1 John 3:13

1Jn_3:13

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you

The worlds hatred--Gods love

The worlds hatred; Gods love; these are what are here contrasted.

And yet there is one point at least of partial similarity. The affection, in either case, fastens in the first instance upon objects opposed to itself. The world hates the brethren; God loves the world, the world lying in the wicked one. And in a sense, too, the ends sought are similar. The world, which hates, would assimilate those it hates to itself, and so be soothed or sated; God, who loves, would assimilate those he loves to Himself, and so have satisfaction in them.

I. The worlds hatred of the brethren.

1. It is natural; not marvellous. The Lord prepares His disciples beforehand to expect it, warning them not to look for any other treatment at the worlds hands than He had met with. Notwithstanding all warnings, and all the experience of others who have gone before him, the young Christian, buoyant, enthusiastic, may fancy that what he has to tell must pierce all consciences and melt all hearts. Alas! he comes in contact with what is like a wet blanket thrown in his face, cold looks and rude gestures of impatience, jeers and jibes, if not harsher usage still. Count it not strange that you fall into this trial. Why should you? Is their reception of you very different from what, but yesterday perhaps, yours would have been of one coming to you in the same character and on the same errand? Surely you know that love to the brethren--true Christian, Christlike love--is no plant of natural growth in the soil of corrupt humanity; that, on the contrary, it is the fruit of the great change by means of which a poor sinner passes from death unto life.

2. It is murderous, as regards its objects: He that loveth not its brother abideth in death: whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. Loveth not, hateth, murdereth! There is a sort of dark climax here! Not loving is intensified into hating, and hating into murdering. The three, however, are really one; as the Lord teaches (Mat_5:21-24). Be on your guard against this spirit of the world finding harbour again in your breasts. Even you need to be warned against the worlds evil temper of dislike and envy. Consider how insidious it is. Consider also its deadly danger. Consider, finally, how natural it is; so natural that only your passing from death unto life can rid you of it, and make you capable of its opposite. Grace may overcome it; grace alone can do so. And even grace can do so only through continual watchfulness and prayer, continual recognition of the life through which you pass from death, and continual exercise of the love which is the characteristic of that life.

II. Of this love, as of the hatred, two things are said.

1. It is natural now to the spiritual mind; natural as the fruit and sign of the new life.

2. It is the very opposite of the murderous hatred of the devil; it is self-sacrificing, like the love of God Himself. (R. S. Candlish, D. D.)

The world hating the Church

These words imply a fact, and contain a warning.

I. First, then, for the fact that the unbelieving world did hate the Church. It is established, not by sacred testimony only, but by the concurrence of heathen writers.

II. The apostle not only states the fact that the world did hate the Christian, but he proceeds to warn them not to marvel at it. There were two reasons that would very naturally induce Christians so to marvel.

1. The first was derived from considering the Divine origin of their faith. They might be inclined to suppose that a religion coming from such a source, and so confirmed, would at least secure its professors from persecution.

2. The singular innocence and harmlessness of the lives of its professors might reasonably be expected to disarm malice of its sting. Now, for the first of these grounds, of their marvel that the world should hate them. The very pretension of the religion to speak with authority from God, armed the world, Jewish or heathen, against it. With the Jew it was not like a new sect, such as the Herodians, added to the older division into Pharisees and Sadducees. But it was a deposing Moses from his authority, and placing him beneath Him whom they execrated, the carpenters son of Galilee. Nay, more, it was not deposing Moses only from his place, it was a loss of rank and caste to themselves likewise. For if the Christian religion broke down the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, and made both one, what became of their own fancied superiority over the rest of mankind? Still more, what became of their own special position as lords over their brethren? Again, for the heathen. The Christian religion was not like adding another form of worship to the ten thousand that were already received in the world, so that it has been said that there were more gods than people at Rome; but it pronounced every one of these forms to be foul, cruel, pernicious, and false. Even some conviction that it must have conic from God, was not sufficient to hinder those to whom it was brought from hating and murdering those who brought it. But again, if the suspicion that the religion came from God were not sufficient to deter the world from persecuting the Christian, neither would the innocency of the Christians life be any defence. So far from it, it would be a special ground of attacking them. Wickedness has a consciousness that it is in the wrong, and as it only can support itself by having the multitude on its side, so it regards all goodness as a desertion, an exposure of its weakness. And what is the result? Clearly, that we ought not to be taken by surprise if we find the very best designs, the most palpable efforts of self-denial, not only misconstrued and misrepresented, but its ground of such opposition as the spirit of the age will permit. In more tranquil days, there is reason to apprehend that our faith may grow weak from want of exercise, and degenerate into mere morality and conventional decorum. (G. J. Cornish, M. A.)

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

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

1Jn_3:13. World hate yon.—The “world” includes all who are not actuated by the supreme motive, love to God. For “hate” read “hateth” (Joh_15:18).

1Jn_3:14. From death unto life.—Death is spiritual death in selfishness. Life is spiritual life in love for others, which finds expression in serving others.

1Jn_3:15. Is a murderer.—With distinct allusion to the case of Cain. “The first and the worst effect of hatred gives it its true character.”

1Jn_3:16.—Read, “Hereby know we love.” Lay down our lives.—The figure of self-surrender, reaching to the limits of self-sacrifice.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Jn_3:13-17

A Sure Sign of the Regenerate Life.—It is such a love of the brethren as leads us to self-denial and service for the sake of securing their highest well-being. That man must be “born again,” he must be a new man, other than the unnatural being which sin and self have made him, who really cares for his brother in such a way as enables him to give up his own things for his sake. The principal word in this paragraph is “hate,” “hateth”; and it is evidentally intended to stand in absolute contrast with “love.” But the word has undergone such change in meaning since it was used by the Bible translators, and even in their time it so imperfectly represented the Scriptural term, that the precise meaning and thought of St. John readily escapes the reader of his epistle. “Hate” is often the equivalent of our word “despise,” or pass aside, show yourself indifferent to, count as a thing of little value. Sometimes it means scarcely more than, “put down into quite a secondary place of interest.” In something of this sense it is said of God, that He “loved Jacob, and hated Esau.” What we have in modern times imported into the word is bitter, personal feeling, and that complicates our treatment of such expressions as are found in this paragraph. “To hate” is not always to be understood rigorously. It frequently signifies no more than a lesser degree of love (Deu_21:15). If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, that means less beloved. So our Saviour says that he who would follow Him must hate father and mother—that is, he should love them less than Christ, less than his own salvation. Solomon says, “He that spareth the rod hateth his son” (Pro_13:24). Fathers often spare their children out of an excessive love to them; but this is not a proper instance of affection, to forbear correcting them; their fond affection is as pernicious to their children as other men’s hatred could be. There is also a malicious hatred of men referred to in Scripture—as in Ahab, who hated the Lord’s prophet, Micaiah (1Ki_22:8). Wicked men do, in this sense, hate the righteous (Psa_34:21). It may also be added, that there is a hatred of the sins of men (Jud_1:23), and of our own sins (Rom_7:15). Taking the milder connotation of the term “hate,” let us see if we can understand, and get the precise teaching of, this paragraph.

