2 John 1:9

The loss (Jo2 1:8) meant is here explained: the not having God, which results from abiding not in the doctrine of Christ.

transgresseth--The oldest manuscripts and versions read, "Every one who takes the lead"; literally, "goes," or "leads on before"; compare Joh 10:4, "He goeth before them" (not the same Greek). Compare Jo3 1:9, "Loveth to have the pre-eminence."

hath not God-- (Jo1 2:23; Jo1 5:15). The second "of Christ" is omitted in the oldest manuscripts, but is understood in the sense.

He--emphatical: He and He alone.

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

2Jn_1:9

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ.

The doctrine of Christ

The words doctrine of Christ may signify either that doctrine which Christ taught when He was here on earth, or that doctrine of which Christ is the subject--the doctrine which sets forth the truth concerning Him. I believe it is in the latter sense that the phrase is used here. By doctrine here we are not to understand what that term commonly means as used in the present day, viz., a dogmatic or speculative affirmation of truth. The original word means simply teaching, and it embraces all kinds and matters of teaching--the assertion of facts, the elucidation of beliefs, as well as the affirmation and proof of dogmatic propositions. The doctrine of or concerning Christ, then, here referred to, is the whole body of truth made known to us by Christ and His apostles concerning Him. Now, you will observe that to this the apostle here assigns a supremely important place. A real religion must have a basis in real beliefs. As a fountain which is itself poisoned will not send forth waters that are wholesome, as little will beliefs that are false or erroneous conduct to a religion that is true and beneficent. From this it follows that, as Christianity is offered to men as the only true religion, its teachers are shut up to the necessity of requiring the belief of the facts and truths upon which it is founded as the indispensable condition of a mans receiving the benefits of this religion or being recognised as a true professor of it. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. The apostle regards the doctrine of Christ as coming to us under Divine authority, as a command to which we are bound to submit, and consequently he speaks of all departures from the truth thus binding on us as transgressions.

I. The grand fundamental fact of Christianity is The incarnation, the assumption by the Second Person of the Trinity of human nature into personal union with the Divine, the manifestation of God in the flesh of man. This is a great mystery which we cannot comprehend or explain. The fact transcends human reason, and therefore never could have been discovered by human reason, which can no more rise above itself than the eagle can outsoar the atmosphere in which it floats. But, though reason cannot discover this, the history of mans efforts after a religion give ample proof that this is a felt necessity of the human soul. How can the weak and sinful come before the All-perfect? How can the finite enter into relation with the Infinite? How can the weak voice of man be heard across that tremendous gulf which yawns between him, the creature of a day, and the Eternal? Who shall bring God nigh to him? His soul cries out after a Living, a Personal, an Incarnate God. This shows that the fact of an Incarnation is not foreign to our nature; nay, that it is felt by the human consciousness to be essential to religion. And this great want the doctrine of Christ alone supplies. God manifest in the flesh is the solution of mans sorest difficulty as a religious being, the grand accomplished fact on which he can securely rest in his approaches to God.

II. Another fundamental truth of Christianity is the Atonement. That in some sense it is only through Christ that we can come unto God so as to be accepted of Him, is admitted on all hands by those who profess to be Christians. Now, no attentive reader of the New Testament can fail to see that that on which stress is everywhere laid in this respect is Christs offering Himself as a ransom and sacrifice for men. He has taken our sins upon Him, and by His obedience unto death hath removed the obstacle which our sin placed in the way of our acceptance with the Father. And thus has He made atonement for us. Now, this also meets an acknowledged and widely felt want of man. Everywhere, and in all ages, man is seen acting upon the principle that some satisfaction must be rendered to the Divine justice before man can be accepted by God. Man, conscious of guilt, condemned at the bar of his own conscience, has asked himself the question, How shall man be just before God? … Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? That it is with something he must appear is a settled point; the only question is, What shall that be? And the only answer he has been able to find to this is that which tradition has handed down from the earliest times, namely, sacrifice--in which the offering up of an animal to the Deity was an acknowledgment that the sin of man deserved death, and a petition that a substitute might be accepted for him. Now, what all men thus feel they want, the Scriptures tell us Christ has supplied. He offered for us a real and all-sufficient atonement when He offered up Himself. He took on Him our sins, He bore them away, made an end of sins, made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness. Man, with his conscious weakness and his deep wants, finds here at length that which meets his wants, satisfies his conviction and gives peace to his conscience, so that he is filled with a joy which is unspeakable and full of glory. (W.L. Alexander, D. D.)

Whosoever goeth onward

(R.V.) may be interpreted in two ways--

(1) Every one who sets himself up as a leader;

(2) Every one who goes on beyond the gospel. The latter is, perhaps, better. These anti-Christian gnostics were advanced thinkers; the gospel was all very well for the unenlightened, but they knew something higher. (Cambridge Bible for Schools.)

The law of self-restraint

This ninth verse appears to contain one of the counsels that occurred to the apostle, as he thought on the one hand of youthful impulsiveness and love of novelty, and on the other of the fascinations that are wont to attach to dubious doctrines and to evil deeds. Its real meaning may be seen in the rendering of the Revised Version. St. John wrote, not whosoever transgresseth (for he was not thinking of general breaches of the law of God), but specifically whosoever goeth onward, and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God. If that be taken in connection with the preceding verse, where a man is represented as through half-heartedness, losing whatever he has gained, the unexpected but important lesson is obtained, that to advance over-eagerly and to hang back are alike violations of duty.

