the beginning of the world hastened to become a son of the devil through evil deeds. Having said what was necessary about Cain and about the fate inherited by those who imitate him, he again turns to love.
1 John 3:15. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 3:16. We have come to know love in this, that He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1 John 3:17. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him – how does the love of God abide in him?
1 John 3:18. My little children! Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
Having finished about Cain and about evil deeds similar to his deed, he again turns to love, and says that love inclined the Lord to lay down His soul for us, and that following His example we too must lay down our souls for the brethren. But since this is done rarely and by few, the apostle, as if shaming the faithful, beginning from something small, urges them toward brotherly love. He speaks as if to say: why speak of laying down one's soul for a brother, when we see that they do not supply their brethren with the necessities of life, and moreover not those poor in the means of life — of these I do not speak — but those possessing the wealth of an entire world? Therefore let them be ashamed! For if they closed their heart in this small matter and showed themselves unworthy of the love of God, then what would they show when something greater were required — to die for a brother? Then he continues further to rebuke those who limit love to word and reveal it only on the tongue. "Let us," he says, "love not in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth."
1 John 3:19. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him;
By this, that we love our brother not in word, but in deed and in truth. How do we know? Thus, that he who says one thing but does another, who does not make his deeds agree with his word, is a liar, and not true.
1 John 3:20. For if our heart condemns us, how much more so does God, because God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
1 John 3:21. Beloved! If our heart does not condemn us, we have boldness toward God,
1 John 3:22. And whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing before Him.
This means: through truth (and truth will be in us when our words correspond to our deeds) we shall reassure our conscience. For by the word "heart" he means conscience. How then shall we reassure it? By placing ourselves in such a position as to speak our words before God the Witness; for this is what the words "before Him" mean. If, he says, we do not do so, and our conscience or heart condemns us, then obviously we are sinning. And if during sin we cannot hide from our own conscience, which is limited, just as man is a limited being, then all the more we cannot hide from God, who is boundless and omnipresent. The meaning of this saying is as follows: children! let us not be liars before one another, loving only with the tongue, but let us prove our love by deed as well. Therefore we shall know that we are of the truth, that is, of God. And what we say, let us say as if before God; and who, even if he were more shameless than the demons, would allow himself to lie before God the Witness? But if we do not do so, and while we say that we love, our heart condemns us of lying, then we are sinning. How so? Because we think to hide from the omnipresent God. Therefore, beloved, let us dispose ourselves so as to be uncondemned before ourselves, let us walk in truth before one another, and then we shall receive boldness before God, and with this boldness we shall undoubtedly receive all that we ask of Him. Why? Because we keep His commandments. For when someone is asked, the obedience of the petitioners greatly inclines him to listen, provided they ask without doubting. And since we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing before Him, let us also hope that our prayers will not be in vain; because when two persons have a sincere mutual disposition toward each other, one usually acts immediately for the benefit of the other. And what commandment of His have we kept? The one that commands us to "love one another" (John 13:34).
1 John 3:23. And His commandment is this, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.
The word "that" must be understood in the sense of cause, namely thus: "because" His commandment is to believe. Since we have the commandment to believe in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, and to love one another, and we have done this, from this we also know that the grace of His Spirit, Whom He gave us, has been established in us. It must be known that the expression "to believe in the name" of our Lord is used in many places of Scripture. What then does "name" mean? Of course, nothing other than His will, glory, honor. For example, in the words "great is Your name in all the earth" (Ps. 8:2) it means glory and honor, and in the words "repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 2:38) it means His will. And what is the will of the Lord Jesus? To baptize all nations "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19).
1 John 3:23. And loved one another, as He commanded us.
1 John 3:24. And he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And that He abides in us, we know by the Spirit which He gave us.
The Lord commanded us to love one another with true affection. When? When He said: "as you wish people to treat you, so treat them also" (Luke 6:31). If we love for our neighbors to have true and guileless affection toward us, then we ourselves must have exactly the same affection toward them. And since this is the Lord's commandment, when we abide in Him, all the more He grants us Himself. For He cannot deny Himself, that is, one cannot suppose that He gives us His commandments in vain and will not fulfill them before all others Himself. And if so, then when we fulfill what He has commanded, without doubt He too will hear us in our petitions, and His gift will be firm in us. The whole thought is this: we must believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another truly, as He commanded. For he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And that He abides in us, we know by the spirit or gift which He gave us. And if it remains in us inviolate, then, beyond any contradiction, His bestowal will be irrevocable. And when is it inviolate? When we violate nothing of what He commanded us concerning love through our own negligence.