1 John 2:6

Verse 6. Abideth in him] He who not only professes to have known Christ, but also that he has communion with him, and abides in his favour, should prove the truth of his profession by walking as Christ walked; living a life of devotion and obedience to God, and of benevolence and beneficence to his neighbour. Thus Christ walked; and he has left us an example that we should follow his steps.

To be in Christ, 1Jo 2:5, is to be converted to the Christian faith, and to have received the remission of sins. To abide in Christ, 1Jo 2:6, is to continue in that state of salvation, growing in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. He that saith] He who declares his position is morally bound to act up to the declaration which he has made. To profess to abide in God involves an obligation to imitate the Son, who is the concrete expression of God’s will. ‘To abide’ is another of the Apostle’s very favourite expressions, a fact greatly obscured in A. V. by capricious changes of rendering: see on 1Jn_2:24. ‘To abide in’ implies habitual fellowship. Note the climax; to know Him (1Jn_2:3), to be in Him (1Jn_2:5), to abide in Him (1Jn_2:6): cognitio, communio, constantia (Bengel).

ought] It is a debt which he owes (ὀφείλει, debet). S. John does not say ‘must’ (δεῖ, oportet) which might seem to imply constraint. The obligation is internal and personal. ‘Must’ (δεῖ), frequent in the Gospel, does not occur in these Epistles.

even as He walked] Not simply ‘as’ (ὡς) but ‘even as’ (καθώς): the imitation must be exact. The ‘He’ is a different pronoun (ἐκεῖνος) from the preceding ‘Him’ (αὐτῷ), and this with the context makes it almost certain that while ‘in Him’ means ‘in God’, ‘even as He walked’ refers to Christ. Comp. 1Jn_3:3; 1Jn_3:5; 1Jn_3:7; 1Jn_3:16, 1Jn_4:17. For ‘even as’ comp. 1Jn_2:18; 1Jn_2:27, 1Jn_3:2; 1Jn_3:12; 1Jn_3:23; Luk_6:36, &c. &c. and for ‘even as He’ comp. 1Jn_3:3; 1Jn_3:7, 1Jn_4:17. S. Peter declares that Christ has ‘left us an example, that we should follow His steps’ (1Pe_2:21).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Ver. 6. To walk even as he walked] This is the same with that Col 2:6, to walk in Christ; and with that, 1Pe 2:21, to follow his steps. {See Trapp on "1Pe 2:21"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Jn_2:6

He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked

The Christlike walk of one with guileless spirit abiding in God

To walk as Christ walked is essential to our abiding in God; not merely being in God, as it is put in the previous verse, but being in Him permanently.

It is therefore the test of our truth when we say that we abide in God; it is the very means by which we abide in Him.

I. It is sometimes said of Christ simply that He walked, without anything to define or qualify the expression (Joh_7:1; Luk_13:33; Joh_12:9-10). Jesus then walked. His life was a walk. The idea of earnestness, of definiteness of purpose, of decision and progress, is thus suggested. Now, he that saith he abideth in God, ought himself also so to walk even as Jesus walked. It was as always abiding in God that He walked. While His feet were busy walking, His soul was resting in God. Outward movement, inward repose; the whole man Christ Jesus--mind, spirit, heart, all bent upon the road; and yet ever, at the same time, the whole man Christ Jesus dwelling in the Fathers bosom, as calmly as in that unbroken eternity, ere He became man, He had been wont to dwell there: so he walked, abiding in God. So you also ought to walk even as He walked, abiding in God. But some one may say, Is not this too high an ideal? Is it not the setting up of an inimitable model? Not so. For, first, He fully shares with us whatever disadvantage as regards His walking, may be implied in His being a son of man. And, secondly, He would have us fully to share with Him whatever advantage there is in His being the Son of God. For both reasons our life may be as much and as truly a walk as His was.

II. Let some particulars about this walk be noticed.

1. If we say that we abide in God, we ought to walk as seeing God in all things and all things in God; for so Christ walked.

2. He that saith he abideth in God ought to walk as one subordinating himself always in all things to God, submitting himself to God, committing himself to God.

3. He that saith he abideth in God ought to walk in love. If we abide in God, we abide in the great source and fountain of love--in the infinite ocean of pure and perfect benevolence.

4. He that saith he abideth in God ought, in a word, to walk in unity with God, as being of one mind with God and of one heart. So Jesus walked. (R. S. Candlish, D. D.)

In Him: like Him

The first thing about a Christian is initiation into Christ; the next thing is the imitation of Christ. We cannot be Christians unless we are in Christ; and we are not truly in Christ unless the life of Christ is lived over again by us according to our measure.

I. Consider how this obligation is proved. Why ought we to walk as Jesus did?

1. First, it is the design of God that those who are in Christ should walk as Christ walked. It is a part of the original covenant purpose; for whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.

2. Observe, again, another point of this necessity: it is necessary to the mystical Christ that we should walk as He walked, for we are joined unto the Lord Jesus in one body.

3. And this, again, must all be the fruit of the one Spirit that is in Christ and in us. The Father anointed Christ of old with the same anointing which rests on us in our measure. The Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and we have an unction from the same Holy One.

4. I would have true Christians remember that this is one article of the agreement which we make with Christ when we become His disciples. We put ourselves into Christs hands unreservedly, and we said, Lord, sanctify me, and then use me. Reign in me; rule me absolutely, sovereignly, always and alone. I do not ask to be my own, for I am not my own, I am bought with a price.

II. Consider wherein this walking with Christ as He walked consists.

1. To put it all together in one word, the first thing that every Christian has to see to is holiness. You know what wholeness is--a thing without a crack, or flaw, or break; complete, entire, uninjured whole. Well, that is the main meaning of holy. If you wish to see holiness, look at Christ. In Him you see a perfect character, an all-round character. He is the perfect one; be ye like Him in all holiness.

2. We must go a little into detail; so I say, next, one main point in which we ought to walk according to the walk of our great Exemplar is obedience. It is the Lords will that in His house His word should be the supreme law, for so only can our fallen natures be restored to their original glory. It is ours to walk in cheerful subservience to the mind of the Father, even as Jesus did. Does this strike you as an easy thing? It is childs work, certainly; but assuredly it is not childs play.

3. Such a life would necessarily be one of great activity, for the life of Jesus was intensely energetic. There is never an idle hour in the life of Christ. It is wonderful how He sustained the toil. Perhaps He measured out His zeal and His open industry by the fact that He was only to be for a short time here below.

4. Next we ought to walk as Christ did in the matter of self-denial. So walk as He did who made Himself of no reputation, but took upon Himself the form of a servant, and who, though He was rich, brought Himself down to poverty for our sakes, that we might be rich unto God. Think of that.

5. Another point in which we ought to imitate Christ most certainly is that of lowliness. You never detect in the Lord Jesus Christ any tendency towards pride or self-exaltation. Quite the reverse: He is ever compassionate and condescending to men of low estate.

6. And then note again another point, and that is His great tenderness, and gentleness, and readiness to forgive. Did He not set us an example of bearing and forbearing?

7. There is one word which tells us more than all this about how Christ walked, and that is the word love. Jesus was incarnate love. Only he that loves can live in heaven, for heaven is love; and you cannot go to glory unless you have learned to love and to find it your very life to do good to those about you. Let me add to all this, that he who says that Christ is in him ought also to live as Christ lived in secret. And how was this?

8. His life was spent in abounding devotion. He was pure and holy, and yet He must needs wait upon God all day long, and often speak with His Father; and then when the night came, and others went to their beds, He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed. If the Lord Jesus be in you, you must walk as He walked in that matter. And then think of His delight in God. He was, it is true, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; but still there was a deep spring of wondrous happiness in the midst of His heart, which made Him always blessed. And you and I also must delight in God. This charming duty is far too much neglected. Strange that this honey should so seldom be in mens mouths!

9. We ought to walk in holy contentment. The cravings of covetousness and pinings of ambition never touched our Lord. In a word, Christ lived above this world; let us walk as He walked. Christ lived for God, and for God alone; let us live after His fashion. And Christ persevered in such living; He never turned aside from it at all; but as He lived so He died, obedient to His Fathers will. May our lives be a mosaic of perfect obedience, and our deaths the completion of the fair design.

III. Consider what is needful to all this.

1. It is needful to have a nature like that of Christ. You cannot give out sweet waters so long as the fountains are impure. Ye must be born again.

2. That being done, the next thing that is necessary is a constant anointing of the Holy Spirit.

3. Then, again, there must be in us a strong resolve that we will walk as Christ walked; for our Lord Himself did not lead that holy life without stern resolution.