I. The first thing to avoid is over-eagerness. Whosoever goeth onward (at too great a rate, it means, or impelled by a hot fancy that has broken away from every restraint) hath not God. It is possible to imagine that the phrase might be interpreted in a different way, as denoting that all progress in the statement or application of religious truths is for ever barred, and that the incapacity or the refusal to see in them any other bearings than have been found in the past must be classed amongst the virtues. But with such teaching no sympathy can be found in the Bible. The body of revealed truth is not a dictionary, and when Christ teaches, He teaches free men, providing them not with endless minute rules which they must mechanically follow, but with great principles which they must use their own wits in interpreting and their own responsible skill in applying. The germs of religious truth will be perpetually unfolding themselves, expanding into new conceptions of the glory of God and of the spiritual privileges possible to man; and through all the future, one of the rewards of loyalty to Christ is to be that the loyal will be continually advancing in Christian thought, ever more completely knowing as they are known. To make this or similar paragraphs, therefore, an old mans protest against progress, or an apology for intolerance, is to sin against the entire Scripture. The warning is against needless progress, a progress that is suicidal and unworthy the name, the impulsiveness and the haste that ignore all the restraints of reason. It is more than doubtful whether any Christian can get to know much about God, unless he be stirred by an ambition to know, or can make much progress in personal religion, unless he be taken possession of by the ambition to be made like his Saviour. The mistake is in allowing the ambition to separate itself from Christ, and, as men say, to run away with them, so that no influence from above or from within can withhold them from extravagance, but the force of every reasonable restraint is broken. Of the serious mistakes, in matters of opinion and in matters of practice, to which this over-eagerness leads, the disposition that sweeps onwards under the dominancy of a single idea, and consents neither to look back upon the point from which it started, nor to glance around at the facts with which relations should be maintained, there are instances enough. One man, for instance, is led to no good result by his own investigations into Gods existence, and quickly pronounces that all such investigations must prove sterile, and founds an entire system upon the alleged impossibility of attaining any certainty in certain branches of knowledge.

II. At the other extreme there is the equal, perhaps the more common fault of hanging back, and so, as the apostle teaches, gradually letting slip and losing every beneficent truth and every holy privilege we have gained. It is a fault that goes by many names--half-heartedness, colourlessness, lack of principle, of decision, of earnestness; but there can he no doubt that it is one of the most prevalent defects in the modern Church, tending throughout the Christian world to destroy the force and very vitality of personal religion. The fashion is to hold opinions and views that are as colourless as possible, and carefully to refrain from committing oneself to anything; to remember that every question has so many sides that life is not long enough for men to examine them all, and that therefore a man should not venture to be positive about anything. Accordingly men compromise with obligation, hesitate in their allegiance to truth, and make a disposition to hang back, and a lack of thoroughness in opinion and in practice, the most prominent feature of their lives. There can be no question as to the effect. The man who hangs back, permitting his convictions to become indefinite, and his sense of duty to die down into silent weakness, must in reason hold himself responsible for so much of the evil in the world as is done, because he provides the opportunity, or at least removes the hindrance. But that is not all. Let a man try to discover the reason why his progress in religion is slow, why he does not throw off evil habits that have disturbed him for years, why his influence for good in his own neighbourhood is so limited and uncertain; and he will generally, though not always, find that the secret of it all is his own half-heartedness, the superficiality of his religion.

III. Those being the faults at either extreme against which the apostle warns us, The conclusion is obvious, that the best and most perfect Christian life is one in which both are avoided, and the path midway between the two is trodden. The ideal Christian life, according to this old apostle, is one in which the progress of the fancy in regard to religious truth or duty is restrained by the reins of a sanctified reason, in which all backwardness is for ever prevented by thorough religious earnestness. There is a tendency at times to imagine that such matters are merely a question of temperament; that the vivacious man will be certain to go forward, and the languid man to hang back; and that neither can be held responsible for faults that arise from the peculiarities of their very natures. But that is not the way in which the Bible looks at the matter. To plead personal temperament in excuse for the habit of over-eagerness or of backwardness, is to overlook the grace of God. But it is well to look a little more closely at the reasonableness and advantage of maintaining this intermediate position between the two extremes. That it avoids on the one hand presumptuous positiveness concerning everything, and on the other the faltering that turns religious conviction and obligation into matters for compromise, is in itself a sufficient, but far from the only, commendation. It is also the course that should be adopted, the state of mind that is most defensible and helpful, in relation to the fluctuations of religious opinion and the controversies that periodically shake the kingdom of God. In the department of Christian service similarly, most men will agree that the best human qualifications for doing it well are not over-eagerness, still less backwardness, but steady earnestness or well-controlled zeal. The man who in his work hangs back, never manages to get much done; and the man who is always apt to go a little too far forward, is also always apt to miss his mark, and to awaken in others suspicions of his discretion that seriously weaken his influence. The strongest man is he whose enthusiasm is disciplined by self-control, whose devotion to Christ is whole-hearted and well-nigh incapable of increase, but yet is closely regulated by a sanctified reason, and thus made provident of its resources and unalterable in its purposes. In all associated warfare or service, the perfect heart of devotion is good, but waste and failure follow unless there is also the power to keep rank. But the teaching of the verse applies quite as much to personal religious life as it does to service or to opinions; and what it urges as the condition of swift progress to the highest spiritual attainments, is that the spirit and the life should be, as it were, ringed round with the teaching of Christ, never advancing far forward from the neighbourhood of Him, never drifting far behind, but keeping day by day as closely as possible within the circle which His influence fills. If he be tempted to advance beyond the Saviour, the master-passion of love for Him will hold him back; or if he be tempted to linger behind, the love will draw him on. A more blessed kind of life no man can conceive; and that becomes our kind of life, according as we crush out the disposition to regulate our ways in independence of Christ, and pour our hearts upon Him in continuous trustfulness. (R. W. Moss.)

