This epistle, and, in it, this testimony, do I write unto you for your encouragement in the profession of the gospel, which many Gnostics and false Christs are apt to shake you out of. And this is the sum of the gospel preached by Christ which we now testify unto you: that all purity is required of you; that all God's commands are pure; and that there is nothing which hath any degree of impurity in it which God in Christ doth not now abominate; but, on the other side, a far greater purity now required than before, which may sufficiently arm you against all the deceits of the Gnostics, which under the notion of Christian liberty are apt to lead you into all the impurity in the world. [a] light] The word φῶς, light, is a figurative expression to signify the most perfect, immaculate purity; and σκότος, darkness, is directly the contrary, mixture of all impurity: the affirming of which concerning God, that he is perfect purity, without any mixture of impurity, is no such strange thing as that the apostle should introduce it with so much ceremony as here we see made use of. That which we have heard and seen, which we have looked on, and our hands have felt, ver. 1; What we have seen, we declare, ver. 3; and, This is that message which we declare, ver. 5. That which all this solemnity was thought fit to introduce was certainly somewhat either doubted of and questioned by the doctrines, or opposed and resisted by the lives of those to whom he writes. And that which seems most probable to be the full importance of it, is in the general to denote the great perfection of purity which is now commanded in the Christian law, and more particularly the great obligation that lies upon Christians not to make that profession a pretence or excuse for the favouring themselves in any degree of liberty or impurity. Christ came certainly from God to declare his will unto us; that God a God of all purity, and consequently his commandments which Christ came to reveal (like himself) made up of severe rules of purity: and then how contrary to all piety and Christianity must the Gnostic infusions necessarily be, which allow and practise all impurities, and make them a special part of their religion, and call themselves τέλειοι and γνωστικοί, perfect and knowing If we say we are partakers of his purity, or have any likeness or conformity with him, and live in any impure course, as the Gnostics do, we neither speak nor act according to the gospel, which prohibits and interdicts all such ways as they daily and avowedly practise: But if we live pure lives, as he is perfectly pure, then we partake with Christ of his graces, and resemble him in his purity, (see ver. 3. and ver. 6;) and the death of Christ is beneficial (to us, who thus imitate his purity) to cleanse us from all the guilt of past sins and present infirmities. All these men's pretensions to perfection are a perfect cheating of themselves. Whosoever conceive, as the Gnostics do, (calling themselves The perfect, &c.,) that such actions as are done by them are reconcilable with perfection or innocence, they most miserably deceive themselves, and must know that they are so far from any state of perfection that they act quite contrary to the rule which the gospel gives for the regulating of men's lives. The only way is to repent, and acknowledge what we have done amiss, and then God, having promised pardon to all humble penitents upon sincere reformation, is obliged in fidelity and justice to make good this promise to you, to free you from all punishment of sin; and no other course but this will render you capable of his mercy. Nay, they that live such lives as these men, [b] make him a liar] What it is to make God a liar hath no great difficulty in it; it is certainly to deny the truth of that which God hath somewhere affirmed; and so it is used ch. v. 10. The greater question is, wherein the truth of this affirmation here is founded, that if we say we have not sinned, we thus deny the truth of what God hath affirmed, or give God the lie. The best way of deciding this will sure be taken from the context, where, ver. 6, the foundation of this speech is laid. There it is, If we say we have fellowship or partnership with God, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. There certainly we may discern who are the we that are here spoken of, viz. not the apostle, and the pious Christians, (for the first person doth not always signify so, but is used to personate any other that the apostle would speak of, see note [d] on Rom. vii,) but those that are supposed to walk in darkness, that is, to go on in unchristian sins, and yet to pretend partnership with