4. I add that if we want to walk as Christ walked we must have much communion with Him. We cannot possibly get to be like Christ except by being with Him. A person has written to me to say that he has painted my portrait, but that he cannot finish it until he sees me. I should think not, Certainly you cannot paint a portrait of Christ in your own life unless you see Him--see Him clearly, see Him continually. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The example of Christ

Example, it has often been remarked, exerts a much more powerful influence upon men than precept. The nature and excellence of Gods commandments are more perfectly seen in those actions which are conformed to His law than in the abstract contemplation of the commandments themselves. To this peculiarity in our mental constitution God hath kindly accommodated His holy Word. Although the example of holy men of ancient times is made use of as a motive to particular excellences, yet none of them is proposed in general terms as a pattern for our imitation. This honour is given to Christ alone. Not only are particular virtues enforced by a reference to His character and conduct, but His conversation in general among men, or the whole of His life on earth is exhibited as a pattern to be imitated by all His disciples.

I. The example of Christ is perfect. Neither positive evil nor negative defect can be laid to His charge. In contemplating the pattern which it presents we are never perplexed by the necessity of separating the good from the bad, that which should be imitated from that which should be avoided.

II. The example of Christ is easy of imitation. It is calculated to allure rather than to repel the attempts of the meek and humble to copy it. The incidents by which it was diversified are such as frequently occur in the ordinary lot of man, and His conduct in reference to them was in every respect such as we might desire and expect any pious and benevolent individual to exemplify. It was human, devoid of everything impracticable.

III. The example of Christ is highly influential. It is fitted to extract the attention and command the imitation of men. Who will refuse to imitate the pattern furnished in His obedience and sufferings when he recollects that He obeyed and suffered in our room? The example of a Divine person is indeed of infinite authority to all creatures; but the obligation of gratitude has an attractive influence which the consideration of duty alone does not possess.

IV. The example of Christ is of universal application. It is suited to men of all classes and of every peculiarity of natural disposition. Had He come in all the glory of temporal royalty His example, however conspicuous and however perfect, could have been useful to but a limited extent. (D. Duncan.)

Of the imitation of Christ in holiness of life, and the necessity of it in believers

I. What the saints imitation of Christ supposes and comprises.

1. That no Christian is, or may pretend to be, a rule to himself; for as no man hath wisdom enough to direct himself, so if his own will were made the rule of his own actions it would be the highest invasion of the Divine prerogative.

2. That as no man is his own guide, so no mere man, how wise or holy soever, may pretend to be a rule to other men; but Christ is the rule of every mans walking.

3. The necessity of sanctification in all His followers, forasmuch as it is impossible there should be a practical conformity in point of obedience where there is not a conformity in spirit and in principle.

4. That the Christian religion is a very precise and strict religion, no way countenancing licentiousness; it allows no man to walk loosely and inordinately.

5. The imperfection of the best of men in this life; for if the life of Christ be our pattern, the holiest of men must confess they come short of the rule of their duty.

6. The transcending holiness of the Lord Jesus; His holiness is greater than the holiness of all creatures, For only that which is first and best in every kind is the rule and measure of all the rest.

7. It necessarily implies sanctification and obedience to be the evidences of our justification and interest in Christ: assurance is unattainable without obedience; we can never be comfortable Christians except we be strict and regular Christians.

II. In what things all who profess Christ are obliged to the imitation of him.

1. And first of all, the purity and holiness of the life of Christ is proposed as a glorious pattern for the saints imitation (1Pe_1:15).

(1) He was truly and sincerely holy, without fiction or simulation; and this appeared in the greatest trial of the truth of holiness that ever was made in this world (Joh_14:30).

(2) Christ was uniformly holy at one time as well as another, in one place and company as well as another. So must His people be holy in all manner of conversation.

(3) Christ was exemplarily holy; a pattern of holiness to all that came nigh Him, and conversed with Him: oh, imitate Christ in this.

(4) Christ was strictly and precisely holy: Which of you convinceth Me of sin? The most envious eyes could not pick a hole or find a flaw in any of His words or actions (Php_2:15).

(5) Christ was perseveringly holy--holy to the last breath; as He began, so He finished His whole life. It becomes not any of His people to begin in the spirit and end in the flesh.

(6) In a word, the delight of Christ was only in holy things and holy persons--they were His chosen companions; even so it becometh His people to have all their delights in the saints and in the excellent of the earth (Psa_16:3).

2. The obedience of Christ to His Fathers will is a pattern for the imitation of all Christians.

(1) Christs obedience was free and voluntary, not forced or compulsory; it was so from the very first undertaking of the work of our redemption (Pro_8:30-31).

(2) The obedience of Christ was universal and complete; He was obedient to all the will of God, making no demur to the hardest service (Php_2:8).

(3) The obedience of Christ was sincere and pure, without any base or by-end, purely aiming at the glory of God (Joh_17:4).

(4) The streams of Christs obedience flowed from the fountain of ardent love to God (Joh_14:31).

(5) The obedience of Christ was constant (Rom_2:7).

3. The self-denial of Christ is the pattern of believers, and their conformity unto it is their indispensable duty (Php_2:4-6; 2Co_8:9).

4. The activity and diligence of Christ in finishing the work of God which was committed to Him was a pattern for all believers to imitate.

(1) His heart was intently set upon it (Psa_4:8).

(2) He never fainted under great discouragements (Isa_43:4).

(3) The shortness of His time provoked Him to the greatest diligence (Joh_9:4).

(4) He improved all opportunities, companies, and occurrences to further the great work which was under His hand (Joh_4:6-10).

(5) Nothing more displeased Him than when He met with dissuasions in His work (Mat_8:33).

(6) Nothing rejoiced His soul more than the prosperity and success of His work (Luk_10:20-21).

5. Delight in God and in His service was eminently conspicuous in the life of Christ, and is a rare pattern for believers imitation (Joh_4:32; Joh_4:34).

(1) The nature of it, which consisteth in the complacency, rest, and satisfaction of the mind in God and spiritual things,

(2) The object of spiritual delight, which is God Himself and the things which relate to Him (Psa_73:25).

(3) The subject of spiritual delight, which is a renewed heart, and that only so far as it is renewed (Rom_7:22).

(4) The principle and spring of this delight, which is the agreeableness of spiritual things to the temper and frame of a renewed mind.

6. The inoffensiveness of the life of Christ upon earth is an excellent pattern to all His people; He injured none, offended none (Heb_7:26). He denied His own liberty to avoid occasion of offence; as in the case of the tribute money (Mat_19:27).

(1) For the honour of Jesus Christ be you inoffensive--His name is called upon you (Jam_2:7). Your inoffensive carriage is the only means to stop the mouths of detractors (1Pe_2:15).

(2) For the sake of souls be wary that you give no offence (Mat_13:7).

(3) By the holiness and harmlessness of your lives many may be won to Christ (1Pe_3:1).

7. The humility and lowliness of Christ is propounded by Himself as a pattern for His peoples imitation (Mat_11:29).

8. The contentation of Christ in a low and mean condition in the world is an excellent pattern for His peoples imitation.

(1) The meanest and most afflicted Christian is owner of many rich, invaluable mercies (Eph_1:3; 1Co_3:33).

(2) You have many precious promises that God will not forsake you in your straits (Heb_13:5; Isa_41:17).

(3) How useful and beneficial are all your afflictions to you! They purge your sins, prevent your temptations, wean you from the world, and turn to your salvation; and how unreasonable, then, must your discontentedness at them be?

(4) The time of your relief and full deliverance from all your troubles is at hand (1Co_7:26).

(5) Your lot falls by Divine direction upon you, and as bad as it is it is much easier and sweeter than the condition of Christ in this world was. Yet He was contented, and why not you?

III. The necessity of this imitation of Christ will convincingly appear divers ways.

1. From the established order of salvation, which is fixed and unalterable. God that hath appointed the end hath also established the means and order by which men shall attain the ultimate end. Now conformity to Christ is the established method in which God will bring souls to glory (Rom_8:29).

2. The nature of Christ-mystical requires this conformity, and renders it indispensably necessary. Otherwise the body of Christ must be heterogeneous, of a nature different from the head; and how uncomely would this be?

3. This resemblance and conformity to Christ appears necessary from the communion which all believers have with Christ in the same spirit of grace and holiness. Believers are called Christs fellows, or co-partners (Psa_45:7), from their participation with Him of the same spirit (1Th_4:8).