Doctrine and character

Some one may say, Oh, I do not want doctrines, I look at doctrines as so many dry bones. True, we may compare doctrines to bones, but they are like the bones in your body, and they need not be dry. The skeleton is not a live body, it is true, but what would that body be without the skeleton? In the natural world there are living creatures that have no vertebrae, and they consist of a soft gelatinous mass, very yielding and compressible. And in the moral world there are those whose religion is of the same sentimental kind. They are accommodating, because it has no backbone. How different is that religion from the robust Christianity that we see exemplified in the Apostle Paul! He taught that the framework of definite truth or doctrine was essentially the strength and stability of the Christian character. (E. H. Hopkins, B. A.)

Error affects conduct

As a small mistake in levelling an arrow at the hand makes a great difference at the mark, so a small mistake in the notion of truth makes a wide difference in the practice of the ungodly. (E. H. Hopkins, B. A.)

Abide in the doctrine of Christ

The text itself consists of two general parts, a negative and an affirmative. We begin with the first, viz., the negative, Whosoever transgresseth and abideth, etc., which is a censure of all such persons as do withdraw from the doctrine of Christ. First, no knowledge of God without Christ, because it is He that manifests Him (Job_1:18). Secondly, no knowledge of God neither out of Christ, because it is He that represents Him: as we cannot look upon the sun directly. So that those who deny the doctrine of Christ, they have not God. First, in point of knowledge. Secondly, they have not God neither in point of worship. God out of Christ is an idol, as to any true adoration of Him, or religious service exhibited to Him. This is true both in regard of the object of worship, as also in regard of the medium. Thirdly, they have not God in point of interest, they have not that relation to God as is desirable for them. They have God indeed in the common relation of a Creator. But they have not God as a God in covenant. Those that think to come to God upon the terms of nature and common providence they will have little comfort in such approaches; for God considered out of Christ He is a consuming fire. Lastly, they have not God, i.e., they have Him not in point of influence. And that according to all these kind of influences which are to be desired, and those benefits which are of the greatest concernment. As first, of grace and holiness; they have not God to sanctify them and to communicate His Holy Spirit unto them. God is the God of all grace, but it is God in Christ; He is the channel of the grace of God unto us in all the several kinds and particulars of it wherein it is communicated. We must rightly understand this method and order which God has set for the conveying of saving grace unto us. We have not grace from the Spirit immediately but from the Spirit in reference to Christ. Secondly, as not to the influences of grace so neither to the influences of comfort; no true comfort or peace of conscience but from God in Christ; He is our peace, both in the thing itself as also in the discovery and manifestation of it. The spirit of comfort, it is of His sending and comes from Him. He that hath not Christ and His Spirit, he hath not God to comfort him. Thirdly, as to matter of salvation, not God to save him. There is no salvation out of Christ (Act_4:12). And thus we have the point in the several explications of it, wherein it holds good unto us, that he that transgresseth, that is, rejects the doctrine of Christ, he hath not God. The use and improvement of this point by way of application: First, it comes home to sundry sorts of persons who are hence concluded in a very sad condition. This is so much the more grievous as it is the less thought of and expected; for these persons which we have now mentioned, they make a full account they have God whatever they have else. At least they have Him not in that way and to that purpose for which they would have Him. They have God to judge them, but they have not God to save them. Therefore we see what cause we have to pity and to bewail such persons as these are. Here is the misery of all unregenerate persons; these come under this censure likewise, who though they should hold this doctrine in judgment, yet deny it in affection and practice; forasmuch as they do not submit to the power and efficacy of it. Therefore in the second place, let us make this use of the point, even to acknowledge Christ and His doctrine and the grace of God which is revealed in it. First, this conveyance of all good to us in the covenant of grace and in the name of Christ, it is the safest and surest dispensation. We are now upon very good terms which we may rest upon. If salvation with the appurtenances of it had been in any other hands besides we had not been so sure of it. Secondly, there is the sweetness of it also; there is a great deal of delightfulness also in it if we were capable of it; to see everything coming to us, strained through the love of God in Christ; it is wonderful pleasing and satisfying, and the heart of a true believer does exceedingly rejoice in it. The second is of unworthy recession in apostacy or departure from it, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ. He that abides not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. First, as to matter of judgment: here is a censure upon declining in this; for any that have formerly embraced Christ and His doctrine to depart from it thus, it is a business of great danger to them and does exclude them from interest in God Himself. But secondly, as this may be extended to matter of judgment, so likewise to matter of practice. A man may in some sort abide in Christs doctrine so as to give assent and credence to it, and yet not abide in it so as to improve it and to live answerable to it. Therefore this must be taken in likewise together with the other; then do we indeed abide in it when it abides in us and has an influence and efficacy upon us. The second is laid down in the affirmative, He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. The sum of all is this, that he that hath not both, hath neither; and he that hath one, hath both. This having may admit of a threefold interpretation. First, hath them in him, by way of abode and habitation. Secondly, hath them with him, by way of society and communion. Thirdly, hath them for him, by way of assistance and approbation. ( T. Horton, D. D.)

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

1:9 Anyone who wanders away from this teaching (literally everyone going beyond and not remaining in the teaching): To go beyond is to contradict the apostolic teachings about Jesus Christ and believe things about Jesus that were not taught by the apostles. This is a warning to the church not to listen to the false teachers.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2Jn 1:9. Ὁ παραβαινων, he who transgresseth) from perfidy.—ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, in the doctrine of Christ) in the doctrine which teaches that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.—οὗτος) he, I say.

