In this chapter the apostle comforts the saints under a sense of sin; urges them to an observance of the commandments of God, in imitation of Christ, particularly to the new commandment of brotherly love, and gives his reasons for it; dehorts them from the love of the world, and the things of it;…

My little children The apostle may address the saints under this character, on account of their regeneration by the Spirit and grace of God, in which they were as newborn babes; and on account of his being the instrument of their conversion, and so was their spiritual father, and therefore calls…

And he is the propitiation for our sins For the sins of us who now believe, and are Jews: and not for ours only; but for the sins of Old Testament saints, and of those who shall hereafter believe in Christ, and of the Gentiles also, signified in the next clause: but also for the sins of the whole…

And hereby we do know that we know him Either the Father, with whom Christ is an advocate; not as the God of nature, and by the light of it, nor as the lawgiver and Judge of the whole earth, and by the law of Moses; but as the God of all grace, as a God pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin,…

He that saith I know him God or Christ, as the Gnostics did, who pretended to great, even perfect, knowledge of divine things: and keepeth not his commandments; which the above persons had no regard to, and as many who profess great light and knowledge in our days show no concern for: is a liar; he…

But whoso keepeth his word Either the word of the Gospel, and the truths of it, who receives it in love, cordially embraces and retains it, and will by no means part with it, but holds it fast, and stands fast in it; or the precepts and ordinances of the word, who loves these, and esteems them…

He that saith he abideth in him As all do that are in him; once in Christ, and always in Christ; they are set as a seal on his arm and heart, which can never be removed; they are in his arms, and can never be plucked from thence; and are members of him, and can never be disunited from him: or…

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you Some understand this of faith, which this apostle calls a commandment, ; but it rather intends the commandment of love, especially to the brethren, of which the apostle says the same things as here in his second epistle, (1 John 2:5, 1 John 2:6) ; and…

Again, a new commandment I write unto you Which is the same with the former, considered in different respects. The command of brotherly love is a new one; that is, it is an excellent one, as a new name is an excellent name, and a new song is an excellent one; it is renewed by Christ under the…

He that saith he is in the light Is in Christ the light, or has the true knowledge of the light of the Gospel, or is illuminated by the Spirit of God; for persons may profess to be enlightened ones, and not be so: wherefore the apostle does not say, he that is in the light, but he that says he is,…

He that loveth his brother As such, and because he is his brother in Christ, and that cordially and sincerely, without hypocrisy and dissimulation, and by love serves him, both in things temporal and spiritual, and so observes the new, and yet old commandment, abideth in the light: it is a plain…

But he that hateth his brother is in darkness As is before expressed in , to which is added, and walketh in darkness; he goes on in it, and takes delight in it, as dangerous and uncomfortable as it is: and knoweth not whither he goeth; he cannot discern between good and evil; he puts darkness for…

I write unto you, little children By whom the apostle means in common all the saints he writes to, whom he afterwards distributes into fathers, young men, and little children; for the same word is used here as in ; and a different one from that which is rendered little children in ; and besides,…

I write unto you, fathers Not merely in age, though they might be men in years who are here intended, or only with respect to their long standing in the church, which might be the case; though persons may be in years, and of a long standing in the church, and yet be children in knowledge and…

I have written unto you, fathers This, with the reason annexed to it, is repeated, to raise the attention of the aged servants of Christ, and to quicken them to a discharge of their duty, who are apt to abate in their zeal, to grow lukewarm and indifferent, to cleave to the world, and to the things…

Love not the world The habitable earth, the world in which men live; this is not to be loved by saints, as if it was their habitation, where they are always to be, and so loath to remove from it, seeing they are but sojourners, and pilgrims, and strangers here; this is not their rest, nor…

For all that is in the world This is the sum of the evil things in the world; or these following are the objects of sin in the world, or about which wicked men are conversant; even such as are carnal or grateful to the flesh, visible to the eye, and belong to this vain life, or serve to fill with…

And the world passeth away Not the matter and substance, but the fashion, form, and scheme of it, ; kingdoms, cities, towns, houses, families, estates, and possessions, are continually changing, and casting into different hands, and different forms; the men of the world, the inhabitants of it, are…

Little children, it is the last time Or hour; not of the Jewish civil and church state, for that had been at an end for some time; this epistle was written some years after the destruction of Jerusalem; nor the last hour of the Gospel dispensation, or world to come, for this was but the first age…

They went out from us Which intends not the persons that went down from Judea to Antioch, (Acts 15:1, Acts 15:24) , who preached destructive doctrines to the Gentiles, which the apostles and the church of Judea disowned and censured; by which it appeared, that all the preachers of these doctrines…

But ye have an unction from the Holy One Meaning the Spirit, and his graces, with which Christ, the head, is anointed without measure, and his members in measure; from whence he is called Christ, and they Christians.

I have not written unto you Either this epistle, or rather what particularly here regards those apostates from the truth, in order to shun them and not be deceived by them: the apostle here obviates an objection that he saw might be made upon what he last said, that they knew all things; and, if…

Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? &c.] Or that very Christ, and true Messiah, who was spoken of by all the prophets, since the beginning of the world, and so much, and so long desired by the Old Testament saints: he that denies that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of the…

Whosoever denieth the Son Jesus Christ to be the true, proper, natural, essential, and eternal Son of God: the same hath not the Father; or does not hold the Father; or “believe the Father”, as the Syriac version renders it; for there cannot be a father without a son; and he that honours not the…

Let that therefore abide in you Meaning the word of God, ; the Gospel of Christ, which there was reason to believe had a place in their hearts, and which they had embraced and professed; and therefore the apostle exhorts them to perseverance in it; and particularly not to let go the doctrine…

And this is the promise that he hath promised us Either God the Father, who is that God that cannot lie, who in the covenant of his grace, before the world began, made this promise unto his people, even eternal life; which promise, with all others, was put into the hands of Christ, where, with…

These things have I written unto you The little children, who were most likely to be imposed upon by antichrists and deceivers: concerning them that seduce you.

But the anointing which ye have received of him The Spirit, and the grace of the Spirit, which they had received out of the fulness of grace which is in Christ; and is compared to oil or ointment; (See Gill on 1 John 2:20); for Christ, the anointed, is the fountain of it all, and it is had from him…

And now, little children, abide in him The apostle having finished his separate instructions exhortations to the fathers, young men and children, returns to the whole body of the saints in general, whom he addresses, as in (1 John 2:1, 1 John 2:12) ; under the name of little children; (See Gill on…

If ye know that he is righteous That is, Christ, who is righteous as God in his nature and in his works; and as man in his obedience, life, and conversation; and as Mediator, in faithfully discharging the work he undertook; and is the author of an everlasting righteousness, which is imputed by God,…