I. The sphere of hate that may reasonably be expected.—1Jn_3:13 : “Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you,” is indifferent to you, takes no interest in you, and even scorns you as enthusiasts. It is quite true that the world shows positive enmity to God’s people, and is, and ever has been, ready on occasions to persecute them; but we miss a point of much direct application to us, when we dwell too much on the active persecution to which Christ’s Church has at times been subjected. The indifference of the world, the scorn of the world, is constantly felt, and constantly wearing our hearts. Everywhere earnest piety is spoken against. It is the hate of the world in that sense—the society indifference which we are told should be expected, and should occasion no surprise. Our Lord impressed on His disciples that being, like Himself, “not of the world,” the world would be sure to hate them. Then this should be no occasion of anxiety to us. In entering on the regenerate life we should take account of it, and then it will not come on us as a surprise, or be in any sense a painful and trying experience. We may so satisfy ourselves with God’s approval, that we can be easily indifferent to the World’s. God’s world is kin with us; man’s world never can be.

II. The sphere of hate that is wholly unexpected, and cannot be approved.—1Jn_3:15 : “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.” This is true when applied generally to the brotherly relations of man with man—true in the same sense as the saying that “sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Push hatred out to its utmost, and it appears as murder, as is illustrated in the case of Cain. But St. John here is distinctly addressing those who have the new life in Christ, and are thus set in new and gracious relations one with another. What he says is that hate, even in its milder form as indifference, is inconceivable among the members of the Christian brotherhood. In them the great human law, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” ought to be ennobled into this, “For Christ’s sake thou shalt love thy Christian brother better than thyself, and be always going out beyond thyself in loving ministries and service to him.” Then St. John’s point may be sharply presented in this contrast, “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you; but marvel much, my brethren, if you are found hating one another, even if it be only in the mild sense of being indifferent to one another, and loving yourselves better than your brethren.”

III. The mastery of unloving thoughts concerning our brethren is gained through the service of love.—1Jn_3:16-17 : “We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this World’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?” The point is this—Do nothing for your brother, and you will find you very readily become heedless of him, indifferent to his interests, you may even come to dislike and hate him; but do something for him, tend him, spend yourself for him, give up something of your own to secure his well-being, imperil your life for him, and you will be surprised how love to him grows in your heart, how easy then it is to “love the brethren.” Activity of ministry keeps up the love, and delivers from all evil feelings. You never can hate people whom you are actively serving for Christ’s sake.

The love of the brethren is—

1. A peculiar and most appropriate kind of love:

(1) there is a general love, which we owe to every man;

(2) there is a particular love, which Christians owe to their fellow-believers.

2. Free from all dissimulation.

3. Fixed and fervent, invariable in its operations, and disinterested and fearless on all occasions. This sort of love was shown by John towards Christ, by the early Galatian converts towards Paul, and by Onesiphorus to the same apostle.—F. Gilpin.

SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES

1Jn_3:10. Love seen in Self-sacrifice.—“And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” Laying down life is the extreme expression of self-sacrifice. We may give up our time, our personal interests, our possessions, our health, in the service of others, and these are beautiful and persuasive expressions of the Christly love. But that love does not reach its perfection, its full flowering, until, in the spirit of the Lord Jesus, we are prepared to imperil, and even lay down, our lives for the saving of others. Love in self-sacrifice is seen in the home and family life. It may be that we expect it in father and mother; but where there is a fulness of family love we find it in the brothers and sisters. They will spend themselves for each other’s well-being. They will imperil life for each other’s sakes. And it should be thus in the family of God, among the regenerate sons, who have become, in the very highest sense, brothers. It is not often that the extreme demand is made. But seldom now does the service of Christ call for the laying down of life. Yet the persuasion of St. John will come home to us if we see that laying down life is the extreme limit, and that love can be shown in everything that has the spirit of sacrifice and service, which comes short of the limit. Therefore Christ set before us the extreme opposite limit, telling us that love could go into the little act of sacrifice, the little trouble and inconvenience in giving a cup of water to a disciple. The essence of a love-gift is the self-denial that is in it. And there is nothing so sweetens, so beautifies, so dignifies our various human associations as the love which can deny self, in order to serve others. That is artistically, ideally, presented to us in Mary’s bringing the alabaster box of precious ointment to pour upon the Saviour’s feet. It was a love-gift with a woman’s uttermost self-sacrifice at the heart of it. That is sublimely, divinely, presented to us, in the uttermost self-sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, as the persuasion of the “so great love” He had for us.

“For love of us He bled; for love of us He died.”

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3

1Jn_3:16. Laying down Life for the sake of Another.—Two men were working together in a mine, and having prepared to blast the rock, and laid the train, the latter became by accident ignited. In a few moments a tremendous explosion they knew was inevitable, and the rock must be rent in a thousand pieces. On perceiving their danger, they both leaped into the bucket, and called to the man on the surface to draw them up. He endeavoured to do so, but his arm was found too feeble to raise the bucket while both the men were in it. What was to be done? The burning fuse, which could not be extinguished, was now within a few feet of the powder; a moment or two, and the explosion must take place. At this awful crisis, one of the men, addressing the other, said, “You shall live, and I will die; for you are an impenitent sinner, and if you now die your soul will be lost; but if I die, I know that, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, I shall be taken to Himself.” And so saying, without waiting for a reply, he leaped out of the bucket, and prayerfully awaited the result. On the other reaching the surface, he bent over the shaft to ascertain the fate of his companion. At this moment a terrific explosion was heard; a portion of the rock was thrown up, and smote him on the forehead, leaving an indelible mark to remind him of his danger and deliverance. But the man of God, when they came to search for him, was found arched over by the fragments of broken rock in the mine, uninjured and rejoicing in the Lord. This magnanimous miner exhibited in this act an amount of disinterested love and charity which has seldom been equalled, and which is never found but in connection with the love of Christ.—R. Young.