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

2Jn_1:9 brings out clearly the importance of abiding in the truth

2Jn_1:9

2Jn_1:9 brings out clearly the importance of abiding in the truth.

πᾶς ὁ προάγων καὶ μὴ μένων] προάγειν and μένειν form a natural antithesis; προάγειν in the neuter sense: to advance farther, signifies here in reference to διδαχή: to advance beyond the limits of the (Christian) doctrine, and contains an ironical allusion to the pretensions of the false teachers to have advanced to a higher degree of knowledge.[11] The Rec. παραβαίνων means: to pass by anything; we must supply along with it either τὴν διδαχήν (according to the analogy of παραβαίνειν τὴν ἐντολήν, Mat_15:3), or ἀπὸ (ἐκ) τῆς διδαχῆς; comp. Act_1:25 : ἀποστολῆς ἀφʼ (Rec. ἐξ) ἧς παρέβη Ἰούδας; it is clearly unwarrantable to supply the idea ἐντολή out of 2Jn_1:7.

καὶ μὴ μένων ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ] comp. Joh_8:31 : μένειν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ ἐμῷ; 2Ti_3:14.

τοῦ Χριστοῦ is not the objective (Sander, Ebrard, etc.), but the subjective genitive (Düsterdieck, Ewald, Braune); the doctrine which, proceeding from Christ, was proclaimed by the apostles.

Θεὸν οὐκ ἔχει] comp. 1Jn_2:23. The doctrine of Christ is the truth; he who has not the truth has not God; for in its deepest source the truth is the living God Himself. Weiss (p. 29) unsatisfactorily interprets ἔχειν of the mere possession in knowledge, in place of which, on p. 77, however, he says: the possession effected by means of the contemplative knowledge of Christ, as if the latter were identical with the former. By the following sentence the same thought is expressed positively, and is completed by τὸν υἱόν, which is the cause of changing Θεός to πατήρ.[12]

[11] When Braune rejects this with the remark: there is a bitter truth in fact, he did not consider in what connection the above was said.

[12] According to Ebrard, this verse is a quotation of the passage 1Jn_2:23. But that this is not so is shown by the manifold deviations, the existence of which can otherwise be explained only by arbitrary conjectures in an artificial way.

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.

2Jn 1:9 . Progress in Theological Thought. “Every one that ‘progresseth’ and abideth not in the eaching of the Christ hath not God; he that abideth in the teaching this man hath both the Father and the Son.”

ὁ προάγων : the Corinthians (see Introd. pp. 156 f.) boasted of their enlightenment. They were “progressives,” “advanced thinkers”. τῇ διδαχῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ , the teaching which recognises Jesus as the Christ (see note on 1Jn 4:1-2 ), i.e. the Messiah, the Saviour. Θεὸν οὐκ ἔχει , i.e. according to His true nature as the Father manitested in the Son ( καὶ τὸν Πατέρα καὶ τὸν Υἱόν ). It is necessary not merely to believe in God but to believe in Him “through Christ” (1Pe 1:21 ).

St. John does not here condemn theological progress, which is a necessity of living and growing faith. A doctrine is a statement of Christian experience, and since there is always more in Christ than we have ever experienced, our doctrines can never be adequate or final. Theology is to God’s revelation in Grace as Science is to His revelation in Nature; and just as Science is always discovering more of the wonders of the First Creation, so Theology is always entering more deeply into the glory of the New Creation and appropriating more of the treasures which are hidden in Christ. Even the inspired Apostles did not comprehend all His fulness. Each saw only so much as was revealed to him, and declared only so much as he saw. Each approached the infinite wonder along the lines of his temperament and experience. St. John saw in it a revelation of Eternal Life; St. Paul the Reconciliation of sinners to God, the satisfaction of humanity’s long desire and the completion of its long discipline under the Law; the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews the rending of the Veil and the opening of free Access to God. St. John does not condemn theological progress; he defines its limits: “abide in the teaching of the Christ”. (1) We must never break with the past; the new truth is always an outgrowth of the old. A theology which is simply old is dead; a theology which is simply new is false ( Cf. Mat 13:52 ). (2) We must maintain “the teaching of the Christ”. Jesus is the Saviour, and no interpretation of Christianity is true which eliminates Redemption or obscures the glory of the Cross.

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

Whosoever transgresseth [πας ο παραβαινων] . The best texts read proagwn goeth onward. So Rev., with taketh the lead in margin. The meaning is, whosoever advances beyond the limits of Christian doctrine. Others explain of those who would set themselves up as teachers, or take the lead. Such false progress is contrasted with abiding in the teaching. On the construction, pav every one, with the article and participle, see on 1Jo 3:3.

Abideth - in [μενων εν] . See on 1Jo 2:6.

Doctrine [διδαχη] . Better, as Rev., teaching.

Of Christ. Not the teaching concerning Christ, but the teaching of Christ Himself and of His apostles. See Heb 2:3. So according to New Testament usage. See Joh 18:19; Act 2:12; Rev 2:14, 15. In the doctrine of Christ. Omit of Christ. Didach teaching, is used thus absolutely, Rom 16:17; Tit 1:9.

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

Verse 9. Whosoever transgresseth] παραβαινων. He who passes over the sacred enclosure, or goes beyond the prescribed limits; and abideth not in the doctrine-does not remain within these holy limits, but indulges himself either in excesses of action or passion; hath not God for his Father, nor the love of God in his heart.

Hath both the father and the Son.] He who abideth in the doctrine of Christ, his body is a temple of the Holy Trinity, and he has communion with the Father as his Father, and with the Son as his Saviour and Redeemer.

