Bede : These things I have written to you, that you may know that you have eternal life, etc. That you may know, he says, that you may be certain of your future blessedness, who believe in Christ, so that you are not deceived by the fraud of those who deny that Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore assert that nothing will benefit those who have believed in His name. And the wondrous madness of heretics, who, though the Son of God is referred to throughout this entire Epistle, still assert that Christ is not the Son but a creature of God. Which in no way do they read, except when His humanity is mentioned. — Commentary on the Catholic Epistles Oecumenius : I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God: that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God. As if in a summary at the end, John repeats the aforementioned and says: I have written these things to you as heirs of eternal life: for these things would not be written for those who do not live according to the hope of eternal life: because neither should holy things be given to dogs nor pearls be scattered before pigs, (Matt. 7:6) for they do not deserve praise. Therefore, writing these things as heirs of eternal life, John briefly repeats, as we have said, suggesting to them what has already been said: first, that it is necessary to firmly believe in the name of the Son of God, that is, in the divine worship handed down to us by Him: for this is what the name of the Son of God signifies, as we have said, to whom, namely, the grace of sacred baptism prepares the way. — Commentary on 1 John