Self-sacrifice: the Pilot of the “Rothesay.”—This vessel was wrecked in a cyclone in the Indian Ocean. The pilot, Paul Elson, collected a few volunteers, and rigged a raft. Thirteen only of the crew got on her; the rest were frantic with terror—some praying, others drunk, others raving, others lashed inextricably to the sinking vessel. Elson was the last to leave the ship; leaping overboard, he swam to the raft, cut the hawser that held her, and constituted himself by inherent right her sole officer. Within an hour the doomed vessel heeled, lurched heavily, and went down head first. All that day and all that night the raft drifted, heavy seas breaking over her. “We were up to our necks in water,” says the man who tells the tale, “for she floated low.” All that night, nevertheless, Elson, who was a powerful swimmer, swam round and round the raft, lashing her together and strengthening her as best he could. Ever and anon the furious breakers washed a man off. And then would the brave pilot who had not only the heart but the strength of a gaint, strike out towards him and carry the drowning wretch back. But at last it became apparent that the raft must be broken up, and that a second and smaller raft must be constructed to relieve the other. This, too, the pilot effected almost single-handed. The large raft floated away into the night; Elson and three other men took to the smaller; while on the other drifted away a native boy, Paul Elson’s servant, of whom hitherto, in the midst of all his terrible toil, the brave pilot had never once lost sight. “He kept near him; he tended him as a mother would tend her child; he gave him our last supply of drinkable water.” The vessel had sunk on the 29th of July; it was now the 2nd of August. The raft was drifting under a raging tropical sun; for three days there had been no food or water; worse than this, the frail support itself began to break up, and swimming about in a heavy surf, Paul Elson became much exhausted. The end of course could not now be far off. First one of the men was washed away, and then another, until Elson himself and the Scotchman who tells the story were the sole survivors. “ ‘Pilot,’ said I”—so the narrative runs—“ ‘we must fight it through!’ ‘Oh, Fraser!’ answered he, ‘I can’t hold out any longer.’ … Then a heavy sea broke upon us, and knocked him off. I found it impossible to hang on, and was forced to let him go.” And so the story ends. The body of Pilot Elson, worn out by his incessant labours, floats away into the great deep, there to lie till the sea shall give up its dead.—Daily Telegraph.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Jn 3:13. Ἀδελφοί μου, my brethren) In this one passage only he calls them brethren, in antithesis to the world without, and in his repeated mention of the brethren. At other times he says, beloved, my dear children, ch. 1Jn 2:7, 1Jn 3:12.—μισεῖ, has in hatred) as Cain hated even his brother, [viz. with a murderous hatred: for its bad works are reproved by your righteous works.—V. g.]

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

1Jn_3:13. If Cain is the type of the world, it is not to be wondered at that the children of God are hated by it; accordingly the apostle says: μὴ θαυμάζετε κ.τ.λ.; comp. 1Jn_3:1; not exactly to comfort his readers about it, but rather to bring out the antithesis clearly; Neander: it must not surprise Christians if they are hated by the world; this is to them the stamp of the divine life, in the possession of which they form the contrast to the world.

The particle εἰ expresses here neither a doubt nor even merely possibility; for that the world hates the children of God is not merely possible, but in the nature of the case necessary; it is only the form of the sentence, and not the thought of it, that is hypothetical;[223] comp. Joh_15:18, also Mar_15:44.

[223] Ebrard explains εἰ incorrectly: whenever the case occurs, for the hatred which is here spoken of is not a frequently occurring case, but a necessary relationship. Braune unintelligibly says: by εἰ John signifies that his readers as a whole or as individuals have after all at present no hatred to endure.

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.

1Jn 3:13-24 . The Secret of Assurance. “Wonder not, brethren, if the world hateth you. We know that we have migrated out of the domain of death into the domain of life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in the domain of death. Everyone that hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that every murderer hath not life eternal abiding in him. Herein have we got to know love, because He laid down His life for us; and we are bound to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whosoever hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and locketh up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word nor with the tongue, but in deed and truth. Herein shall we get to know that we are of the Truth, and in His presence shall assure our heart, whereinsoever our heart may condemn us, because greater is God than our heart, and He readeth everything. Beloved, if the heart condemn not, we have boldness toward God, and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we observe His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, that we believe the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, even as He gave a commandment to us. And he that observeth His commandments in Him abideth and He in him; and herein we get to know that He abideth in us from the Spirit which He gave us.”

1Jn 3:13 . It is natural that the world (see notes on 1Jn 2:15 , 1Jn 3:1 ) should hate those whose lives contradict its maxims and condemn its practices. St. John frequently addresses his readers as τεκνία and ἀγαπητοί , here only as ἀδελφοί . The term suits the context, where he enforces love of the brethren. It is no wonder if the world hate us, and its judgment is not decisive. Nevertheless our business is not to be hated by the world, but to commend Jesus to it and win it. We must not impute to the world’s hostility to goodness the consequences of our own unamiability or tactlessness. “It is not martyrdom to pay bills that one has run into one’s self” (Geo. Eliot).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Marvel not--The marvel would be if the world loved you.

the world--of whom Cain is the representative (Jo1 3:12).

hate you--as Cain hated even his own brother, and that to the extent of murdering him. The world feels its bad works tacitly reproved by your good works.

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

Verse 13. Marvel not - if the world hate you.] Expect no better treatment from unconverted Jews and Gentiles than Abel received from his wicked and cruel brother. This was a lesson to the Church, preparatory to martyrdom. Expect neither justice nor mercy from the men who are enemies of God. They are either full of malice and envy, hateful, hating one another, or they are specious, hollow, false, and deceitful.

"A foe to GOD was ne'er true friend to MAN."

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

13–24. Love and Hate: Life and Death

Marvel not, my brethren] Comp. Joh_5:28; Joh_3:7. The antagonism between the light and the darkness, between God and the evil one, between righteousness and unrighteousness, has never ceased from the time of the first sin (1Jn_3:8) and of the first murder (1Jn_3:12). The moral descendants of Cain and of Abel are still in the world, and the wicked still hate the righteous. Therefore Christians need not be perplexed, if the world (as it does) hates them.

Both in Jewish (Philo, De sacr. Abelis et Caini) and in early Christian (Clem. Hom. III. xxv., xxvi) literature Abel is taken as the prototype of the good and Cain as the prototype of the wicked. For the wild sect of the Cainites, who took exactly the opposite view, see Appendix C. It is possible that some germs of this monstrous heresy are aimed at in 1Jn_3:12.

brethren] This form of address, which occurs nowhere else in the Epistle (not genuine in 1Jn_2:7), is in harmony with the subject of brotherly love.

if the world hate you] Better, as R. V., if the world hateth you: in the Greek we have the indicative, not the subjunctive or optative. The fact is stated gently, but not doubtfully. The verse is another echo of Christ’s last discourses as recorded in the Gospel: ‘If the world hateth you (same construction as here), ye know that it hath hated Me before it hated you’ (Joh_15:18). Comp. Mar_15:44.

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.

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. By "the world" is meant the inhabitants of the world, the wicked part of them; these hate the saints, though without a cause, any just cause, and for no other reason, but because they are chosen and called out of the world, and do not live the wicked life they do: and this hatred of theirs is not at all to be wondered at; so it was from the beginning, and has been in all ages since; immediately upon the fall there was enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, which showed itself in Cain, the instance just given, who hated and murdered his righteous brother; Ishmael, that was born after the flesh, persecuted Isaac, that was born after the Spirit; and as it was then, it is now, the Jews persecuted the prophets of old, and hated Christ and his apostles. This is the common lot of all the saints, of all that will live godly in Christ Jesus; and therefore it should not be reckoned a strange and unusual thing; it always was so, even from the beginning, as soon as ever there were two sorts of persons, good and bad, righteous and wicked. This is a corollary or conclusion drawn from the above instance of Cain.

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. By "the world" is meant the inhabitants of the world, the wicked part of them; these hate the saints, though without a cause, any just cause, and for no other reason, but because they are chosen and called out of the world, and do not live the wicked life they do: and this hatred of theirs is not at all to be wondered at; so it was from the beginning, and has been in all ages since; immediately upon the fall there was enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, which showed itself in Cain, the instance just given, who hated and murdered his righteous brother; Ishmael, that was born after the flesh, persecuted Isaac, that was born after the Spirit; and as it was then, it is now, the Jews persecuted the prophets of old, and hated Christ and his apostles. This is the common lot of all the saints, of all that will live godly in Christ Jesus; and therefore it should not be reckoned a strange and unusual thing; it always was so, even from the beginning, as soon as ever there were two sorts of persons, good and bad, righteous and wicked. This is a corollary or conclusion drawn from the above instance of Cain.