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

9. Explains more fully what is at stake; no less than the possession of the Father and the Son.

Whosoever transgresseth] This is a simplification (KL) of a much more difficult reading (אAB), Whosoever, or Every one that (see on 1Jn_3:16) goeth before (πᾶς ὁ προάγων) or that goeth onwards. The verb is fairly common in the Synoptists and the Acts, but occurs nowhere else in S. John’s writings. It may be interpreted in two ways: 1. Every one who sets himself up as a leader; 2. Every one who goes on beyond the Gospel. The latter is perhaps better. These antichristian Gnostics were advanced thinkers: the Gospel was all very well for the unenlightened; but they knew something higher. This agrees very well with what follows: by advancing they did not abide. There is an advance which involves desertion of first principles; and such an advance is not progress but apostasy.

in the doctrine] ‘In the teaching’, as R. V., is no improvement. Of the two words used in N. T., διδαχή (as here) and διδασκαλία (which S. John does not use), the former should be rendered ‘doctrine’, the latter, as being closer to διδάσκαλος and διδάσκειν, should be rendered ‘teaching’. But no hard and fast line can be drawn.

of Christ] The doctrine which He taught (Joh_18:19; Rev_2:14-15), rather than the doctrine which teaches about Him.

hath not God] This must not be watered down to mean ‘does not know God’: it means that he has Him not as his God; does not possess Him in his heart as a Being to adore, and trust, and love.

he that abideth] The opposite case is now stated, and as usual the original idea is not merely negatived but expanded. ‘Of Christ’ in this half of the verse must be omitted: it has been inserted in some authorities to make the two halves more exactly correspond.

hath both the Father and the Son] This shews that ‘hath not God’ implies ‘hath neither the Father nor the Son’. See on 1Jn_2:23.

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.

Whosoever transgresseth,.... Not the law of God, of which everyone is a transgressors and that daily, in thought, word, or deed; but who passes over the rule and standard of doctrine, the word of God, and will not adhere to that, nor walk according to it, but rejects and despises that rule:

and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ; which he received from his Father, and delivered to his apostles, and of which he is the sum and substance; the doctrine which is concerning his person as the Son of God, and as truly God, and the union of the two natures, divine and human, in his one person; and concerning his office, as the Mediator, surety, and messenger of the covenant, and as the prophet, priest, and King of his church; and concerning his incarnation, obedience, sufferings, death, resurrection from the dead, ascension to heaven, session at God's right hand, intercession for his people, and second coming to judgment; concerning peace and pardon by his blood, atonement by his sacrifice, justification by his righteousness, and complete salvation by him: this is , "the doctrine of the King Messiah", or the Messiah's Talmud (h), to use the Jewish phrase, and which agrees with John's. Now, whoever has embraced and professed this doctrine, but errs concerning it, and rejects it, and abides not in it, as Satan abode not in the truth, appears to be of him:

hath not God; for his Father, but the devil, the father of lies; he has no true knowledge of God, for there is none but in Christ, whose doctrine such an one has denied; nor has he, nor can he, have communion with him, nor any interest in him.

He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ; as he hath received and professed it; neither can anything remove him from it, not the arguments of false teachers, nor the reproaches and persecutions of men, or the snares and allurements of the world:

he hath both the Father and the Son; he has an interest in them both, and has knowledge of each of them, and fellowship with them. The Alexandrian copy and the Vulgate Latin version leave out the phrase, "of Christ", in the preceding clause, and only read, "in the doctrine"; and the Syriac version, "in his doctrine"; the sense is the same.

(h) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 98. fol. 85. 3.

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

9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

Ver. 9. Hath not God] And so consequently hath nothing. Habet omnia qui habet habentem omnia, He hath all that hath the haver of all. (Aug.) But sine Deo omnis copia est egestas, Plenty without God becomes penury. (Bern.) The wicked, for want of God, in the fulness of his sufficiency is in straits, Job 20:22; as he that hath God for his portion, in the fulness of his straits is in a sufficiency.

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.

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God - In the doctrine which Christ taught, or the true doctrine respecting him. The language is somewhat ambiguous, like the phrase “the love of Christ,” which may mean either his love to us, or our love to him. Compare Joh 15:9. It is difficult to determine here which is the true sense - whether it means the doctrine or precepts which he taught, or the true doctrine respecting him. Macknight understands by it the doctrine taught by Christ and his apostles. It would seem most probable that this is the sense of the passage, but then it would include, of course, all that Christ taught respecting himself, as well as his other instructions. The essential idea is, that the truth must be held respecting the precepts, the character, and the work of the Saviour. Probably the immediate allusion here is to those to whom John so frequently referred as “antichrist,” who denied that Jesus had come in the flesh, 2Jo 1:7. At the same time, however, he makes the remark general, that if anyone did not hold the true doctrine respecting the Saviour, he had no real knowledge of God. See Joh 1:18; Joh 5:23; Joh 15:23; Joh 17:3; 1Jo 2:23.

Hath not God - Has no true knowledge of God. The truth taught here is, that it is essential for piety to hold the true doctrine respecting Christ.

He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ - In the true doctrine respecting Christ, or in the doctrine which he taught.

He hath both the Father and the Son - There is such an intimate union between the Father and the Son, that he who has just views of the one has also of the other. Compare the Joh 14:7, Joh 14:9-11 notes; 1Jo 2:23 note.

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

See 1Jo 2:23.

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

9. Transgresseth—Rather, Whosoever goeth before or leadeth. That is, every one that sets up as leader, and abideth not in the realistic doctrine of Christ. Hath not the true

God—Who is the Father of Christ, and of us in the gospel.