4. The necessity of this imitation of Christ may be argued from the design and end of Christs exhibition to the world in a body of flesh. For though we detest that doctrine which makes the exemplary life of Christ to be the whole end of His incarnation, yet we must not run so far from an error as to lose a precious truth.

5. Our imitation of Christ is one of those great articles which every man is to subscribe whom Christ will admit into the number of His disciples (Luk_14:27).

6. The honour of Christ necessitates the conformity of Christians to His example.

How can wisdom be justified of her children except it be this way? Inferences:

1. If all that profess interest in Christ be strictly bound to imitate His holy example, then it follows that religion is very unjustly charged by the world with the scandals and evils of them that profess it.

2. If all men forfeit their claim to Christ who endeavour not to imitate Him in the holiness of His life, then how small a number of real Christians are there in the world!

3. What blessed times should we all see if true religion did once generally obtain and prevail in the world!

4. Hence it also follows that real Christians are the sweetest companions.

5. In a word, if no mens claim to Christ be warranted but theirs that walk as He walked.

How vain and groundless then are the hopes and expectations of all unsanctified men who walk after their own lusts?

1. Christ hath conformed Himself to you by His abasing incarnation; how reasonable therefore is it that you conform yourselves to Him in the way of obedience and sanctification!

2. You shall be conformed to Christ in glory; how reasonable therefore is it you should now conform yourselves to Him in holiness! (chap. 3:2).

3. The conformity of your lives to Christ, your pattern, is your highest excellency in this world: the measure of your grace is to be estimated by this rule.

4. So far as you imitate Christ in your lives, and no farther, you will be beneficial to the world in which you live; so far as God helps you to follow Christ you will be helpful to bring others to Christ, or build them up in Christ.

5. To walk as Christ walked is a walk only worthy of a Christian; this is to walk worthy of the Lord (1Th_2:12; Col_1:10).

6. How comfortable will the close of your life be at death if you have walked after Christs example in this world! A comfortable death is ordinarily the close of a holy life (Psa_37:37).

Lastly, I would leave a few words of support to such as sincerely endeavour, according to the tendency of their new nature, to follow Christs example, but being weak in grace and meeting with strong temptations are frequently carried aside from the holy purposes of their well-meaning hearts.

1. Such defects in obedience make no flaw in your justification; for your justification is not built upon your obedience, but upon Christs (Rom_3:24).

2. Your deep troubles for the defectiveness of your obedience do not argue you to be less, but more sanctified, than those who make no such complaints.

3. The Lord makes excellent uses even of your failings to do you good; for by these defects He hides pride from your eyes, He beats you off from self-dependence, He makes you to admire the riches of free grace, He makes you to long more ardently for heaven and entertain the sweeter thoughts of death.

4. Your bewailed infirmities do not break the bond of the everlasting covenant.

5. Though the defects of your obedience are grievous to God, yet your deep sorrows for them are well-pleasing in His eyes (Psa_51:17).

6. Though God has left many defects to humble you, yet He hath given many things to comfort you. This is a comfort, that the desire of thy soul is to God. This is a comfort, that thy sins are not thy delight as once they were. (John Flavel.)

Abiding in Christ to be demonstrated by walking as Christ did

I. The apostles do on all occasions assume the practice of Christ as an unquestionable ground of obligation and an effectual inducement thereto.

II. Doing so hath a reasonableness grounded on our relations to Christ--it is comely that the manners of the disciple should be regulated by those of his Master; that the servant should not, in his garb and demeanour, dissent or vary from his Lord; that the subject should conform his humour to the fashion of his Prince.

III. Following Christs example is requisite to demonstrate the sincerity of our faith, love, and reverence to Him.

IV. By pretending to be Christians we acknowledge the transcendent goodness, worth, and excellency of our Saviour; that He was incomparably better and wiser than any person ever was or could be; that He always acted with the highest reason, out of the most excellent disposition of mind, in order to the best purposes; and that His practice, therefore, reasonably should be the rule of ours.

V. The practice of our Saviour did thoroughly agree with His doctrine and Law--He required nothing of us which He did not eminently perform Himself. He fulfilled in deed, as well as taught in word, all righteousness.

VI. It being the design of Divine goodness, in sending our Saviour, to render us good and happy, to deliver us from sin and misery, there could not be devised any more powerful means or more convenient method of accomplishing those excellent purposes than by propounding such an example and obliging us to comply therewith.

1. Good example is naturally an effectual instrument of good practice; for that it doth most compendiously, pleasantly, and easily instruct; representing things to be done at one view, in a full body, clothed with all their modes and circumstances; it kindleth mens courage by a kind of contagion, as one flame doth kindle another; it raiseth a worthy emulation of doing laudable things which we see done, or of obtaining a share in the commendations of virtue.

2. More especially the example of Christ doth, inefficacy and influence on good practice, surpass all others.

(1) In that it is a sure and infallible rule, a perfect rule of practice: deficient in no part, swerving in no circumstance from truth and right, which privileges are competent to no other example.

(2) In that He was, by the Divine providence, to this very purpose designed and sent into the world, as well by His practice as by His doctrine to be the guide and master of holy life.

(3) In that it was, by an admirable temperament, more accommodated for imitation than any others have been; for though it were written with an incomparable fairness, delicacy, and evenness, not slurred with any foul blot, not anywhere declining from exact straightness, yet were the lineaments thereof exceedingly plain and simple, not by any gaudy flourishes or impertinent intrigues rendered difficult to studious imitation; so that even women and children, the weakest and meanest sort of people, as well as the most wise and ingenious, might easily perceive its design, and with good success write after it.

(4) In that it is attended with the greatest obligations (of gratitude and ingenuity, of justice, of interest, of duty), mightily engaging us to follow it. (Isaac Barrow, D. D.)

Imitation of the example of Christ in His temper and life

I. In what respects Christ is an example to Christians and they are to imitate Him. Christ is only our example as to those things that are common between Him and us, but not as to those in which we can have no participation with Him or He with us. His part was to become our mediator with God.

II. How suitable an example Christ is to us and how expedient it is for us to have such an example.

1. The example of Christ is exceedingly suitable to mankind.

(1) From the humanity of it.

(2) The notoriety of Christs example makes it fit for general use. The most exemplary transactions of His holy life are transmitted to us in exact narratives.

(3) His example was very extensive. It either directly exemplifies or contains a lively instruction into the duties of almost every station and relation in human life.

(4) Christs example is absolutely perfect.

2. How very expedient it is for mankind to have such an example set before them.

(1) This use and expediency appears in that it tends to impress the mind with a strong sense of the reasonableness and excellency of that universal rectitude which the law requires, and to guard us against light and favourable thoughts of any deviation or iniquity.

(2) It still adds more weight to this use of Christs example, to consider the Divinity of His person. In this way God has glorified a state of obedience to Himself.

III. The obligations and engagements which Christians are under to imitate this so suitable and expedient example. This is the natural tendency of all Christian graces; so that where they are in truth they cannot but work this way, and otherwise they are only in appearance, not in reality. (John Hubbard.)

The Christians imitation of Christ

First, for the conditional If. Is it not a precedent condition of life; for a man cannot first walk as Christ walked, and then be in Christ. A graft cannot live the life of the stock and then be inoculated into the stock. The first act is before the latter act: life before the actions of life--so walk as Christ walked, this notes the actions of life. Now a man must first be in Christ before he can walk as Christ walked. Indeed, this condition is first to our knowledge: but it is not first in its own nature. So, then, to walk as Christ walked, being a necessary consequence of being in Christ, we cannot be in Christ if we walk not as Christ walked. If there be any commandment of Christ in all the gospel that you will not conform to, it is an evident sign that ye abide not in Christs love. Secondly, for the exemplary, As, even as He walked. Can any man walk as Christ walked? Is it possible that dust and ashes, that is corrupt with sin, can walk as He walked? This word as hath a twofold signification--

(1) such as imports equality, or

(2) similitude.

As this as imports an equality, so it is impossible that any flesh can walk as Christ walked--so purely, so unspottedly, so steadily, so effectually as He lived. A scholar writes as his masters copy directs him. Though there be no equality, he cannot write one stroke or dash with his pen so well as his master, yet he doth write as his master sets his copy: his hand follows his masters hand. Even as less white is like more white, though not alike in the same degree, yet in the same nature, there is the same nature in the lesser that there is in the bigger. So we must have the same life, obey the same commandments, be guided by the same rule, swayed by the same motions, led by the same Spirit that was in Christ (Rom_8:9). Thus you see the explanation of the doctrine; come we now to the reasons, which are principally these four:--

1. The first reason is taken from the scope and end for which the Lord did send His Son into the world: as to justify the ungodly, so also to conform all those that are justified to the image of Christ.