1 John 3:14

jo1 3:14

jo1 3:14

jo1 3:14We know that we have passed from death to life,.... From a death in sin, a moral or spiritual death; which lies in a separation from God, Father, Son, and Spirit; in an alienation from the life of God; in a loss of the image of God, of righteousness, holiness, and knowledge, in which man was created; in a privation of all true sense of sin, and in a servitude to it, which is unto death, and is no other than death: and from a legal death, or death in a legal sense, under the sentence of which all men are, as considered in Adam; and which God's elect are sensible of, when convinced by the Spirit of God, and are in their own apprehension as dead men. Now in regeneration, which is a quickening of sinners dead in sin, a resurrection of them from the dead, the people of God pass from this death of sin, and the law, to a life of sanctification, having principles of grace and life implanted in them; and to a life of justification, and of faith on Christ, as the Lord their righteousness; and to a life of communion with Christ; and to such a life as is to the glory of Christ; and to a right to eternal life. And this passing from the one to the other is not of themselves, it is not their own act; no man can quicken himself, or raise himself from the dead; in this men are passive: and so the words are rendered in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, "we know that we are translated"; that is, by God the Father, who delivers from the power of darkness, and death, and translates into the kingdom of his dear Son, which is a state of light and life; or by Christ, who is the resurrection and the life, who is the author of the resurrection from the death of sin to a life of grace; or by the Spirit of life from Christ, by whom souls are quickened, and of whom they are born again: and this passage from death to life, or regeneration, is a thing that may be, and is known by the regenerate man; who, as he knows surely, that whereas he was blind he now sees, so that whereas he was dead in sin, he is now alive; and among other things it may be known by this,

because we love the brethren: this is not the cause of passing from death to life, but the effect of it, and so an evidence of it, or that by which it is known; brotherly love being what the saints are taught of God in regeneration, and is a fruit of the Spirit of God, and is what true faith works by, and is what shows itself as soon as anything in a regenerate man; nor can anyone love the saints, as such, as brethren in Christ, unless he is born again; a man may indeed love a saint, as a natural relative, as a good neighbour, and because he has done him some good offices, and because of some excellent qualities in him, as a man of learning, sense, candour, civility, &c. though he has not the grace of God; but to love him as a child of God, a member of Christ, and because he has his image stamped on him, no man can do this, unless he has received the grace of God; so that this is a certain evidence of it:

he that loveth not his brother, abideth in death; in the death of sin, in a state of nature and unregeneracy; under the sentence of condemnation and death; and he is liable to eternal death, which is the wages of sin, under the power of which such a manifestly is. This is said to deter from hatred, as also what follows.

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

13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

Ver. 13. Marvel not, my brethren] Since it was so from the beginning, and the very first man that died, died for religion; so early came martyrdom into the world.

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.

Marvel not - Do not think it so unusual, or so little to be expected, as to excite astonishment.

If the world hate you - The emphasis here is to be placed on the word “you.” The apostle had just adverted to the fact that Cain hated Abel, his brother, without cause, and he says that they were not to deem it strange if the world hated them in like manner. The Saviour Joh 15:17-18 introduced these subjects in the same connection. In enjoining the duty of brotherly love on his disciples, he adverts to the fact that they must expect to be hated by the world, and tells them to remember that the world hated him before it hated them. The object of all this was to show more clearly the necessity of strong and tender mutual affection among Christians, since they could hope for none from the world. See the notes at Joh 15:18-19.

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

This being so devilish a quality, and the world so generally under his power, as the god of it, 2Co 4:4, it is not to be thought strange, that good men should be the marks and designed objects of the world’s hatred.

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

13. Hate you—It is nothing but the old antagonism of Cain and Abel. You stands as the parallel of Abel; the world as the parallel of Cain.

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

Vers. 13-24. Hate and death contrasted with love and life (verses 1315); generous love, which has its pattern in the self-sacrifice of Christ (verses 16, 17); sincere love, which is the ground of our boldness toward God, who has commanded us to love (verses 18-24).

Human nature is the same as of old. There is still a Cain, the world, hating its Abel, the Church. Therefore marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you. Here only does St. John use the address, "brethren," which is appropriate to the subject of brotherly love. Elsewhere his readers are "children" or "beloved." The "if" (eij with indicative) expresses no doubt as to the fact, but states it gently and conditionally.

Vers. 13-15.

The world"s hatred of Christians.

Connecting link: In setting forth the broad contrast between sin and righteousness, the apostle had taken occasion to refer to Cain as the earliest illustration of the wide gulf between the two. The violent contrast between him and his brother generated as violent an antipathy on his part towards him. And even now the contrast between sin and righteousness is just as wide as ever. From the very nature of the case they are an immeasurable distance asunder; so that it is not to be wondered at if a sinful world chafes under the silent and effective rebuke administered to it by the lives of holy men, and if in consequence thereof hatred is felt by men of the world towards the living Church of God. For our part, says the apostle, we know it is so, because we used to cherish it ourselves; and if now we love the brethren, it is because we have undergone so great a change that it is no less than passing from death unto life. And even though that hatred which we once felt may never have broken out into a murderous act, yet that hatred itself is the very germ out of which such an act would develop itself; and hence, in the eye of God, he that hateth his brother is a murderer; and you know, certainly and absolutely, that no man, desiring to kill his brother, has an eternal life abiding in him. The whole passage reminds us of Joh_15:13-21, with which it should be compared. TopicThe world"s hatred of Christians no surprising fact.

I LET US LOOK AT THE CASE HERE SUPPOSED. "If the world hate you." Close analysis will yield us several distinct facts here.

1. There is a society of brethren in Christ. "You." There is evidently afellowship of believers in Jesus, who, having passed from death unto life, naturally magnetized each other, and came together by the mutual attraction of the spiritual life they shared in common.

2. There is an outside world, composed of those who are of the earth,earthy, out of which these believers have been drawn, and from which they have become separated. While "the brethren" are among the living, the outer "world" is still among the dead.

3. Those who had been gathered out of the world devoted themselves totestifying against its sin, and to the manifestation of another and a purer life.

4. This double condemnation of the world"s sin that of witness-bearingon behalf of One who came to take it away, and that of the silent condemnation of a holy life roused the hostility of the world. (cf Joh_16:1, 2 15:18-25)

II LET US INQUIRE IF THE CASE HERE SUPPOSED HAS ANY PRESENT-DAY PARALLEL. Does "the world" really hate Christians now? Is not the time past and gone for anything of the kind? Certainly there is a very great difference, on the surface at any rate, between "the world" as we know it and as the Apostle John knew it. And as certainly there is a vast difference between the Church life of our days and that of his. It is well, therefore, that we should set distinctly and clearly before us the thing as it exists under our own eye. How are we to apportion the two apparently contradictory propositions

(1) the world is now a great deal nearer to the Church than it was then; and

(2) righteousness and unrighteousness are not a whit nearer each other now than they were then? Will not the following considerations, cumulatively weighed, set the matter in its true light?