God, that is, to a state of great innocence and perfection. These are certainly the Gnostic heretics, whose character that is, to live in all carnality and uncharitableness, &c., and yet to pretend themselves to be the most perfect men: of those he there saith, that they lie notoriously, their foul actions and pretensions to perfection are very contrary, and they do not the truth; they live contrary to that rule of life which as Christians they have received to live by. To these same persons he proceeds, ver. 7, to tell the positive truth, contrary to their lie, that if they walk in the light, that is, live Christian lives of purity and charity, then they may truly be said to have partnership with him, (as the king's MS. seems to have read αὐτοῦ, and not ἀλλήλων, and as is most agreeable with ver. 6,) that is, to be blameless, pious, perfect men; and then for any frailties or forsaken sins, the blood of Christ is accepted as a sacrifice of expiation for such. This is again said, (both in the former and latter part of it, ver. 8, 9,) but with some little change of the phrase, which must be interpreted by analogy with the former. If we say ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔχομεν, we have not sin, that is all one with the precedent, we have partnership with him; for sinlessness is that property of God's which they pretended to be communicated to them: and then though there be nothing in that verse answerable to their walking in darkness, ver. 6, yet the persons being still supposed the same that are spoken of in both verses, the impious carnal Gnostics, this of their wicked lives is supposed in the 8th verse, having been already, ver. 6, sufficiently expressed: and so as of them, whose lives of carnality and pretensions of perfection were so contrary, it had been affirmed, ver. 6, that they lie, and do not the truth; so in that 8th verse, it is said with little change, they deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them, which only adds to the former the consideration of their danger that they thus brought upon themselves, they flattered themselves to their ruin; whereas, ver. 9, if they would acknowledge their sins and danger, and forsake them, and fly to God for pardon upon repentance, he having promised it to such, would be faithful and just to forgive them their sins, would deal with them according to his promise. And then follows, ver. 10, If we say that we have not sinned, (which is directly all one with we have not sin, ver. 8, (see note [a] on ch. iii.) My tender Christians, I write this to you which I have last written, vv. 6—10, (see note [b] ch. i,) to deter and forewarn you of this deceit that so many are now fallen into, that you may not be drawn away into the heresy and impurities of the Gnostics, either by following them into unclean, bestial sins, or by depending on and pretending to such a perfection in yourselves, which may secure you in any one act of deliberate sin, but that if you have fallen, or shall fall into any such act, that then presently you confess it, and forsake it freely, and lay hold on Christ, who (for your encouragement you may know) is on God's right hand, acting as an advocate for those that have sinned, and now reform and amend their lives, and, when the church prays to him for any lapsed sinner, he is just and faithful to perform his promise, to hear the church's prayers, and to present them to his Father, and to manage all that belongs to such, to their best advantage. And he, having entered by blood into the holy place, that is, having died for us, and gone to heaven, where he is now invested with power, which he exerciseth in our behalf, is a powerful means of reconciling God to us, of obtaining free pardon for our sins, (on condition of our giving of ourselves up to new life,) and not for ours only, but for all the sins of all the world of men (on condition of faith in Christ, and new life). And this is a character by which it may be discerned whether we truly know Christ or no, (as the Gnostics call themselves by that name, which signifies knowledge, 1 Tim. vi. 20,) that is, whether we have a right notion of Christ as he is our advocate, ver. 1, He that undertaketh to be a Gnostic, or perfect Christian, that is, one that hath more perfection of divine knowledge and love of God, ver. 5, than all others, if he express not this in a pure and holy life, is the greatest hypocrite in the world: see note [b] ch. i. But the observing his commands is the only sure argument, that he that doth so is a perfect lover of God, truly so called (the appellation being falsely assumed by the Gnostics) and an argument of evidence to himself, that he is a branch, a member of Christ, as the Gnostics boast that they are, and that whatsoever they do, it cannot make them cease to be so: (see note [b] ch. i.) He that pretends to be a member of Christ, (see John xv. 4,) doth by that engage himself to live as Christ lived, or if he do not, to give over so pretending. It is not any new matter which I now discover or write unto you, but that which you were taught at the first preaching the faith unto you; and that which was taught you so early may deserve to be styled an old commandment. [a] from the beginning] There be in these two verses, which seem perspicuous, very many difficulties, which it will be fit to explicate. 