Both the Father and the Son—The same distinctness as in 2Jn_1:3, and for the same reason. The Docetist, who idealized Christ, would be prone to idealize God, and be a pantheist; or he might accept Jove, and be a pagan. But as he destroyed the true Son, so he destroyed the true Father. Christianity evaporated when Christ was idealized.

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

For whosoever transgresseth pav oJ parabainwn we must substitute whosoever advanceth pav oJ proagwn: both external and internal evidence are strongly in favour of this correction. "Whosoever advanceth" probably means whosoever goes beyond revealed truth and professes to teach something more profound. Gnostic teachers professed to have advanced a long way beyond the simple facts and simple moral teaching of the gospel; they "knew the depths;" they had "things ineffable, secret, higher than the heavens," to disclose; and these secret things were often not merely incompatible with Scripture, but a complete reversal of it. But it is possible that pav oJ proagwn may mean no more than "every one who takes the lead," i.e., chooses a line for himself, which in matters of doctrine means creating a heresy.

Man"s true relation to the doctrine of Christ.

transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ," etc. In our remarks we shall follow the Revised Version, which is sustained by the authority of all the oldest manuscripts. The text presents for our consideration

I THE SUPREME TEACHER OF THE DIVINE. Our Lord is here represented as the supreme and infallible Teacher of men in the things of God. "The doctrine of Christ" we understand as meaning the truth which Christ himself taught. And from the connection it seems in this place to refer especially to his teaching concerning the Divine Being and his relations with men. "Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son." Concerning God, and his attitude and relation to us, our Lord is the supreme Teacher.

1. As regards his words. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Take some of his declarations. "God is a Spirit," etc.. (Joh_4:24) The parable of the prodigal son is a wonderfully beautiful representation of the attitude of the Father towards his rebellious children, also towards his penitent children. His conversation with Nicodemus sets forth with great clearness and force the infinite love of God in the gift of his Son, and the way of salvation for man. The sermon on the mount is a most luminous exposition of the will of the Father towards men.

2. As regards his life. The life of the Lord Jesus Christ is the supreme revelation of God. "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth." "Jesus saith, I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me," etc.. (Joh_14:6-10) "Neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.

II MAN"S TRUE RELATION TO THE SUPREME TEACHING OF THE DIVINE. He must abide in it. There is danger of his renouncing it. "Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ," etc. "Goeth onward," or "taketh the lead," is a somewhat difficult expression. It may mean, "every one who would set up for a teacher" (Alford), as in Joh_10:4, "He goeth before them," etc. Ebrard explains it thus: who in such a sense goes forward in knowledge as not to abide in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God." It is undeniable that reference is here made to the pretensions of the Gnostics, who always represented their doctrine as a constant progression in knowledge. There is a progress which forsakes the first principles which have been established; and such a progress is apostasy. In all true progression of knowledge there must ever be a firm adherence to the unchangeable root or foundation of knowledge." Men may renounce truth for error. "If any among you do err from the truth." Men may fail to abide in the true doctrine by reason of

(1) a curious and speculative mental disposition. Some will not recognize the fact that "secret things belong unto the Lord." They are presumptuous in their intellectual inquiries and investigations. They forget that it is "the meek whom he will guide in judgment," etc.. (Psa_25:9) "Thou hast hid these things from the wise and understanding," etc.. (Mat_11:25) Again, men may fail to abide in the true doctrine by reason of

(2) loss of spiritual health. If a man become a backslider in heart, his strongest guarantee for steadfastness in the faith is gone. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him," etc. When the heart is not right with God, man is easily led away from truth into error. We are required to abide in the true teaching. We are to be rooted and grounded in it; to grow up in it, etc. The sad consequence of failure in this respect should arouse us to maintain our steadfastness in the doctrine of Christ. "Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God;" i.e., he has no fellowship with God, he is not a partaker of his nature, he does not possess him as his Portion.

III THE BLESSED CONSEQUENCE OF MAINTAINING THIS TRUE RELATION TO THE SUPREME TEACHING OF THE DIVINE. "He that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son." How are we to understand this? He has them:

1. By true acquaintance with them. "We have the mind of Christ." We know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. We have the author himself, in an important sense, when we have grasped his opinions, principles, arguments, sympathies; so we have the Father and the Son by our acquaintance with the Divine teaching.

2. By supreme sympathy with them. "God is Love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God dwelleth in him." "Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." By mutual love we possess each other. By mutual love we "have both the Father and the Son.

3. By covenant relation with them. "God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people;" "The Lord is my Portion, saith my soul;" "My Lord and my God.

Let us give all diligence to abide in the teaching of Christ, that this most glorious and blessed possession may be ours, even "the Father and the Son. 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.

Receive this as a certain rule: Whosoever transgresseth - Any law of God. Hath not God - For his Father and his God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ - Believing and obeying it. He hath both the Father and the Son - For his God.

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

transgresseth

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23") .

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

Observe here, 1. The character given of the gospel, it is the doctrine of Christ: that is, the doctrine relating to Christ, and the doctrine taught by Christ.

Observe, 2. What is affirmed of those that apostatize from, and abide not in, the doctrine of Christ, they have not God; that is, say some, they have not God to be their Father, nor the Spirit to be their guide and sanctifier; they have, say others, no knowledge of God, no interest in God, no influences of grace and holiness derived from God.