1. There are some professors, and possibly some Churches, that there is nolikelihood of the world"s ever hating, since, though baptized into the Christian name, they are entirely worldly in spirit they have but a name to live. They will never convert, nor startle, nor disturb the world. They will be deemed "highly respectable" and "inoffensive." They will never be hated.

2. A true Christian even, and a true Church, may be so lacking inoutspoken testimony for God"s truth, and in aggressive attacks on the world"s sin, that they arouse no hostility whatever. And in such a case they will be allowed to pursue their course in peace.

3. Further, it is certainly the case that, with the advance of civilization, theold element of a personal hatred is very largely modified; to persecute any man for his religious faith, or for a holy Christian life, would not be tolerated now m any social circle where there is clue regard for the laws of mutual courtesy.

1. Consequently, whatever dislike there may be in the world to thedoctrines of the gospel, it will now show itself less towards men than towards systems. And when we come to this point, it is abundantly clear that hatred, and a virulent hatred, too, exists on the part of the world

2. towards the doctrines maintained in the Church. The dislike will vary in detail according to the standpoint of the individual. The worldling will hate the demands for a life consecrated to Christ. The formalist will hate what he calls "Puritanism." The easy-going man will hate the call to strive to enter in at the strait gate. The rationalist will hate the doctrine of the atonement. The man of "broad thought" will hate the exclusive claims of the Saviour. The scientist will hate the suggestion that an Infinite Will rules all. The philosopher will scorn the doctrine of the Incarnation. The positivist will refuse to rise to the hyper-phenomenal. The agnostic will prefer his ignorance, because he hates to receive the kingdom of God as a little child. The free-thinker will hate to subject his thinking to the supreme laws of righteousness. In all these ways men "hate the doctrine of the cross.

3. Nevertheless, though the hatred ordinarily is more towards systems thanmen, yet, let any man move out of the common, methods, of easy-going Christianity and set forth on a crusade for some Christian doctrine or against some antichristian heresy; let him expose and condemn men"s favourite sins, and no one among men will be hated more intensely than he! Illustrations are ready to hand in abundance. Revivalists: dead Churches and dead ministers intensely hate living ones. Temperance reformers, etc. Those who expose the crying sins of covetousness, landlordism, land monopoly, etc. In a word, let but a man aim at bringing gospel doctrine to bear on needed social reform in every direction, the old-world greed will assert itself, and Faithful will have all the showmen in Vanity Fair wishing he were dead!

4. So that, practically, the whole matter may be summed up thus: Theworld, even if more refined in manner (as it most certainly is) than it was in John"s time, yet is as self-willed, as selfish, as indisposed to the yoke of Christ as ever. If we are faithful in bearing testimony for God, we shall meet with our share of hatred. If we were more faithful, we should have the more hatred to endure. True, we have a large number of Christ"s followers to speed us on, and so may present a larger front to the enemy; consequently, the hatred will be less felt by the individual so many will share it with him. And it follows that, unless we make the world wince and writhe under our rebuke of its faithlessness towards God and its wrongs towards man, we are not truly representing him whose we are and whom we are pledged to serve.

Vers. 13-24.

The sign of brotherly love.

I LOVE TO BE TRACED TO A SAVING CHANGE.

1. Not to be expected in the world. "Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you." Cain hated Abel; after the same fashion the world hates Christ"s people. Our Lord, whom John here echoes, points to the fact of his being hated before his people, and then adds, "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Abel"s tragic end was conclusive evidence that he was not to be classed with Cain; so when the world hates us, there is this consolation, that we have evidence of not being classed with the world.

1. Its presence the sign of a saving change. "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren." Here again John echoes our Lord, who describes the saving change in the same language. (Joh_5:24) The passage out of death into life is to be interpreted in accordance with being begotten of God and having his seed in us. It is not simply justification a passage out of a state of condemnation into a state of acceptance. It is rather regeneration a passage out of a dead, abnormal state of our thoughts, desires, volitions, into their living, normal state. This is a passage which must take place in the spiritual history of every one of us who would come forth into the light of God"s countenance. It is not effected without Divine help, which is offered in the gospel. To every one to whom the gospel offer is made there is granted the assistance of the Spirit, that he may lay hold on Christ as his Saviour. With Christ there is a new principle introduced into our life, which now needs full manifestation for our perfect health and happiness. It is a matter, then, of the very greatest importance for us to know that we have made the passage out of death into life. We are not to take this for granted,

2. but to be guided by evidence. The test given by our Lord is hearing his Word, and believing him that sent him. John"s interpretation of this is loving the brethren. We are to love those who are animated with the same Christian sentiment, not in the same way those who are animated with worldly sentiment. If we have the right feeling within the Christian circle, loving all who love Christ, then we may conclude that a saving change has taken place in us.

3. Its absence the sign of continuance in an unsaved state. "He that loveth not abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." The apostle singles out him who is not under the influence of love (without any specification of object), and says of him, that he abideth in death, i.e., has not made the passage remains where he was. In confirming this, he assumes that want of love is equivalent to hatred of a brother. It is only where love is active that hatred is effectually excluded. "Whosoever hateth his brother there seems to be a limitation to the Christian circle is a murderer." He has the feeling of the murderer, in so far as he is not sorry to see the happiness of his brother diminished. If he is a murderer to any extent, then according to the old law his life is forfeited. It cannot be said of him, as it can be said of him that loves, that he has eternal life abiding in him. His true life, that which has eternal elements in it, has not yet commenced.

II LOVE IN ITS MANIFESTATION.

1. Love in its highest manifestation. "Hereby know we love, because he that One laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." The apostle has laid down love as the sign of a saving change; how are we to know what love is? He does not give any philosophical definition of it; he reaches his end better by pointing to its highest manifestation, viz. that One laying down his life for us. "I have power to lay it down," he said, "and I have power to take it again;" but he elected to lay it down. It was laying down that which was dearest to him, that which cost him an infinite pang to lay down. There was not a little truth in what Satan said, "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life." It was only love that could overcome the greatest natural aversion to dying a love stronger than death, a love burning with a flame that waters and floods could not quench. It was love going out toward us, that sought to be of infinite service to us. He did not grudge his life, that we might have life the pardon of our sins, and the quickening of his Spirit through our whole nature. To point to this is better than to give any definition of love it is love meeting a great necessity, solving the problem of sin, triumphing over the greatest difficulty that could arise under the moral government of God. There was rebellion against the Divine authority: how was it triumphed over? Not by a resort to force, which would have been easy, but by drawing upon the resources of love, even by that which was fitted to excite the astonishment of the universe the Son of God becoming incarnate, and laying down his precious life, that the guilt of rebellion and all its evil consequences might be removed. So John needs not to give any definition of love in abstract terms; he needs only to say, "Hereby know we love." This is its absolute realization a realization from which we are to derive instruction and inspiration. For what does it say to us? John puts it thus, "And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." As he represents those who hate as murderers, so he represents those who love as martyrs. If we take "laying down our lives" as actual martyrdom, then there is not an obligation to this raider all circumstances. In the early times Christians had often to face martyrdom it was a matter of obligation to them from which they could not freethemselves, from which they sought not to free themselves, because they were under the spell of Christ"s sacrifice for them. It is to the honour of our Christianity that they went forth even joyfully to meet death in whatever form it came to them. If opportunity offered, it would be our duty to do the same. But observe the spirit of our great exemplification of love. It was not self-immolation for its own sake, but rather self-immolation for the sake of being of service to us. He who, like Lacordaire, has himself bound to a literal cross is doing a bold thing, but a mistaken thing, for the reason that there is no proper connection between his act and service done. Carried out, it would turn Christianity into a religion of suicide. What keeps us right, while still preserving the spell of Christ"s sacrifice, is that we allow our love to go as far in sacrifice as our doing service to others requires.