2. The second reason is taken from the practice of Christianity. In vain are we called Christians if we be not imitators of Christ. The disciples are called Christians (Act_11:26); the very name tells us that we must be followers of Christ.

3. The third reason is taken from the essential, or rather from the integral union that is between Christ and all those that are in Christ; they are all members of His most gracious body.

4. The last reason is taken from the near relation that is to be between Christ and every member of Christ. If all that are in Christ are the children of Christ they must needs walk as Christ walked. Like begets like. Dost thou say thou hast put on Christ? Why, then, show me the signs of Christ in thee. How canst thou then demonstrate that thou art a Christian? It may be now and then thou wilt give a prayer unto Christ. Is this to be in Christ? If thou be in Christ, then thou must live the life of Christ in all thy ways. He that saith he abideth in Him, etc. In this word he there are three notes. First, indication. The apostle doth, as it were, point at a certain man in his congregation, as if there had been some man that he knew was not in Christ. So preachers must not only preach the Word of God in general, but they must preach in particular. Secondly, discrimination. As if he should say, there are some that are in Him and some that are not in Him. Hence observe this point, that every minister is bound to preach so as to make a difference between the precious and the vile. Here are two things--

1. They shall teach them the difference between the holy and profane.

2. They shall not only show it before them, but if they will not see it they shall cause them to see it; that is, they must beat it into them and rub it into their consciences. You that have heard the Word of God apply it to your souls, it is a blessed plaister; let it lie on your souls. Thirdly, scrutiny. It is not only an outward word, but a word of the heart: If any man say, that is, if any man think, that he is in Christ, he ought to walk as Christ did. Hence we observe, that a minister is bound to preach to mens thoughts. (Wm. Fenner.)

The Christian walk

It was one of the last sayings of a famous divine that there were three things which were essential to healthy Christian teaching--doctrine, experience, and practice. He said that if doctrine alone were brought forward to a people there was a danger lest they should turn out Antinomians; that if experience alone were brought forward to a people there was a danger lest they should turn out enthusiasts and sentimentalists; and that if practice alone were brought forward, there was a danger that they would turn out legalists. I know not whether we have sufficient attention given in the present day to the third of the three great essentials spoken of, I mean the essential of Christian practice.

I. The true believers profession--He saith that he abideth in Christ. He rests all his hope on the Lord Jesus Christ; he feels that he is a sinner, but he sees in Christ an all-sufficient Saviour. Time there was when he abode himself in carelessness; he was a thoughtless, an unconcerned person, travel ling down the stream of time and thinking nothing of the gulf of eternity. Now, old things are passed away and all things are become new.

II. The standard of the true believers practice. The apostle speaks of the believers walk. By that he means his daily course of life, his behaviour, that may be seen of men, as a persons walking may be seen by the eye. The man of the world cannot move without being seen; so the walk of the Christian is that behaviour which others around him can observe. It is not merely a spasmodic rushing forward, but an equable daily walk. He speaks of what that walk ought to be; he speaks of it as a debt, as an obligation. The believer is bound by the strongest of all ties and obligations to walk even as Christ walked. Who that has ever seen a young painter in his first efforts to paint, when he has set the canvas before him and endeavoured to copy some mighty masterpiece of Rubens, or Rembrandt, or Titian, has not been struck with the difference between his first essay and the wonderful copy before him? Yet that painter does the same kind of thing that Rubens, or Titian,or Rembrandt did; he is working upon canvas, he has the colours, he holds the brush; though he may not like them lay on the colours and trace the outline in the same way, yet, after all, he is following their steps, he is imitating them, and is far more likely to bring forth an excellent work than if he copied that which was not equal in perfection. But in what is it that we are endeavouring to walk even as Christ walked? In His demeanour towards those with whom He had to do--in all His relations, as a son unto His mother, as a friend among His friends--in all His dealings with His enemies and with His disciples. (Bp. Ryle.)

Imitation of Christ

I. Particulars in which Christians ought to live as Christ lived.

1. Those who profess to be Christs disciples ought to take Him as their example in bearing their appointed sufferings.

(1) In the first place, contentedly to bear whatever sufferings God by His providence imposes on us; not to be discontented, irritable, and despondent.

(2) There was another characteristic in Christs endurance of sufferings, perhaps yet more important to us, because it relates to a temper still more constantly to be in exercise. Jesus foresaw all those sufferings which He afterwards so patiently bore. He steadfastly set His face to go up to Jerusalem; He pursued the great end of His mission into this world without deviation by one single step or for one single moment. He, then, who walks as Christ walked, will, without fear, without despondency, without impetuosity and passion, without enthusiasm, with calm deliberation and steady purpose, determine to pursue the course of duty God has called him to pursue, whatever the consequences may be.

2. In this course, however, it is impossible but that Christians should meet, as Christ met, with those who would oppose this course.

II. Reasons why we should walk thus.

1. Those who are redeemed ought to live as their Redeemer lived, because they recognise Him to be the pattern of all excel lence.

2. Those who are redeemed ought to endeavour to please their Redeemer.

3. Those who have been redeemed ought to count it one of the highest objects of their existence to glorify and serve Him who has been their Redeemer. (B. W. Noel, M. A.)

Inward grace manifest in the life

There is an inward germinant power which must make itself felt in a life like his. If a man abide in Christ and Christ dwells within him, then must the heavenly forms of grace and truth which Christ unfolded in His life be manifested, to some extent at least, in His followers, The life of the rose unfolds itself in the fragrance and beauty of the queen of flowers; the life of the lily in immaculate purity; the life of Christ in love, joy, peace, long suffering, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, which are the fruits of the Spirit. Christ is the great archetype of redeemed humanity, and the life of each believer is an aspect of the image of the Son of God. The conformity of the life to the model of Christ is the test of fellowship with the Father. (A. R. Cocke, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 9

THE INFLUENCE OF THE GREAT LIFE WALK A PERSONAL INFLUENCE

1Jn_2:6

THIS verse is one of those in reading which we may easily fall into the fallacy of mistaking familiarity for knowledge.

Let us bring out its meaning with accuracy.

St. Johns hatred of unreality, of lying in every form, leads him to claim in Christians a perfect correspondence between the outward profession and the inward life, as well as the visible manifestation of it. "He that saith" always marks a danger to those who are outwardly in Christian communion. It is the "take notice" of a hidden falsity. He whose claim, possibly whose vaunt, is that he abideth in Christ, has contracted a moral debt of far reaching significance. St. John seems to pause for a moment. He points to a picture in a page of the scroll which is beside him-the picture of Christ in the Gospel drawn by himself; not a vague magnificence, a mere harmony of colour, but a likeness of absolute historical truth. Every pilgrim of time in the continuous course of his daily walk, outward and inward, has by the possession of that Gospel contracted an obligation to be walking by the one great life walk of the Pilgrim of eternity. The very depth and intensity of feeling half hushes the Apostles voice. Instead of the beloved Name which all who love it will easily supply, St. John uses the reverential He, the pronoun which specially belongs to Christ in the vocabulary of the Epistle. "He that saith he abideth in Him" is bound, even as He once walked, to be ever walking.

I The importance of example in the moral and spiritual life gives emphasis to this canon of St. John.

Such an example as can be sufficient for creatures like ourselves should be at once manifested in concrete form and susceptible of ideal application.

This was felt by a great, but unhappily antichristian, thinker, the exponent of a severe and lofty morality. Mr. Mill fully confesses that there may be an elevating and an ennobling influence in a Divine ideal; and thus justifies the apparently startling precept-"be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." But he considered that some more human model was necessary for the moral striver. He recommends novel readers, when they are charmed or strengthened by some conception of pure manhood or womanhood, to carry that conception with them into their own lives. He would have them ask themselves in difficult positions, how that strong and lofty man, that tender and unselfish woman, would have behaved in similar circumstances, and so bear about with them a standard of duty at once compendious and affecting. But to this there is one fatal objection-that such an elaborate process of make believe is practically impossible. A fantastic morality, if it were possible at all, must be a feeble morality. Surely an authentic example will be greatly more valuable.

But example, however precious, is made indefinitely more powerful when it is living example, example crowned by personal influence.