Observe, 3. The happy condition of those that abide in the doctrine of Christ, they have both the Father and the Son: he that has one, hath both; and he that has not both, has neither: and this having may admit a threefold interpretation, thus; he has the Father and the Son: by way of abode and inhabitation; he dwelleth in God, and God in him; they have the Father and the Son with them by way of society and communion, We will come unto them, and make our abode with them.

Lastly, They have the Father and the Son, by way of assistance and approbation; they have God to assist them, to accept them, to reward them.

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

9. Whosoever transgresseth. He that lives a life of transgression cannot abide in Christ. Abideth in the doctrine. The teaching, the Gospel.

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.

Whoever goes on ahead

This refers to a person who claims to know more about God and truth than everyone else. AT: "Whoever claims to know more about God" or "Whoever disobeys the truth"

does not have God

"does not belong to God"

The one who remains in the teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son

"Someone who follows Christ's teaching belongs to both the Father and the Son"

the Father and the Son

These are important titles that describe the relationship between God and Jesus. (See: Translating Son and Father)

receive him into your house

Here this means to welcome him and treat him with honor in order to build a relationship with him.

participates in his evil deeds

"shares with him in his evil deeds" or "helps him in his evil deeds"

translationWords

Christ

God the Father

Son of God

receive

evil

works

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

9. For παραβαίνων ([891][892][893]) read προάγων ([894][895][896]). After the second διδαχῇ omit τοῦ Χριστοῦ with [897][898][899] against [900][901].

[891] 9th century. All three Epistles.

[892] 9th century. All three Epistles.

[893] 9th century. A palimpsest. All three Epistles excepting 1Jn 3:19 to 1Jn 5:1. There is a facsimile of a portion in Hammond’s Outlines of Textual Criticism showing the late leaning uncial letters of the 9th century (Act 4:10-15), with cursives of the 13th (Heb 7:17-25) written over them.

[894] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles.

[895] 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.

[896] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles.

[897] 4th century. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the monastery of S. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and now at Petersburg. All three Epistles.

[898] 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.

[899] 4th century. Brought to Rome about 1460. It is entered in the earliest catalogue of the Vatican Library, 1475. All three Epistles.

[900] 9th century. All three Epistles.

[901] 9th century. All three Epistles.

9. Explains more fully what is at stake; no less than the possession of the Father and the Son.

πᾶς ὁ προάγων. See on 1Jn 3:16. Everyone that goeth before, or, that goeth onwards. Προάγειν is fairly common in the Synoptists and the Acts, but occurs nowhere else in S. John’s writings. It may be interpreted in two ways: 1. Every one who sets himself up as a leader; 2. Every one who goes on beyond the Gospel. The latter is perhaps better. These antichristian Gnostics were advanced thinkers: the Gospel was all very well for the unenlightened; but they knew something higher. This agrees very well with what follows; by advancing they did not abide. There is an advance which involves desertion of first principles; and such an advance is not progress but apostasy.

ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ. ‘In the teaching’, as R.V., is no improvement on ‘in the doctrine’. Of the two words used in N.T., διδαχή (as here) and διδασκαλία (which S. John does not use), the former should be rendered ‘doctrine’, the latter, as being closer to διδάσκαλος and διδάσκειν, should be rendered ‘teaching’. But no hard and fast line can be drawn.

τοῦ Χριστοῦ. The doctrine which He taught (Joh 18:19; Rev 2:14-15), rather than the doctrine which teaches about Him.

Θεὸν οὐκ ἔχει. This must not be watered down to mean ‘does not know God’: it means that he has Him not as his God; does not possess Him in his heart as a Being to adore, and trust, and love.

ὁ μένων. The opposite case is now stated, and as usual the original idea is not merely negatived but expanded. Τοῦ Χριστοῦ in this half of the verse has been inserted in some authorities to make the two halves more exactly correspond. Καὶ τ. πατέρα καὶ τ. υἱὸν ἔχει shews that ‘hath not God’ implies ‘hath neither the Father nor the Son’. See on 1Jn 2:23.

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.

9.] Explanation of this loss, that it is the non-possession of God, which is incurred by all who abide not in Christ’s teaching. Every one that goeth before (you) (such I believe to be the meaning of the somewhat difficult προάγων: every one who would set up for a teacher, ἔμπροσθεν τῶν προβάτων πορευόμενος, as Joh 10:4, and they following. The expositors who take this reading interpret it, “goeth forward too fast,” “maketh false and unsound advance,” regarding it, either as ironical (so Huther), or as serious (so Düsterdieck)), and not abiding in the doctrine of Christ (i. e. in Christ’s doctrine,—that truth which Christ Himself taught. This is far more likely than that the gen. should be objective, as Bengel (“in doctrina, quæ Jesum docet esse filium Dei”), Lücke, Sander, al.: and thus we have the personal gen. after διδαχή wherever it occurs in the N. T.: cf. Mat 7:28 , Mar 4:2, Joh 18:19, Act 2:42, al. fr.), hath not God (see 1Jn 2:23, 1Jn 5:12, notes): he that abideth in the doctrine, that man hath both the Father and the Son (see as above. The order in the text is the theological one, the Father being mentioned first, then the Son. That in &c. (see digest) is the logical and contextual one, seeing that the test is, abiding in the doctrine of Christ. Thus he has Christ, and through Him, the Father).

10,

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

9. ὁ προάγων καὶ μὴ μένων ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ] The phrase should be taken as a whole. The sarcastic reference of προάγων to the claims of false teachers to the possession of a higher knowledge and more progressive intelligence was naturally misunderstood. The παραβαίνων of the Receptus was the inevitable result. What was not understood had to be corrected into an intelligible commonplace. If this were the true text, we should have to supply as object τὴν διδαχήν from the following ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ. But the originality of προάγων is obvious. For the use of προάγειν, Windisch quotes Sir. 20:27, ὁ σοφὸς ἐν λόγοις προάξει ἑαυτόν.