1. An ordinary failure in love. "But whoso hath the world"s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?" It is very exceptional where our duty is to lay down our lives for the brethren; it is generally a much simpler matter. Here is a Christian who has the means of living for this world beyond what he absolutely requires. He is not rich, let us say, but is in good health, and employed, and has an ordinary living. Here, on the other hand, is a brother in need, who is in bad health, or is unemployed, or is incapacitated by age for work. "The poor ye have always with you." What, then, is the duty of a Christian to a needy brother? Is he not guided to it

2. even by his natural feelings? As he beholds his brother in need, his heart opens in compassion toward him; and he goes and lays down for him, not his life in this case, but a little out of his worldly store, which goes to lighten the burden of his brother"s poverty. That is the Christian part. But let us suppose the converse. Here is one who professes to be a Christian. Nature does not refuse him assistance. The spectacle of a brother"s poverty opens his heart in compassion. But he selfishly shuts it goes away, and finds prudential reasons for not making the little sacrifice that his feelings unchecked would lead him to make: have we not grounds, in this case, for doubting his Christianity? Of one who goes and lays down of his living for a needy brother we can think that he has the love of God abiding in him. Even in that little sacrifice he is acting in the same line in which God acted in making infinite sacrifice. But of one who cannot lay down, not his life, which is the highest test, but a little of his living, which is a very low test, what are we to think? What has he in common with that God whom he professes to love, of whose love the cross of Christ is the expression?

3. The requisite of reality in love. "My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth." With all affectionateness he would have them to attend to this lesson, calling them his little children, and including himself in what he inculcates. Love may very properly find expression in word. "Kind messages have a grand part to discharge in the system of utterances and acts by which the reign of love is maintained and advanced in so hard a world. As soon as we have passed beyond the limits of school into the real world, we find that it is sweet to be remembered with regard by friends at a distance to learn that you have not faded out of their memory, like unfixed photographs in the sunshine; that you are sufficiently a distinct object of regard to be found worthy of a direct and affectionate salutation." It is very proper also to use the tongue in conveying love. The kindly feeling must be in the heart; but let the kindly expression also be on the tongue. There is nothing more beautiful in the picture of the virtuous woman drawn by King Lemuel than this touch: "In her tongue is the law of kindness." Let not the tongue be used as the vehicle of disagreeableness, of rancour; let love teach us how to use it. Kindliness of tone, especially when accompanied with the fitting word, does much to take away the hardness of life and the oppressive sense of isolation. But, when proper occasion arises, let us also love in deed. Withhold not from a needy brother when thou canst relieve him. Perform the act to which the kindly feeling prompts. Then only can we love in truth. Love that stops short of doing, that does not go beyond fine phrases, is characterized by unreality. To be true, it must penetrate into what is practical, however unromantic.

III LOVE IN ITS BENEFICIAL RESULT.

1. Assurance. "Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before him." The link of connection is truth as the sphere in which love moves. Let us go on loving, and we shall know that we are of the truth; i.e., have hold of eternal reality, so as to be steadied by it and wholly charactered by it. Knowing that we are of the truth, we shall assure our heart before him. It is of the utmost importance that we should have our heart assured as to our state and destiny. This can only be "before him;" for it is with him that we have to do to whom we stand or fall. Does our heart tell us that we stand in a right relationship to him? We may have experience of sin, as we have already been taught, and yet stand in a right relationship to him. God"s people are those who are being gradually cleansed from sin in the blood of Christ and in connection with confession of sins. Their titles, then, are not affected by remains of sin, if there is a new life operating in them, showing itself especially in the activity of brotherly love. The following course of thought cannot be ascertained with certainty. The difficulty is caused by the introduction of "for" before "God is greater." For its omission there is one very good authority of the fifth century; but the weight of authority is for its introduction. If we take the more authoritative reading, we have not a clear sense; on the other hand, if we take the less authoritative reading, we have a clear and excellent sense. It seems to be a case (very rare, indeed) in which the authority of manuscripts must yield to the authority of consistent thought. The way of getting over the difficulty in the Revised Version is far from satisfactory. It seems to teach that, if we only love, then, whereinsoever our heart condemn us, we may pacify it by the thought that God is greater than our hearts, especially in his omniscience which is a latitudinarian sentiment. In the old version there is a distinction drawn between the case of our heart condemning us and the case of our heart not condemning us.

(1) Misery of a heart that condemns. "Whereinsoever our heart condemn us; because "For if our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

Having started the thought of assurance, John emphasizes it by putting forward the calamitousness of its opposite. If our heart condemn us, i.e., if, from the presence of unloving feelings and from other evidences, we do not have good ground for thinking that we have yet come into a covenant relationship to God, then our case is bad. We have not only self-condemnation conscience turned against ourselves but we have something worse. God is greater than our heart in this sense, that he has made it with its power of judgment upon ourselves. Conscience is only his legate; we must think of the great God himself pronouncing judgment upon us, and his judgment is more efficient than ours. We have but a limited knowledge even of ourselves. If with that limited knowledge our judgment is condemnatory, what must the judgment of God be? He has more to proceed upon; for he knoweth all things things that have faded from our mind, things in the depths of our heart beyond our own power of clear discernment. This clear condemnation of ourselves, involving the weightier and more terrible condemnation of God, is not to be taken as equivalent to want of assurance, which only goes thus far that the evidences do not warrant a clear judgment in our favour. This want of assurance, which not a few Christians have, is a painful state, which should stimulate to a laying firm hold upon Christ, in whom all our interests are secured.

(2) Bliss of a heart that does not condemn. "Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God." In view of his now stating their case and his own case, he calls them "beloved." We look into our hearts, and, with an honest desire to know the truth, we cannot come to the conclusion that we stand in an uncovenanted relationship to God. With the traces that there are of sin, there would seem to be also traces of a work of grace going on in the heart. This may not amount to full assurance; but, in so far as it is present, we do not need to look up to God with fear. We are conscious of having the justifying judgment of God, of being children of God; and we can look up with holy boldness to our Father.