1. What is meant by the beginning, and so by the old commandment, which they had heard from thence. It hath been conceived by others that the old commandment was that given to the Israelites by Moses, and then the beginning must be the beginning of the Jewish church under Moses; and so there may be truth in it, that the commandment which this apostle now gives them, (whether more generally, that they that profess God should not fall into those black heathen sins, ch. i. 6, 8, 10, and ch. ii. 1, 3, 4, or more particularly, that profession of piety must carry charity to our brethren along with it, which is the precept immediately subjoined, vv. 9, 10, 11,) was the very doctrine and commandment of Moses, whom the Judaizers so zealously adhered to, and therefore they were not to look upon it as any new or strange doctrine brought in by Christ. But it must be remembered, that those whom this apostle here writes to, being those which had formerly by his preaching received the Christian faith, and the end of this Epistle being to confirm their constancy against the seducers that were now amongst them, it might be to them a sufficient argument to receive what now he said to them, that it was no more than he had taught them, and they had absolutely believed and entertained at the first preaching of the gospel unto them. For the Gnostics pretending to be perfect, and so that whatsoever they did they sinned not, (see note [b] on ch. i.) that which the apostle here from the beginning of the chapter desires to impress upon them is the unreasonableness of this, the obeying the commands of God being the one thing wherein true perfection consisted, ver. 5, and the living of Christian lives after Christ's pattern the only way to approve themselves Christians, ver. 6. And to this it will be most pertinent to apply these words of the apostle, ver. 7, following immediately upon those; and then from the beginning must signify from the beginning of the apostle's preaching, and their receiving the faith of Christ, thus, that what he now saith unto them they had once received for granted, when they first embraced the faith; and therefore why should they now be led unto other persuasions, think they may live unchristian lives, and yet be perfect men, good Christians? That this is the meaning of ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, from the beginning, may be concluded from 2 John 5 and 6, where the same phrase is twice used, I write no new commandment to thee, but that which we had from the beginning, (and that in the same matter, specified here against uncharitableness, ver. 9,) that we love one another; and, ver. 6, This is the commandment, that according as ye have heard from the beginning ye should walk in it. That this belongs to the true, pure, Christian doctrine, taught them at the first planting of the faith among them, (and not to the precepts given to the Jews by Moses,) and that in opposition to the new, heretical doctrines, lately brought into the church of Christ by the Gnostics, may appear both by the antecedents and consequents there. In the antecedents, ver. 4, I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in the truth, that is, according to the pure Christian doctrine of charity, &c., as we have received commandment It is that indeed that Christ called a new commandment, and so it is in comparison with the Mosaical law, to which Christ hath added some degrees of perfection; but that is no prejudice to it; it is not the less true for being so, nor the less considerable to you; but ought in all reason (as proclaimed by God from heaven, and Christ sent on purpose to preach it) to be looked on as a thing wherein we are at this time concerned most particularly, those dark imperfect shadows of the Mosaical economy being now at an end, and the more perfect Christian precepts which are to take place, and to turn out the Mosaical performances, being already, as the sun, risen, and shining in our