So far as the stain of a guilty past can be removed from those who have contracted it, they are improvable and capable of restoration, chiefly, perhaps almost exclusively, by personal influence in some form. When a process of deterioration and decay has set in in any human soul, the germ of a more wholesome growth is introduced in nearly every case, by the transfusion and transplantation of healthier life. We test the soundness or the putrefaction of a soul by its capacity of receiving and assimilating this germ of restoration. A parent is in doubt whether is susceptible of renovation, whether the son has not become wholly evil. He tries to bring the young man under the personal influence of a friend of noble and sympathetic character. Has his son any capacity left for being touched by such a character; of admiring its strength on one side, its softness on another? When he is in contact with it, when he perceives how pure, how self-sacrificing, how true and straight it is, is there a glow in his face, a trembling of his voice, a moisture in his eye, a wholesome self-humiliation? Or does he repel all this with a sneer and a bitter gibe? Has he that evil attitude which is possessed only by the most deeply corrupt-"they blaspheme, rail at glories." The Chaplain of a penitentiary records that among the most degraded of its inmates was one miserable creature. The Matron met her with firmness, but with a good will which no hardness could break down, no insolence overcome. One evening after prayers the Chaplain observed this poor outcast stealthily kissing the shadow of the Matron thrown by her candle upon the wall. He saw that the diseased nature was beginning to be capable of assimilating new life, that the victory of wholesome personal influence had begun. He found reason for concluding that his judgment was well founded.

The law of restoration by living example through personal influence pervades the whole of our human relations under Gods natural and moral government as truly as the principle of mediation. This law also pervades the system of restoration revealed to us by Christianity. It is one of the chief results of the Incarnation itself. It begins to act upon us first, when the Gospels become something more to us than a mere history, when we realise in some degree how He walked. But it is not complete until we know that all this is not merely of the past, but of the present; that He is not dead, but living; that we may therefore use that little word "is" about Christ in the lofty sense of St. John-"even as He is pure; in Him is no sin"; "even as He is righteous; He is the propitiation for our sins." If this is true, as it undoubtedly is, of all good human influence personal and living, is it not true of the Personal and living Christ in an infinitely higher degree? If the shadow of Peter overshadowing the sick had some strange efficacy; if handkerchiefs or aprons from the body of Paul wrought upon the sick and possessed; what may be the spiritual result of contact with Christ Himself? Of one of those men specially gifted to raise struggling natures and of others like him, a true poet lately taken from us has sung in one of his most glorious strains. Matthew Arnold likens mankind to a host inexorably bound by divine appointment to march over mountain and desert to the city of God. But they become entangled in the wilderness through which they march, split into mutinous factions, and are in danger of "battering on the rocks" forever in vain, of dying one by one in the waste. Then comes the poets appeal to the "Servants of God":-

"Then in the hour of need

Of your fainting, dispirited race,

Ye like angels appear!

Languor is not in your heart,

Weakness is not in your word,

Weariness not on your brow.

Eyes rekindling, and prayers

Follow your steps as ye go.

Ye fill up the gaps in our file,

Strengthen the wavering line,

Stablish, continue our march-

On, to the bound of the waste-

On to the City of God."

If all this be true of the personal influence of good and strong men-true in proportion to their goodness and strength-it must be true of the influence of the Strongest and Best with Whom we are brought into personal relation by prayer and sacraments, and by meditation upon the sacred record which tells us what His one life walk was. Strength is not wanting upon His part, for He is able to save to the uttermost. Pity is not wanting; for to use touching words (attributed to St. Paul in a very ancient apocryphal document), "He alone sympathised with a world that has lost its way."

Let it not be forgotten that in that of which St. John speaks lies the true answer to an objection, formulated by the great antichristian writer above quoted, and constantly repeated by others. "The ideal of Christian morality," says Mr. Mill, "is negative rather than positive; passive rather than active; innocence rather than nobleness; abstinence from evil, rather" than energetic pursuit of good; in its precepts (as has been well said), thou shalt not predominates unduly over thou shalt. The answer is this.

(1) A true religious system must have a distinct moral code. If not, it would be justly condemned for "expressing itself" (in the words of Mr. Mills own accusation against Christianity elsewhere) "in language most general, and possessing rather the impressiveness of poetry or eloquence than the precision of legislation." But the necessary formula of precise legislation is, "thou shalt not"; and without this it cannot be precise.

(2) But further. To say that Christian legislation is negative, a mere string of "thou shalt nots," is just such a superficial accusation as might be expected from a man who should enter a church upon some rare occasion, and happen to listen to the Ten Commandments, but fall asleep before he could hear the Epistle and Gospel. The philosopher of duty, Kant, has told us that the peculiarity of a moral principle, of any proposition which states what duty is, is to convey the meaning of an imperative through the form of an indicative. In his own expressive, if pedantic, language-"its categorical form involves an epitactic meaning." St. John asserts that the Christian "ought to walk even as Christ walked." To everyone who receives it, that proposition is therefore precisely equivalent to a command -" walk as Christ walked." Is it a negative, passive morality, a mere system of "thou shalt not," which contains such a precept as that? Does not the Christian religion in virtue of this alone enforce a great "thou shalt"; which every man who brings himself within its range will find rising with him in the morning, following him like his shadow all day long, and lying down with him when he goes to rest?

II It should be clearly understood that in the words "even as He walked," the Gospel of St. John is both referred to and attested.

For surely, to point with any degree of moral seriousness to an example, is to presuppose some clear knowledge and definite record of it. No example can be beautiful or instructive when its shape is lost in darkness. It has indeed been said by a deeply religious writer, "that the likeness of the Christian to Christ is to His character, not to the particular form in which it was historically manifested." And this, of course, is in one sense a truism. But how else except by this historical manifestation can we know the character of Christ in any true sense of the word knowledge? For those who are familiar with the fourth Gospel, the term "walk" was tenderly significant. For if it was used with a reminiscence of the Old Testament and of the language of our Lord, to denote the whole continuous activity of the life of any man inward and outward, there was another signification which became entwined with it. St. John had used the word historically in his Gospel, not without allusion to the Saviours homelessness on earth, to His itinerant life of beneficence and of teaching. Those who first received this Epistle with deepest reverence as the utterance of the Apostle whom they loved, when they came to the precept-"walk even as He walked"-would ask themselves how did He walk? What do we know of the great rule of life thus proposed to us? The Gospel which accompanied this letter, and with which it was in some way closely connected, was a sufficient and definite answer.

III The character of Christ in his Gospel is thus, according to St. John, the loftiest ideal of purity, peace, self-sacrifice, unbroken communion with God; the inexhaustible fountain of regulated thoughts, high aims, holy action, constant prayer. We may advert to one aspect of this perfection as delineated in the fourth Gospel- our Lords way of doing small things, or at least things which in human estimation appear to be small.

The fourth chapter of that Gospel contains a marvellous record of word and work. Let us trace that record back to its beginning. There are seeds of spiritual life scattered in many hearts which were destined to yield a rich harvest in due time; there is the account of one sensuous nature, quickened and spiritualised; there are promises which have been for successive centuries as a river of God to weary natures. All these results issue from three words spoken by a tired traveller, sitting naturally over a well-"give me to drink."

We take another instance. There is one passage in St. Johns Gospel which divides with the procemium of his Epistle the glory of being the loftiest, the most prolonged, the most sustained, in the Apostles writings.