1. Privilege of being heard. "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do the things that are pleasing in his sight." One form which our boldness takes is asking. We are full of wants; and it is natural for us, in the consciousness of our sonship, to express our wants to our Father. We go upon the ground of our covenant relationship in pleading. "Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee." "Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee?" We ask not always with the full knowledge of what we really need, but with the reservation that respect may be had by God to our real need. And whatsoever we thus ask, we receive of him. He constantly blesses us out of his boundless stores. There is a ladder of communication between us and heaven, upon which the angels of God ascend and descend. We are heard, not apart from

2. obedience. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." We must be conscious of an honest intention to bring our life into agreement with our prayers. It is only when we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight, that we have that boldness in asking which God rewards. Added explanation. "And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the Name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he gave us commandment." He would leave no doubt as to what he means. The commandment is one in two parts. The first part of the commandment is that we believe in the Name of his Son Jesus Christ. This may be said to be his full Name. He was the historical Jesus, who stood in an essential relationship to God as his Son, and was sent forth to do his saving work. That is the blessed import of the Name here given to our Lord. His nature has thus been declared; and what we are commanded to do is to trust in the Name. We are, as sinners, to trust in the Name of him who has gloriously wrought out salvation for us. And what a Name to trust in! Not the name of one who can love a little, and can have no saving merit to transfer; but the Name of him who manifested the infinite desire of God for our salvation, and, in labour and in hiding of the Father"s face, acquired infinite merit for transference to us. The second part of the commandment follows on the first. It is loving one another, and the manner is added (as commanded by Christ) which is loving one another as he has loved us. (Joh_15:12) He in whom we trust commands in accordance with his own nature, commands in accordance with his own example. We cannot trust in him and not love; and thus there is virtually one commandment.

3. Privilege of communion. "And he that keepeth his commandments abideth in him, and he in him." The apostle here recurs to the key-note of the Epistle. When, trusting in Christ, we love one another, we keep the way clear for communion with God. Transition to a new section. "And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he gave us." The pledge of communion is possession of the Spirit, which is unfolded in the following paragraph. R.F.

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

Marvel not if the world hate you - For the same cause.

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

world

kosmos = world-system. 1Jn 4:3-5; Joh 7:7. (See Scofield "Rev 13:8").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

True brotherly love:

v. 13. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

v. 14. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

v. 15. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

v. 16. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

v. 17. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

v. 18. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

The apostle, first of all, makes a general application of the thought which was included in the last sentence: And do not wonder, brethren, if the world hates you. What the righteous Abel experienced in the first days of the world’s history is the lot of all the righteous since his time. So it must not be a matter of surprise to us if we incur the hatred and must bear the enmity of the children of the world. Joh 15:18-19; Joh 17:14; Mat 10:16. Although the Christians are offering to the unbelievers the most wonderful blessings which were ever brought to this earth, although their one aim is to do good to all men, yet the unregenerate persistently resent the refusal of the Christians to join them in their transgressions. But this is not to be marveled at, because we are dealing with the world, with the children of unbelief, with such as willingly become identified with the trespass of Cain. Because the unbelievers prefer their life of sin and unbelief, which will finally land them in everlasting destruction, they cannot but hate the Christians.

The contrast, therefore, will remain: On our part, we know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren; he that does not love his brother remains in death. The distinction between unbelievers and believers, between world and Church, is clear and will remain till the end of time. So far as we are concerned, we have the knowledge, we are sure, that we have left our former state of spiritual death and have passed over to the true life in and with God. Our hearts that were formerly dead in sins are now turned to God in faith and love. We know that we have forgiveness of sins, and thus we have the willingness and the power to do that which pleases God. It was not a case of our choosing to embrace the truth, but of God’s choosing us and drawing us to Himself in the fullness of His mercy and grace. Of this we have evidence in the fact that we love the brethren. If we had not been converted through the power of God, it would be impossible for us to love the brethren. Noun-regenerated person is able to feel and to give evidence of real, genuine love. But the absence of this love is a sure sign that such a person is still lying in the death of sins. Moreover, he will remain in this spiritual death as long as he continues in his uncharitable attitude. In a case of this kind all external worship, all pretense at prayer, all churchgoing, all conversing of God and things divine, will avail nothing whatever: he that has no true love and gives no evidence of true love will remain in death until the Spirit of God works spiritual life in him.

The apostle repeats the same truth from the positive side: Every one that hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. In the phraseology of St. John, "not to love" and "to hate" are evidently synonyms; there is no neutral ground. That is the condition of natural man after the Fall: he has no true love for his neighbor in his heart, but only hatred, since being indifferent in the sight of God is identical with hating. Natural man is selfish and loves only himself. And therefore he is, in the judgment of God, a murderer, a homicide; for God judges the disposition of the heart. This is one of the strongest passages in Scriptures to throw the responsibility, also for sins of desire, of the heart, on the sinner. And all such men, all that are guilty of hatred, of the lack of proper love for their brother, have not the eternal life, that spiritual life which is begun in conversion and lasts beyond the grave, abiding in them. They belong in the kingdom of the devil, the murderer from the beginning. That is the terrible, the fearful lot of those that do not love their brethren. What an earnest warning to Christians not to let the love for their brethren leave their hearts, since the new spiritual life cannot remain in their hearts under such circumstances!

The apostle now gives a description and example of genuine brotherly love: In this have we known love, that He has laid down His life for us; and we should lay down our lives for the brethren. This is the one perfect example and type of love for all times. We Christians have realized and know what love is and means, wherein true love consists, how it expresses itself, in the example of Christ. For He, out of free love and merciful favor, laid down His life for us; He suffered the death which we had earned by our sins. His own holy life He laid down as the ransom, as the price, thus giving up the greatest, the most precious of earth’s gifts in order to deliver us. As one that was cursed of God, as a criminal in the sight of men He gave up His life. This example of love, than which there can be none more perfect, we Christians have before our eyes always. It teaches us the great lesson and obligation to love our brethren to such a degree as also to be willing to lay down our lives for them, if it will be for their benefit, to their advantage. Naturally this greatest sacrifice includes all the smaller services which we are called upon to perform for the brethren, the Christians ever forgetting, denying themselves in order to help and be of service to others.

Diametrically opposed to such unselfishness is the conduct which the apostle describes: But whoever has a living in this world and sees his brother have need and shuts up his mercies from him, how does the love of God remain in him? If we are under obligations to give up the highest and most precious gift of life for the sake of our brother, the smaller sacrifices, the minor evidences of love, will certainly offer no difficulties. If a person has a comfortable living in this world, if he possesses enough of this world’s goods for his own support and that of his family, those dependent upon him, he should really have incentive enough to share willingly with those in need. If such a one, however, sees his brother, his neighbor, in want, lacking the actual necessities of life, if he becomes a witness of his sorry plight, and yet closes up his heart before him, turns from him in the hardness of his heart, surely the conclusion is justified that he has lost the love and the faith which he might have possessed at one time. In such a case the Lord will also turn from him, will withdraw His love from the heartless wretch, since the love which the Lord demanded of him is no longer in evidence in his conduct and life. He has fallen back into spiritual death.