horizon, in full force obligatory to all Christians. This consideration obligeth you to all Christian practices, actions of light, particularly that of charity and kindness to all your fellow-Christians, contrary to those emulations and contentions and seditious, and persecutings of their fellow-Christians, that are observable in the Gnostics among you. He that is thus charitably disposed and inclined is the true Christian, and hath little occasion to insnare him in any sin, little temptation to any ill, most of the sins that men fall into flowing from this original of uncharitableness: see Matt. vi. 22. For as the dark keeps any man from discerning which way to go, so doth uncharitableness obstruct all Christian practice. A precept I have, ver. 15, which I desire to enforce upon all sorts of you: first, on the tender Christians among you, because God hath been so kind to you, as to forgive your sins for Christ's sake, which will be an engagement to you, ver. 15, to take off your love from the world, and place it on God. The same I have for you, the most ancient, for you know Christ, (which is agreeable to those of your age, to know the Ancient of days,) and that may be an engagement to you to love whom you know: and so it is likewise for young men, to whose age it is agreeable to entertain ambitions and desires of conquering, and have been enabled by God to do so, to overcome the evil one, both the devil and every other that can mean you any hurt, and (if you adhere fast to Christ) all temptations of the world or devil. Which sure is an engagement to you not to love the world which you have overcome. And for you, little ones, again, your knowing of the Father is an obligation to love him with a most filial love. And again I reiterate and reinforce this exhortation upon you, ancient men, as I did before, to impress it the deeper, and so on you young men also; and the exhortation on which I lay so much weight to you all, is this: Love not the world, nor any thing in it; for whosoever doth so, that man hath not that love of God which is prescribed now under the gospel, of * sacndal, σκάνδαλον. [b] the last time] That ἐσχάτη ὅρα here signifies that famous [c] many antichrists] Who the πολλοὶ ἀντίχριστοι were, ver. 18, hath been at large deduced, note [b], the whole sect of Gnostic heretics. One mistake only this matter may be farther liable to, by thinking the ὁ ἀντίχριστος, the antichrist, here, to be some peculiar person, distinct from the many antichrists there. If there were any convincing reasons to conclude this, it would soon be decided who it was; those first-fruits of Satan, Simon Magus, who may well be supposed alive at the writing of this Epistle, being affirmed by the ancients to have contended with St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, and that most probably at their coming thither, before their martyrdom, that is, about the twelfth of Nero, very little before the Jewish war, which brought that ruin upon them. See Arnobius, l. 2. advers. Gentes, Sulpicius Severus Hist. Sacr. l. 2. Cyril. Hierosol. Catech. 6. Isidore Pelusiot. Ep. 13. All relating that contention between those apostles and him, and that, saith Cyril, after the error of the Gnostics had spread itself over the church, and so made it necessary for the apostles to oppose him publicly. Beside him other particular persons there were also capable of this title, Cerinthus, opposed by this apostle St. John particularly, and Carpocrates, and Saturnilus, and others. And accordingly 9 Hippolytus the martyr, in his book, Περὶ συντελ. κόσ. καὶ Ἀντιχρ. interprets the place, Many shall say, I am Christ, of Simon Magus and others, Ἀνέστησάν τινες λέγοντες, ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Χριστός, καθὼς ὁ Σίμων ὁ Μάγος, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ, ὡν οὐκ ἔστι καιρὸς ἄρτι τὰ ὀνόματα μνημονεύσαι, "Some rose and said, I am Christ; as Simon Magus and the rest, whose names it is not seasonable to rehearse." So Hegesippus, in that eminent passage set down from him in 7 Eusebius, having named the several heresies that were come into the church in his time, the followers of Simon, Cleobius, Dositheus, Gortheus, Menander, Marcion, Carpocrates, Valentinus, Basilides, and Saturnilus, concludes, Ἀπὸ τούτων, ψευδόχριστοι, ψευδοπροφῆται, ψευδαπόστολοι, "From these were the false Christs, false prophets, false apostles, which divided the unity of the church with pestilent doctrines against God and his Christ." But there is no reason thus to affix the title, the ὁ ἀντίχριστος, the antichrist here being visibly of the same importance with the same word, ver. 18, and that there, either