It is the prelude of a work which might have seemed to be of little moment. Yet all the height of a great ideal is over it, like the vault of heaven; all the power of a Divine purpose is under it, like the strength of the great deep; all the consciousness of His death, of His ascension, of His coming dominion, of His Divine origin, of His session at Gods right hand-all the hoarded love in His heart for His own which were in the world-passes by some mysterious transference into that little incident of tenderness and of humiliation. He sets an everlasting mark upon it, not by a basin of gold crusted with gems, nor by mixing precious scents with the water which He poured out, nor by using linen of the finest tissue, but by the absolute perfection of love and dutiful humility in the spirit and in every detail of the whole action. It is one more of those little chinks through which the whole sunshine of heaven streams in upon those who have eyes to see. {Joh_13:1-6}

The underlying secret of this feature of our Lords character is told by Himself. "My meat is to be ever doing the will of Him that sent Me, and so, when the times come, by one great decisive act to finish His work." All along the course of that life walk there were smaller preludes to the great act which won our redemption- multitudinous daily little perfect epitomes of love and sacrifice, without which the crowning sacrifice would not have been what it was. The plan of our life must, of course, be constructed on a scale as different as the human from the Divine. Yet there is a true sense in which this lesson of the great life may be applied to us. The apparently small things of life must not be despised or neglected on account of their smallness, by those who would follow the precept of St. John. Patience and diligence in petty trades, in services called menial, in waiting on the sick and old, in a hundred such works, all come within the sweep of this net, with its lines that look as thin as cobwebs, and which yet for Christian hearts are stronger than fibres of steel-"walk even as He walked." This, too, is our only security. A French poet has told a beautiful tale. Near a river which runs between French and German territory, a blacksmith was at work one snowy night near Christmas time. He was tired out, standing by his forge, and wistfully looking towards his little home, lighted up a short quarter of a mile away, and wife and children waiting for their festal supper, when he should return. It came to the last piece of his work, a rivet which it was difficult to finish properly; for it was of peculiar shape, intended by the contractor who employed him to pin the metal work of a bridge which he was constructing over the river. The smith was sorely tempted to fail in giving honest work, to hurry over a job which seemed at once so troublesome and so trifling. But some good angel whispered to the man that he should do his best. He turned to the forge with a sigh, and never rested until the work was as complete as his skill could make it. The poet carries us on for a year or two. War breaks out. A squadron of the blacksmiths countrymen is driven over the bridge in headlong flight. Men, horses, guns, try its solidity. For a moment or two the whole weight of the mass really hangs upon the one rivet. There are times in life when the whole weight of the soul also hangs upon a rivet; the rivet of sobriety, of purity, of honesty, of command of temper. Possibly we have devoted little or no honest work to it in the years when we should have perfected the work; and so, in the day of trial, the rivet snaps, and we are lost.

There is one word of encouragement which should be finally spoken for the sake of one class of Gods servants.

Some are sick, weary, broken, paralysed, it may be slowly dying. What-they sometimes think-have we to do with this precept? Others who have hope, elasticity, capacity of service, may walk as He walked; but we can scarcely do so. Such persons should remember what walking in the Christian sense is all lifes activity inward and outward. Let them think of Christ upon His cross. He was fixed to it, nailed hand and foot. Nailed; yet never-not when He trod upon the waves, not when He moved upward through the air to His throne-never did He walk more truly, because He walked in the way of perfect love. It is just whilst looking at the moveless form upon the tree that we may hear most touchingly the great "thou shalt"-thou shalt walk even as He walked.

IV As there is a literal, so there is a mystical walking as Christ walked. This is an idea which deeply pervades St. Pauls writings. Is it His birth? We are born again. Is it His life? We walk with Him in newness of life. Is it His death? We are crucified with Him. Is it His burial? We are buried with Him. Is it His resurrection? We are risen again with Him. Is it His ascension-His very session at Gods right hand? "He hath raised us up and made us sit together with Him in heavenly places." They know nothing of St. Pauls mind who know nothing of this image of a soul seen in the very dust of death, loved, pardoned, quickened, elevated, crowned, throned. It was this conception at work from the beginning in the general consciousness of Christians which moulded round itself the order of the Christian year.

It will illustrate this idea for us if we think of the difference between the outside and the inside of a church.

Outside on some high spire we see the light just lingering far up, while the shadows are coldly gathering in the streets below; and we know that it is winter. Again the evening falls warm and golden on the churchyard, and we recognise the touch of summer. But inside it is always Gods weather; it is Christ all the year long. Now the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, or circumcised with the knife of the law, manifested to the Gentiles, or manifesting Himself with a glory that breaks through the veil; now the Man tempted in the wilderness; now the victim dying on the cross; now the Victor risen, ascended, sending the Holy Spirit; now for twenty-five Sundays worshipped as the Everlasting Word with the Father and the Holy Ghost. In this mystical following of Christ also, the one perpetual lesson is -"he that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself also so to walk even as He walked."

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

1Jn 2:6. Μένειν, that he abideth) This word is of frequent occurrence in ch. 2, 3 and 4. It implies a condition which is lasting, without intermission and without end.—ὀφείλει, he ought) by the force of that Divine example. Thus, we ought, ch. 1Jn 3:16, 1Jn 4:11.—καθὼς ἐκεῖνος, even as He) He, whom we formerly saw. Thus, as He, etc., ch. 1Jn 3:3; 1Jn 3:5; 1Jn 3:7; 1Jn 3:16, 1Jn 4:17. Believers readily supply the name; since they have a breast filled with the remembrance of the Lord.—περιεπάτησε, walked) while He was in the world.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Jn_2:6 gives the more particular definition of what the τηρεῖν of Gods commandments, and therefore the Christians walk in light, consists in.

ὁ λέγων] as in 1Jn_2:4; here, however, with the infinitive construction.

ἐν αὐτῷ μένειν] ἐν αὐτῷ does not refer to Christ (Augustin, Hornejus, Wolf, Lange, Neander, etc.), but to God.

μένειν] instead of εἶναι, 1Jn_2:5. Both expressions are synonymous, it is true, but not identical (Beza); in μένειν the unchangeableness of the being is brought out. Bengel: Synonyma cum gradatione: ilium nosse, in illo esse, in illo manere. Frommann (p. 187): The being and abiding in God signifies one and the same fellowship with God. The latter describes it merely as something constant, lasting, which accessory notion is not contained in the former expression.

ὀφείλει] comp. chap. 1Jn_3:16, 1Jn_4:11, is in duty bound, refers back to ὁ λέγων; it is not meant to be indicated here what is demanded in regard to the μένειν ἐν Θεῷ, but what is the duty of him who says that he abides in Godif he does not want to be a liar, in whom the truth is not, 1Jn_2:4.

καθὼς ἐκεῖνος περιεπάτησε, καὶ αὐτὸς [οὕτως] περιπατεῖν] By these words Christ is placed as a pattern before Christians, i.e. in regard to His whole walk (which is elsewhere done in the N. T. only in regard to His self-abasement and to His conduct in suffering; see this commentary on 1Pe_2:21); of what sort this was, John does not here say; from the connection with what precedes, however, it is clear that the apostle points to Him in so far as He kept the commandments of God, and therefore walked in the light.[101] This reference to Christ as an example is frequently found in the same form (καθὼς ἐκεῖνος) in our Epistle; so 1Jn_3:3; 1Jn_3:7; 1Jn_4:17; comp. also Joh_13:15; Joh_15:10, and passim.

περιπατεῖν describes not merely the disposition, but the action resulting from it. In the fact that John brings just this out (comp. especially chap. 1Jn_3:17-18), it is evident how far his mysticism is removed from mere fanaticism.

On οὕτως, see the critical notes.

[101] Semler paraphrases: Si quis gloriatur, se suamque doctrinam semper convenisse cum doctrina ilia Christi, is sane debet etiam in humanae vitae modo non Judaismum praeferre (!).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. Before περιπατεῖν omit οὕτως with [459][460] against [461][462][463].

[459] 5th century. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. All three Epistles.

[460] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles.

[461] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles.

[462] 5th century. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it. In the National Library at Paris. Part of the First and Third Epistles; 1Jn 1:1 to 1Jn 4:2; 3Jn 1:3-14. Of the whole N.T. the only Books entirely missing are 2 John and 2 Thessalonians.

[463] 9th century. All three Epistles.

6. ὁ λέγων. He who declares his position is morally bound to act up to the declaration which he has made. To profess to abide in God involves an obligation to imitate the Son, who is the concrete expression of God’s will. Μένειν is another of the Apostle’s very favourite expressions, a fact greatly obscured in A.V. by capricious changes of rendering: see on 1Jn 2:24. ‘To abide in’ implies habitual fellowship. Note the climax; to know Him (1Jn 2:3), to be in Him (1Jn 2:5), to abide in Him (1Jn 2:6): cognitio, communio, constantia (Bengel). Profession of such close intimacy involves a debt (ὀφείλει, debet). S. John does not say ‘must’ (δεῖ, oportet) which might seem to imply constraint. The obligation is internal and personal. ‘Must’ (δεῖ), frequent in the Gospel and Revelation, does not occur in these Epistles. See on 1Jn 3:16.