The non-repetition of the article before μὴ μένων is significant. All “progress” is not condemned, but only such progress as does not fulfil the added condition of “abiding in the teaching.”

ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ] There is nothing in the context or the usage of the N.T. to suggest that τοῦ Χριστοῦ should be regarded as an objective genitive, the writer meaning by the phrase “the apostolical teaching about Christ.” Such an interpretation would seem to be the outcome of preconceived notions of what the author ought to have meant rather than of what his words indicate. Cf. Joh 18:19, ἠρώτησαν αὐτὸν … περὶ τῆς διδαχῆς αὐτοῦ: Joh 7:16, ἡ ἐμὴ διδαχὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὴ ἀλλὰ τοῦ πέμψαντός με … γνώσεται περὶ τῆς διδαχῆς, where there is the same transition to the absolute use of the word which is found in this verse. Cf. also Mat 7:28; Mar 4:2; Luk 4:32; Act 2:42; Rev 2:14 (τὴν διδαχὴν Βαλαάμ), 2:15 (τῶν Νικολαιτῶν). The “teaching” no doubt includes the continuation of Christ’s work by His Apostles, but it begins in the work of Christ Himself. In the view of the writer all true teaching is but the application of “ὁ λόγος ὁ ἐμός” He did not regard Paul or any other Apostle as the inventor of most of what was characteristic of the Christian Faith as he knew it.

θεὸν οὐκ ἔχει] Cf. 1Jn 2:22f., a passage of which this verse is probably a summary. It is hardly intelligible except in the light of that passage, or of teaching similar to that which it contains. The true revelation of God was given in Jesus Christ. He who rejects the truth about Christ cannot enjoy the fellowship with God which Christ has made possible for men.οὗτος καὶ κ.τ.λ.] Cf. 1Jn 2:23 ff. and notes. As was pointed out in the Introduction and also in the notes on that passage, the words can refer equally well to Gnostic claims to a superior knowledge of the Father, and to Jewish opponents who shared with their Christian antagonists the belief in the God of Israel.

τας (? πας)] om. Ia 1100 (310) | ο προαγων א A B 98mg am. fu. harl. sah. boh. aeth.] ο παραβαινων K L P al. pler. cat. syrbodl et p (qui transgreditur) arm. Eph. Thphyl. Oec.: qui recedit vgcle demid. tol. Lcif. Didlat | μενων εν τη 10] εμμενων τη 31 | διδαχη 10] αγαπη 13 | του—διδαχη 20] om. Ib 365*. 356*. δ 260f (214) Ic 353, 174, 506 (58) | του χριστοῡ του θῦ Isa_55 (236) Ib δ370 (1149): om. Ib 157 (29) | εχει] nouit arm. | μενων εν τη 20] εμμενων τη100 | μενων (? 20)] παραμενωνIb δ260 (440) | εν 20] om. H δ6 (Ψ)| διδαχη 20 א A B 13. 27, 29, 66**. 68 vg. sah. syrp txt arm. Didlat Fulg.] + eius syrbodl et p Lcif.: + του χριστου K L P al. pler. cat. boh-ed. aeth. Thphyl. Oec.: (?)+ του θῦ Ia δ 459 (125) | και τον πατερα και τον υιον] א B K L P al. pler. cat. vgcle sah. cop. syrbodl et p aeth. Lcif. Did.] και τον και ῦν του πρ͂α A 13, 31 (om. τον 20). 68 am. fu. demid. harl. tol. arm. Fulg. | και τον υιον] post εχει Isa_7 (?) Ic 208-116 (307) | εχει 20] pr. ουκ Ib δ260 (440).

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

9. πᾶς ὁ προάγων καὶ p. μ.] omnis qui preecedit et non m. V., Every one that goeth forward and abideth not... every one that advances in bold confidence beyond the limits set to the Christian Faith. True progress includes the past. These false teachers proposed to enter on new regions of truth leaving the old. The two characteristics are taken together (6 mp. καὶ μὴ pn).

2 Tim. iii, 14.

Christ, the doctrine which Christ brought, and which He brought first in His own person, and then through His followers (Hebr. ii. 3). This sense seems better than the doctrine of (concerning) the Christ, and the usage of the N.T. is uniformly in favour of it: Apoc. ii. 14, 15; John xviii. 19; Acts ii. 42. Ἡ 8. is used absolutely (as below) in Tit. i. 9 (Rom. xvi. 17).

θ. οὐκ ἔχει] hath not God, Whom he claims to know more perfectly. Comp. I John ii. 23 (οὐδέ) note.

ὁ μένων... οὗτος... The pronoun emphasises the definition given. Comp. John vi. 46; vii. 18; xv. 5. Faithful continuance in ‘the doctrine’ brings a living possession of God as He is revealed in the fulness of His Fatherly relation in ‘the Father and the Son.’ The change from the abstract title

‘God’ in the former clause is significant. Comp. 1: John ii. 22 f.

10, 11. Not only is there danger within, but false teaching may come from without under a friendly guise. The confession of the revelation in ‘the Father and the Son’ is the indispensable test of fellowship.

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901), The Epistle to the Hebrews (1889) and The Epistles of St John (1883) — public domain (pre-1929). Text recovered from Internet Archive / Google Books OCR scans. Westcott’s Gospel of John commentary is not included (its OCR lost the chapter running-heads required for reliable verse-keying). Some Greek quoted in the Hebrews volume is imperfectly rendered by the OCR.