all one with, or contained under the many antichrists that follow. For so the words must import, that the prophecy which had foretold that antichrist comes in the last hour, was fulfilled in the many antichrists that were then come; which could not be, if that antichrist foretold were another from those many antichrists. And besides it hath already appeared that the coming of that antichrist foretold, was the arising of false prophets, Matt. xxiv. 11; and then though the word be here in the singular number, yet must it be all one with those ψευδοπροφῆται, false prophets, in the plural. And it is ordinary for a word in the singular to be a complexum, and so to signify a whole sort or And that testimony of the truth of the gospel of Christ, which was given to it by the Holy Ghost, is imparted to you, and gives you such an assurance of the truth against these impostors, that you cannot in any reason be thus cheated by them: see note [c] Acts x. And consequently my writing to you now is not out of jealousy, or suspicion that you are ignorant of the truth, for then I would write more largely on this matter, and give you the evidences and proofs of all this; but I satisfy myself with these brief admonitions, because you are so firmly rooted in the truth, that you cannot but discern the difference of every such false doctrine from the one revealed truth. There is no such liar, such dangerous false teacher, as he that denies Jesus to be the Messias, and thus do the ringleaders of the Gnostic heresy (see note [a]). Whosoever doth so is an antichrist, denying in effect both the Father and the Son—the Son directly, the Father by consequence; because he hath testified of Christ by miracles and voice from heaven, which testimony of the Father is not true, if Jesus be not the Christ. And so, whosoever denieth the Son to be the Messias renounceth the Father also, who hath testified him to be so. And this do the followers of Simon, the Gnostics, who deny Christ to have been born, or lived or died truly, but only in appearance. ¹² And, Kai. ¹³ I have written unto you, not because, Οὐκ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν ὅτι. ¹⁴ This is the antichrist denying, Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀντίχριστος, ὁ ἀρνούμενος. [d] hath not the Father] To have the Father is to be expounded by analogy with having grace, Heb. xii. 28, that is, retaining it, holding it fast, or making use of it, as in the parable of the talents, he that hath is he that makes use of and improves the talents by so doing; ⁵ Læusisc. Histor. c. 31. p. 949 D. As for the persecutions that befall the orthodox professors at this time, and are such discouragements o g My brethren, whatever our persecutions at present are, this state and condition of ours is the state and condition of the sons of God; and what we shall be hereafter, what inheritance shall be made over to those sons, is not yet revealed. But this we know, that when that blessed time shall come, we that are sons of God shall (as the notion of sons signifies in the scripture) be like unto that Father of ours, like him in holiness, and like him in bliss, and that bliss shall consist in seeing of him as he is, a fountain of all that is desirable to our natures. And whosoever hopes or depends on God for any such future state, if he expect to receive it from him according to his manner of promising, not absolutely, but conditionally, or indeed whosoever sets his heart on the vision of God, a pure and blissful state, not any sensual paradise, but a spiritual state of bliss, made up of sinlessness and purity, will in all reason set a purifying here, be a practising and aiming after that excellent copy, that he may be capable of that perfect purity hereafter. Sin is a contrariety to the law of God, an act of disloyalty to our King; and he that deliberately committeth any act of sin, doth proportionably commit a rebellion and disloyalty against Christ. And Christ both by his example, being sinless, never guilty of any act of sin, and by all that he hath done and suffered for us, hath designed this special end to himself, to purify our lives, and cleanse us from all deliberate acts of sin. He that adhereth fast to him, that as a member of his continueth in him, falleth not indulgently or deliberately into any act of sin; he that doth so, dis- ¹ hath not been yet made manifest, οὕτω ἐφανερώθη. ² if he appear, ἴαν— ³ on him, ἴν' αὐτῷ. ⁴ doth also commit transgression. ² if he appear, ἴαν— ³ on him, [a] committeth sin] Ἀμαρτάνειν, to sin, and ἁμαρτίαν ποιεῖν, to do, or commit, sin, which appear to be directly the same by comparing vv. 6 and 8, and so ἁμαρτίαν ἔχειν, ch. i. 8, to have sin, all one with having sinned, ver. 10, have a special energy in the writings of this apostle, to denote a deliberate, presumptuous commission of sin; not every sin of ignorance, incogitance, frailty, but, after deliberation, an advised commission of it. This is here affirmed to be ποιεῖν ἀνομίαν, the committing transgression, where ἀνομία signifies opposition, or contraricty, to Christ's law. Justinian renders the word iniquitatem, (Institut. 