καθὼς ἐκεῖνος π. Not simply ὡς, as, but καθώς, even as: the imitation must be exact. It is always well in translation to mark the difference between ὡς and καθώς. For καθώς comp. 1Jn 2:18; 1Jn 2:27; 1Jn 3:2; 1Jn 3:12; 1Jn 3:23, and for καθὼς ἐκεῖνος, 1Jn 3:3; 1Jn 3:7; 1Jn 4:17. Ἐκεῖνος in this Epistle is always Christ: 1Jn 3:3; 1Jn 3:5; 1Jn 3:7; 1Jn 3:16; 1Jn 4:17. Nomen facile supplent credentes, plenum pectus habentes memoria Domini (Bengel). S. Peter says of Christ, ὑμῖν ὑπολιμπάνων ὑπογραμμὸν ἵνα ἐπακολουθήσητε τοῖς ἴχνεσιν αὐτοῦ (1Pe 2:21); and (still more closely to S. John) S. Paul says περιπατεῖτε ἐν ἀγάπῃ, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν, ὑμᾶς (Eph 5:1). Comp. Rom 15:5; Heb 12:2; and the Collect for the Second Sunday after Easter. In all cases it is His loving self-sacrifice that is to be imitated. Hence the next section.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that is one with Christ must needs live his life, that is, must walk in his steps.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

abideth--implying a condition lasting, without intermission, and without end.

He that saith . . . ought--so that his deeds may be consistent with his words.

even as he--Believers readily supply the name, their hearts being full of Him (compare Joh 20:15). "Even as He walked" when on earth, especially in respect to love. John delights in referring to Christ as the model man, with the words, "Even as He," &c. "It is not Christ's walking on the sea, but His ordinary walk, that we are called on to imitate" [LUTHER].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

6 He that saith he abideth in him As he has before set before us God as light for an example, he now calls us also to Christ, that we may imitate him. Yet he does not simply exhort us to imitate Christ; but from the union we have with him, he proves that we ought to be like him. A likeness in life and deeds, he says, will prove that we abide in Christ. But from these words he passes on to the next clause, which he immediately adds respecting love to the brethren.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

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 dwelleth in him, as in Joh 6:56; that is, by faith; who under a sense of sin and danger have fled to Christ, as to a strong tower and place of defence, where they dwell safely, peaceably, pleasantly, and comfortably, enjoying whatever is necessary for them. The Syriac and Ethiopic versions read, "he that saith I am in him"; loved by him, chosen in him, united to him, a member of his, and have communion with him:

ought himself also to walk even as he walked; as Christ walked, lived, and acted, so ought he; that is, to imitate him and follow him, as he has him for an example; not in his miraculous works in raising the dead, healing the sick, and walking upon the waters, &c. which were wrought as proofs of his deity and of his Messiahship, and not intended for imitation; nor in his mediatorial performances, as in his propitiatory sacrifice and advocacy; but in the exercise of grace, and duties of religion as a man, and in a private way; and may chiefly regard walking in love, as he walked, see Eph 5:2; and is what is in the following verses insisted on, namely, the new commandment of love to the brethren; which should be to all as his was, and, like his, constant and lasting; and, when the case requires, should be shown by laying down life for them. The "as" is not a note of equality, but of likeness; for it cannot be thought that saints should walk in that degree of perfection, in humility, patience, love, and in the exercise of every other grace, and in the discharge of duty, as Christ did; only that they should copy after him, and make his obedience and life the rule of theirs.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He that saith, he abideth in him - Greek, “remains” in him; that is, abides or remains in the belief of his doctrines, and in the comfort and practice of religion. The expression is one of those which refer to the intimate union between Christ and his people. A great variety of phrase is employed to denote that. For the meaning of this word in John, see the notes at 1Jo 3:6.

Ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked - Ought to live and act as he did. If he is one with him, or professes to be united to him, he ought to imitate him in all things. Compare Joh 13:15. See also the notes at 1Jo 1:6.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And this proof we ought to give. For whereas our Lord Jesus Christ was not only our Lawgiver, but our pattern, and practised himself what he commanded us; if indeed we have an abiding, real union with him, we partake of his Spirit, Rom 8:9, which must be understood to work uniformly, and enable us

to walk (in the main of our course, according to our measure of that Spirit)

as he walked.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. Abideth—The summit of the grades, know him, in him, and abideth in him. This abiding is Christian perseverance—reverse of apostasy.

He walked—The word he has thus far in the paragraph been the Greek αυτος; here it is εκεινος. From this change Alford infers that the first refers to God, (note on 1Jn_2:3,) and this last to Christ. But both refer to Christ; the former as our divine advocate and propitiation before the Father in heaven, (1Jn_2:1-2,) the latter to the man Jesus as he walked on earth for our example.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Profession involves an obligation to act up to the profession. "He who says that he abides in God is by his words morally bound to walk even as his Son, the incarnate Revelation of his will, walked.

The change from ejn aujtw to ejkeinov confirms the view that aujton and aujtou mean the Father; but St. John"s use of ejkeinov to recall with emphasis a previous subject (Joh_1:8, Joh_1:18, 33 5:11 9:37 10:1 12:48) makes this argument inconclusive. To be or abide in God or in Christ implies a habitual condition, not isolated apprehensions of his presence. Obedience, not feeling, is the test of union; and the Christian who is really such has least to tell of "experiences" of special visitations. He who is ever in the light has few sensible illuminations to record. Note the strong kaqwv, even as (not merely wJv, as); nothing less than "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph_4:13) is to be aimed at. "Ye therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect". (Mat_5:48)

Great professions involve great obligations.

Connecting link: In the fifth verse the apostle had just declared that a life of obedience to God certifies to the believer that he is in Christ. In this verse that thought is as it were turned round: not only is it true that, if a man diligently obeys, he has in that fact the proof of a living union with Christ, but it also follows that, if a man avows to others that he is living in union with the Son of God, he is bound to justify that avowal by a life in entire harmony therewith. Hence we get the following themeThe avowal of a Christian life demands a Christ-like walk. Two lines of remark are here suggested.

I HERE IS A GREAT DECLARATION SUPPOSED. "He that saith he abideth in him." It has been not unfrequently remarked that old words and phrases which had long been employed in pagan terminology have to put on a new meaning altogether when used in Christian teaching. Not only is this true, but much more. There are in Christian teaching absolutely new phrases used. This is one of them: "in Christ." It is entirely new, (1)because no one ever sustained such a loving relation to the human soul as Christ sustains to it; and therefore

(2) never could human souls be so related to any other being as they are to the Lord Jesus, specially when knit to him by a living faith and drawing their very life from him. If, e.g., we speak of being in Isaiah or in Moses, who is there that would not turn away in disgust from the absurdity? And yet the Christian knows and feels it to be perfectly natural thus to speak of his relation to his Saviour. Yea, more; so close, so real, so vital, is that relationship, that no weaker phrase would adequately express it! For what does he mean by it? Certainly not less than seven things.

1. That he worships him as the ideal and real Head of" the entire humanrace.

2. That he recognizes the supreme Lordship of Christ.

3. That he relies upon the atonement made by Christ.

4. That he receives power from Christ every day and all the day long.

5. That he has no other conception of a worthy object in life than that lifeshould be wholly for Christ.

6. That for life or death, for time or eternity, he commits his all to Christ.

7. And lastly, that the life he lives now, that the life he hopes for hereafter,is received from Christ himself, and can be sustained by him alone. For there is no such hypothesis in the text as that a man can be out of Christ one moment and in him the next, and vice versa, thus alternating perpetually. The phrase is "abideth in him." It is not, however, necessarily supposed here that the man is in Christ. The only supposition is that he declares such to be the case. Hence the question arises How is this declaration supposed to be made? Nothing can be clearer, both from the Gospels and the Epistles, that open confession of faith before the world was expected of believers, and was indeed the natural outcome of such faith. There was the broader confession, when disciples were admitted to Christian training by the rite of baptism. There was the far fuller and deeper one when the ranks of believers gathered together around the table of the Lord, declaring that Christ was the Life of those that believe. In a word, while, in mingling with the world and in ordinary conversation, it was quite possible for a man openly to confess his Saviour, go where he would, yet the recognized public avowal of his faith and hope as a Christian was to be found in his taking his place among the ranks of the faithful, and in pledging himself to be everywhere true to his Saviour and to his fellow-believers, when he gathered with them around the Eucharistic board!

II AN AVOWAL SO GREAT DEMANDS A CORRESPONDING WALK. "He that saith ought himself," etc.

1. How ought he to walk? "Even as he walked." The outward walk ought to correspond with the verbal avowal. But who can suitably describe how Christ walked? Expansion of this is not possible within our assigned space. We can but hint. See Christ"s purity, devotedness to God, love of communion with God, pity, benevolence, daring, patience, self-sacrifice, resistive force even to the death. A man who says he abides in Christ ought to reproduce that life in his own! We are not required to follow him in the waters of baptism, nor in the forty days" temptation, nor in his wondrous works; but in his Spirit and his life he has left us an example that we should follow his steps. He stands historically at the head of the human race, its most heavenly Inspirer, its noblest Figure, its most luminous Example.