St. John, therefore, admonishes: Little children, let us not love with word or with the tongue, but in deed and in truth. Talk is cheap, as St. James shows, chap. 2:15-16, but it does not provide warm clothing or nourishing food. The mere expression of good will, unless backed up by real deeds, by acts which will provide the assistance for which the need is shown to exist, is worthless, a hollow sound. In some cases, indeed, it may be forgetfulness on the part of the Christians when they fail to provide for needs which are shown to exist, but in others there is danger of damnable hypocrisy, that covetousness and love of money hinder the professed Christian from showing concrete proof of the brotherly love of which he should give evidence. This admonition is certainly timely in these latter days of the dying out of true love, Mat 24:12.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13–18. We know that we have passed from death unto life, etc. If our hearts are filled with brotherly love this shows that we are God's children; and the opposite is also true.

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.

my brothers

"my fellow believers." John's readers were both male and female.

if the world hates you

Here the word "world" refers to the people who do not honor God. AT: "if those who do not honor God hate you who do honor God" (See: Metonymy)

we have passed out of death into life

The conditions of living and of being dead are spoken of as if they were physical locations from which a person could leave and go to. The abstract nouns "life" and "death" can be translated with verbal phrases. AT: "we are no longer spiritually dead but are spiritually alive" (See: Metaphor and Abstract Nouns)

life

The word "life" throughout this letter refers to more than physical life. It stands here for Jesus, the eternal life. See how you translated this in 1 John 1:1-2. (See: Metonymy)

remains in death

"is still spiritually dead"

Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer

John speaks of a person who hates another believer as if he were a murderer. Since people commit murder because they hate other people, God considers anyone who hates to be as guilty as someone who kills a person. AT: "Whoever hates another believer is as guilty as someone who kills a person" (See: Metaphor)

no murderer has eternal life residing in him

"Eternal life" is something God gives believers after they die, but it is also the power God gives believers in this life to help them to stop sinning and to do what please him. Here eternal life is spoken of as if it were a person that could live in someone. AT: "a murderer does not have the power of spiritual life" (See: Personification)

translationWords

amazed

brother

world

die

life

eternity

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

13–24. LOVE AND HATE: LIFE AND DEATH

μὴ θαυμάζετε. Comp. Joh 5:28, and contrast 1Jn 3:7. The antagonism between the light and the darkness, between God and the evil one, between righteousness and unrighteousness, has never ceased from the time of the first sin (1Jn 3:8) and of the first murder (1Jn 3:12). The moral descendants of Cain and of Abel are still in the world, and the wicked still hate the righteous. Therefore Christians need not be perplexed, if the world (as it does) hates them.

Both in Jewish (Philo, De sacr. Abelis et Caini) and in early Christian (Clem. Hom. III. XXV., xxvi.) literature Abel is taken as the prototype of the good and Cain as the prototype of the wicked. For the wild sect of the Cainites, who took exactly the opposite view, see Appendix C. It is possible that some germs of this monstrous heresy are aimed at in 1Jn 3:12.

ἀδελφοί. The form of address is in harmony with the subject of brotherly love. It occurs nowhere else in the Epistle. In 1Jn 2:7 ἀδελφοί is a false reading. εἰ μισεῖ ὑμᾶς ὁ κ. As R.V., if the world hateth you: the fact is stated gently, but without uncertainty. The construction θαυμάζειν εἰ is the more common in Attic. The hypothetical εἰ is gentler and more considerate than the blunt matter-of-fact ὅτι. Both constructions occur in N.T.: with εἰ Mar 15:44; with ὅτι Luk 11:38; Joh 3:7; Gal 1:6. In Gal 1:6 the bluntness is quite in keeping with the passage. This verse is another echo of Christ’s last discourses as recorded in the Gospel: εἰ ὁ κόσμος ὑμᾶς μισεῖ (pres. indicative with εἰ, as here), γινώσκετε ὅτι ἐμὲ πρῶτον ὑμῶν μεμίσηκεν. Comp. μεγέθους ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστιανισμός, ὅταν μισῆται ὑπὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ κόσμου (Ign. Rom. III.).

13. After ἀδελφοί omit μου with [617][618][619][620] against [621][622].

[617] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles.

[618] 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.

[619] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles.

[620] 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.

[621] 9th century. All three Epistles.

[622] 9th century. All three Epistles.

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.

13.] See summary above: example of the first instance of the world’s hate, by way of contrast.

13.] The connexion with verse 12 is close: the world (= the children of the devil) began so, and will ever go on as it began. Marvel not, brethren, if (no doubt is expressed by this εἰ. The hypothesis is set forth as actually fulfilled. See on this (originally Attic) use of εἰ after θαυμάζω, and like verbs, in Kühner, § 771. Among his examples are the following: οὐ δὴ θαυμαστόν ἐστιν εἰ στρατευόμενος κ. πονῶν ἐκεῖνος … ἡμῶν μελλόντων … περιγίγνεται, Demosth. p. 24. 23: ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο θαυμάζω, εἰ Λακεδαιμονίοις μέν ποτε … ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν δικαίων ἀντήρατε νυνὶ δὲ ὀκνεῖτε, κ.τ.λ., ib. p. 52. 43: in both which places matters of fact follow the εἰ. Kühner ascribes the idiom to the Attic urbanity, which loved to give to speech a certain tinge of doubt and uncertainty) the world hateth you (“magis esset mirabile si diligerent eos,” says Didymus. This verse is in close sequence on the example just given: Cain being taken as the prototype and exemplar of such hate).

14,

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

13-16. The ground of the world’s hatred of those who love, and the glory of love, which gives life, in Christ.

13-15. Those who can interpret aright the true meaning of the story of Cain and Abel will feel no surprise at the attitude of the world towards Christians. It only expresses the hostility which that which is good must always call out in that which is evil. Our love for the brethren assures us that we have already passed out of the state of hatred and death, and now abide in that of life. For life is love. He who does not love is still in the state of death. Every one who does not love his brother is a murderer, in the eyes of all to whom the true issues of things are manifest, even though he has so far stayed his hand from violence. And your common consciousness as men tells you that no murderer can have the higher life in him as a permanent and abiding principle of action.

13. μὴ θαυμάζετε] cf. Joh 3:7 (μὴ θαυμάσῃς), where the aorist emphasizes the immediate feeling aroused by a particular thought, or action, rather than the more permanent feeling called out by what is continuous. Cf. also Joh 5:28, where the form of sentence refers to the continuous feeling, not to the momentary surprise, which the fact that the hour was coming, when all the dead should hear the voice of the Son of God, might occasion. The construction with the present imperative is the usual construction in the Johannine writings, the aorist subjunctive being only used in the passage quoted above. Here it is significant. The hatred of the world was an abiding attitude, always liable to provoke unchristian retaliation, and always a temptation to the more “intelligent” to neglect their duty to their weaker brethren.

μη A B Ccorr K L al. pler. vg. sah. cop. syr. Lcif. Did. Thphyl. Oec.] pr. και א C* P 15. 18. 29. 36. 66**. 98. 191 cat.* syr. am. aeth.

αδελφοι א A B C D al. mu. cat. vg. arm. Lcif. Did.] + μου K L al. longe. plu. syr. sah. cop. aeth. (ημων) Thphyl. Oec.

υμας] ημας sah. Ia 1402 (219) O46 (154).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Brethren [αδελφοι] . The only occurrence of this mode of address in the Epistle.

Hate [μισει] . Indicative mood, pointing to the fact as existing : if the world hate you, as it does.

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