4. de injur. Iniquitas et injustitia, quam Græci ἀνομίαν καὶ ἀδικίαν vocant,) and iniquitas is this opposition or irregularity to the will of God, viz. that will of his revealed to us by Christ, to which we now profess obedience. It is here made matter of some question, whether these phrases, ἁμαρτάνειν and ποιεῖν ἁμαρτίαν, to sin, and to commit sin, are to be interpreted only of an habit of such deliberate sin, or belong to one single act of it. But the resolution is easy, that though he that lives impenitently in any habit of known sin, be most eminently said to sin and commit sin, yet he that is guilty of any one deliberate act is here primarily meant by these phrases. This appears by the use of the words in some of the places, where it must necessarily denote an act, and not only an habit; as ch. ii. 1, These things I write unto you, ἵνα μὴ ἁμάρτητε, that ye may not sin, where it would be unreasonable to think that the holy apostle designed his Epistle to keep them from habits only, and not also from each act of deliberate sin. This is again evident in this place: for not only he that lives habitually in sin, but he that commits any one deliberate act of it, ἀνομίαν ποιεῖ, committeth a transgression of the law, opposeth and doth contrary to the law of Christ, which severely forbiddeth such single commissions, and not only the habits of them: and so ver. 5, when it is said that Christ appeared that he might take away our sins, and that there is no sin in him, it is evident that he came to take away our acts as well as our habits, and that there was no act as well as no habit of sin in him: and so in all that follows, vv. 6, 8, 9, one act of sin is contrary to abiding in Christ, that is, to adhering to him, to seeing and knowing, that is, to obeying him; one act is of, or from, the devil: one act as contrary to that seed, that purity, that principle of filiation, that is in him that is born of God, and not only an habit of it. [b] born of God] What γεννάσθαι ἐκ Θεοῦ, being born of God, signifies, hath been noted, note [b] on John i, to have received some [c] cannot sin] What is meant by οὐ δύναται, cannot, here, will best appear by what St. Chrysostom, on Rom. viii, saith of the tree in the gospel, where it is said, A corrupt tree cannot bear good fruit, nor a good tree corrupt fruit: "He," saith he, "that saith a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, οὐ κωλύει τὴν ἀπὸ κακίας εἰς ἀρετὴν μεταβολὴν, forbids not a change from vice to virtue," (denies not that to be possible,) "but affirms, that ἡ ἐν τῇ κακίᾳ διατριβῇ, the continuance in wickedness cannot bring forth good fruit; for," saith he, "he said not that an ill tree cannot become good, but that remaining evil it cannot bear good fruit." So when, Rom. viii. 7, it is said, that the carnal mind cannot be subject to God, Theophylact interprets it, ἕως ἂν μὲν τοιοῦτον, it cannot whilst it remains such; οὐχ ὅτι ἀδύνατος ἡ μεταβολὴ, not that the change is impossible; and so again, ver. 8, when it is said, they cannot please God, ἕως ἂν ὦσι τοιοῦτοι, they cannot whilst they are such. And so sure the affirming here of the child of God, the regenerate pious convert, that he cannot sin, is not the affirming that he cannot cease to be what he is, cannot fall off from the performance of his duty, (against which the many warnings and exhortations that are given to pious men, ch. ii. 1, 1 Cor. x. 12, Heb. iii. 12, 2 Pet. iii. 17, are evidences of the possibility of it,) but that remaining thus, a pious follower, imitator, and so child of God, that in his actions resembles him, he cannot yield deliberately to any kind of sin. To which purpose saith Tertullian, De Pudicitia, Hæc non admittet omnino qui natus e Deo fuerit, non futurus Dei filius si admiserit, "He that is born of God will not at all admit such sins as these; he shall not be the child of God if he do admit or commit them." And Lactantius, Virtus sine ulla intermissione perpetua est, nec discedere ab ea potest qui semel eam cepit: nam si habeat intervallum, si quando ea carere possumus, redeunt protinus peccata, quæ vir- [d] is not of God] Εἶναι ἐκ Θεοῦ, to be of God, here, (and chap. iv. 6, and