2. Why ought the walk to be conjoined with the avowal? Dr. Westcott aptly calls our attention to the fact that the word here used is not dei, denoting a "must" in the nature of things, but ojfeilei, which expresses a special, personal obligation. To whom, then, does the avower owe it to "live like him whom he avows as his Lord and his Life"? Certainly

(1) he owes it to himself to be consistent with his declaration.

(2) He owes it to his Christian brethren with whom he is in Church-fellowship.

(3) But supremely he owes it to his Lord, whose holy Name he thus takes upon himself. For our Lord Jesus Christ is in some sort represented by the professors of his Name. Alas! alas! while in every age there have been very many who have" adorned the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things," who can reflect without many a sigh and many a tear of the numberless ways in which our Lord has been wounded in the house of his friends? Surely, surely our Lord endured suffering enough for us when he was on earth. Do not let him suffer from us now he is in heaven! And if even thus the argument should fail to impress, let two matters more be weighed: One, that if the avowal is true, a man will make it his aim to live as Christ lived; for the life a, man receives from Christ cannot possibly be other than like his own. Another, that if a man is not living a Christ-like life, he is thereby disproving the truth of the avowal he is making. The water in the stream cannot be muddy if it comes direct from the pure fountain-head.

We are well aware that a preacher"s fidelity on this matter will be met by

Objection (1) such as this: "How ignorant of the ways of the world you preachers must be! Nothing can stand in our day against twenty-five per cent. profit." Reply: Our thesis is, if a man declares he is in Christ, he says he treads mammon underfoot; and if he says it, he is expected to show it.

Objection (2): "Impossible! too high!" Reply: It is too high for a Christless man, but not for "a man in Christ." Note: When life and profession harmonize with each other, and both harmonize with a perfect ideal, the life is what it ought to be, and all that it can be.

Christian profession and consequent obligations.

"He that saith he abideth in him ought himself," etc.

I A PROFESSION OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. "He that saith he abideth in him," i.e., in God. In the paragraph of which our text is a part there is a gradation of ideas as to the relation of the Christian to God: to know him; to be in him; and to abide in him.

1. The Christian is in God by spiritual fellowship. Through Christ theChristian is brought into intimate and hallowed communion with God he believes his revelation of himself, he endeavours to apprehend his thoughts, he accepts his gracious will, he receives his best inspirations from him. Thus he has his spiritual being in God. He derives his inner life of thought, affection, purpose, and power from him.

2. The Christian is in God by mutual love. "We know and have believed thelove which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love, abideth in God, and God abideth in him." We may obtain help to the understanding of this by considering how our trusted and beloved friends dwell in us and we in them. Distant from us locally and corporeally, yet they are with us truly and spiritually, How the child dwells in the being, occupies the thoughts and affections, of the loving parent! These are imperfect figures of how the true Christian lives in God the Father through Jesus Christ his Son (cf. Joh_14:20, Joh_14:21, 23 15:4 17:21-23) And to say that we abide in him is to profess fidelity and perseverance in this exalted and sacred relation. It is a great profession.

II THE CONSEQUENT OBLIGATION OF CHRISTIAN CONDUCT. "Ought himself also to walk even as he walked." We have here a change in the pronoun, indicating a change of person. The former personal pronouns from chapter 1:5 to this clause point to God the Father; the present one denotes God the Son. The Christian is to walk as he walked. It cannot be said that the eternal God walks. He is ever the same. His being admits of no advancement or progress. Man is said to "walk in the light;" but of God it is said that he "is light," and that "he is in the light" (chapter 1:5, 7). But Christ walked this earth as our Example. He spake of his life in this world as a walk: "I must walk today, and tomorrow, and the day following". (Luk_13:33) He hath left us "an example, that ye should follow his steps". (1Pe_2:21) It is the moral, not the miraculous, in his life that we are called to imitate his devotion and reverence, his truth and righteousness, his humility and self-sacrifice, his love and holiness. In his character and conduct we have the clear and complete expression of the will of the Father. To walk as be walked is the obligation of every one who professes to be in God. This includes:

1. Living after the example of Christ. "Learn of me;" "I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you"; (Joh_13:13-15) "Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you," etc.. (Eph_5:1, Eph_5:2) Let us endeavour to act in our lives as our Saviour and Lord would act if he were in our place.

2. Growing in likeness to Christ. Walking implies advancement. The Divine life in man is a progressive thing. We are summoned to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." "Let us go on unto perfection". (Heb_6:1-3) In this respect let us copy the example of St. Paul: "I press on, if so be that I may apprehend that for which also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus," etc.. (Php_3:12-14) And let us endeavour to prove the reality of our Christian profession by treading in the footsteps of our perfect Exemplar. W.J.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that saith he abideth in him - which implies a durable state; a constant, lasting knowledge of, and communion with, him. Ought himself - Otherwise they are vain words. So to walk, even as he walked - In the world. As he, are words that frequently occur in this epistle. Believers having their hearts full of him, easily supply his name.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Observe here, 1. An high and honorable privilege supposed to be claimed, and that is union with Christ, and abiding in him; he that saith he abideth in him. The abiding in Christ is a great privilege, and the true and real Christian doth truly and really abide in Christ.

Observe, 2. A great and important duty belonging to all those that do abide in Christ, and that is to walk as Christ walked; to set his example daily before them, and to be continually correcting and reforming of their lives by that glorious pattern. Every Christian is bound to an imitation of Christ, under penalty of forfeiting his claim to Christ; for no claim to Christ is or can be valid without a careful imitation of him. The temper of our minds, and the actions of our lives, must be a lively transcript of the mind and life of the holy and innocent Jesus; we must be like him, or we can never love him, nor hope another day to live with him.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. “Christ Himself is our only exemplar.” Regeneration saves us from diabolical, and sanctification from human leadership, turning us over to God alone for time and eternity.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. He that saith he abideth in him. Who so abideth in Christ, and lives by the life Christ imparts, must show that life by a life like that of Christ. See John 15:4.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

6.] The state of being in Him is carried forward a step further by the expression “abide in Him:” (“Synonyma cum gradatione: Illum nosse: in Illo esse: in Illo manere: cognitio: communio: constantia.” Bengel:) and the way is prepared, by what follows, for the coming exhortation vv. 7-11, to walk in love. The man saying that He abideth in Him (God, as above) ought (see reff. Huther well remarks, that the obligation is grounded on the λέγειν, the profession, being one of consistency with it; not on the μένειν, which would imply that which follows, as matter of necessity), even as He (Christ: by ἐκεῖνος (see above) a third person is introduced: not necessarily, see 2Ti 2:26 and note, but apparently by the requirements of this passage, αὐτός having come down all the way from ch. 1:5 as referred to God. I say apparently: because I do not regard it as by any means a settled matter that this αὐτός does not throughout apply to Christ, and then this ἐκεῖνος will merely refer to a different phase of predication respecting the same person as the ἐν αὐτῷ designates, as in the examples produced in the note as above) walked (during His life upon earth: see below), himself also thus to walk (not any one particular of Christ’s walk upon earth is here pointed at, but the whole of his life of holiness and purity and love. This latter, as including all the rest, is most in the Apostle’s mind. So in Eph 5:1, Eph 5:2, where St. Paul exhorts us to be followers of God, he adds, καὶ περιπατεῖτε ἐν ἀγάπῃ, καθὼς καὶ ὁ χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν ὑμᾶς. Luther simply but appositely remarks, that it is not Christ’s walking on the sea, but His ordinary walk, that we are called on here to imitate).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He abideth in Him [εν αυτω μενειν] . To abide in God is a more common expression with John than to be in God, and marks an advance in thought. The phrase is a favorite one with John. See Joh 14:4 sqq.; Joh 6:56; 1Jo 2:24, 27, 28; 1Jo 3:6, 24; 1Jo 4:12 sq.; 15 sq. Bengel notes the gradation in the three phrases "to know Him, to be in Him, to abide in Him; knowledge, fellowship, constancy."

Ought [οφειλει] . An obligation, put as a debt. See Luk 27:10, and on debts, Mt 6:12. The word expresses a special, personal obligation, and not as dei must, an obligation in the nature of things. See Joh 20:9, and compare 1Jo 3:16; 1Jo 4:11; 3Jo 1:8.

He [εκεινος] . Always of Christ in the Epistles of John. See ejkeinhv, referring to aJmartia sin, 1Jo 5:16.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.