v. 19, and 3 John 11,) is a phrase to signify one that lives as God requires and approves of, a child of God in the beginning of the verse, born of God, ver. 9, a sincere acceptable servant of his, that imitates the good, 3 John 11, or, in brief, a good Christian; and that not only upon this ground, because all Christian virtue is of God, but especially because it is agreeable to his will, an imitation of that which is most eminently and originally in him. And so, on the contrary, ungodly living is expressed by the phrase to be of the devil, John viii. 44, explained by what follows, θέλετε ποιεῖν ἐπιθυμίας αὐτοῦ, doing, or delighting to do his desires, and his works, ver. 41, and so to be of the world. To this purpose many the like phrases there be observable in scripture, which are set to signify this; as, being in God, 1 John ii. 5, and v. 20, seeing God, 3 John 11, that is, having considered and observed God in his actions, in order to imitating of them; for so to imitate is expressed, John viii. 38, by doing what they have seen with their Father. So again, having known God or Christ, 1 John ii. 3, 13, that is, so as to imitate or transcribe what we see in him; an evidence of which is, as it follows there, the keeping his commandments, and, ch. iv. 6, he that knows God, and he that is of God, are set as directly the same; and so ver. 7, 8, and very often in this writer. So seeing, and knowing him, together, 1 John iii. 6, and especially, John v. 37, to hear his voice, and see his appearance, for that is there all one with having his word abiding in them. So to be the sons of God, John xi. 52, the sons of God that are scattered abroad, that is, all that are or shall be pious faithful servants of his all the world over, that are qualified aright for the receiving of Christ when he preacheth to them, (such as are called the children of the kingdom, Matt. xiii. 38,) and so oft in these epistles, 1 John iii. 2, 10; and to be born of God, 1 John t In Stobæo, p. 100. We know that we are regenerate Christians (see note [c] Luke xv.) by our charity to other men, which he that hath not is clearly an unregenerate, unchristian person. The hating of others is by interpretation the killing of them, because it is so in intention of heart, did not some outward restraint curb it; and he that is such is acknowledged by all men to be quite contrary to the evangelical temper, the regenerate state, from the having spiritual life abiding in him, which the Gnostics that are so malicious do yet so much talk of. Christ's love to us was expressed in this, that he was willing to incur the utmost hazard, even to venture his life, to reduce us; and agreeably Christian charity obligeth us to venture even our lives for other men, after the manner and upon so noble a design as Christ did; that is, to bring unto the Christian faith (as the martyrs did) any one or more enemies of Christ, and so likewise in other cases proportionable to this. But how contrary to this is the practice of the world, when rich men, that have to spare for others, have yet no compassion or charity to them? which he that doth, how can he be said to be merciful as God is merciful, or how to love God, when he doth so contrary to his commands? My dearly beloved tender Christians, let our charity to our brethren shew itself in actions of sincere kindness and bounty to them. And by loving one another thus, we are able to discern or judge of ourselves, that we are such as we profess ourselves to be, ver. 18, and by so judging we shall have our hearts secure and confident that God will hear our prayers, ver. 22, and John ix. 31. 20, 21. And indeed that this discerning ourselves to be such as we pretend ourselves to be, is necessary to the giving us this confidence toward God, appears by this, that on the one side our hearts condemning us is a sure argument that God will do so too, (and then not hearken to our prayers,) because he knoweth all things of us that we can know of ourselves; and on the other side, if we have nothing to charge on ourselves, then we may come thus confidently to God, not fearing that he will lay any thing to our charge (see note [a] John vii.) that we are not guilty ⁹ that, &c. ⁹ and we shall persuade, καὶ πείσομεν. ¹⁰ boldness, παρρησίαν. You therefore, whatsoever your temptations be, forsake not the doctrine which from the beginning of your Christianity you have received: to which if you firmly adhere, if you continue in the constant profession of the true faith of Christ at first revealed to you, you shall continue also in the favour and love of God the Father, and of Christ, which is reward sufficient for that constancy.