translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET study note

text: The pronoun him is a clear reference to Jesus Christ (compare John 1:10 ).


text: Is revealed. It may well be that the use of the same passive verb here (from φανερόω , fanerow ) is intended to suggest to the reader the mention of the parousia (Christ’s second coming) in 2:28 .


text: The phrase we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is has been explained two ways: (1) believers will really become more like God than they now are, and will do this through seeing God as he really is; or (2) believers will realize that they are already like God, but did not realize it until they see him as he is. One who sees a strong emphasis on realized eschatology in the Gospel of John and the Epistles might opt for the second view, since it downplays the difference between what believers already are in the present age and what they will become in the next. It seems better, though, in light of the statement in 3:2 a that “what we will be has not yet been revealed” and because of the reference to Christ’s parousia in 2:28 , that the author intends to distinguish between the present state of believers and what they will be like in the future. Thus the first view is better, that believers really will become more like God than they are now, as a result of seeing him as he really is.


text: The verb translated purifies ( ἁγνίζω , Jagnizw ) is somewhat unusual here, since it is not common in the NT, and occurs only once in the Gospel of John (11:55). One might wonder why the author did not use the more common verb ἁγιάζω ( Jagiazw ), as in John 17:19 , where Jesus prays, “On their behalf I consecrate myself, so that they may also be consecrated in the truth.” It is possible that there is some overlap between the two verbs and thus this is another example of Johannine stylistic variation, but the verb ἁγνίζω is used in the context of John 11:55 , which describes ritual purification for the Passover, a usage also found in the LXX ( Exod 19:10-11 , Num 8:21 ). In this context the use of ἁγνίζω would remind the readers that, if they have the future hope of entering the Father’s presence (“seeing him as he is” in 3:2 ), they need to prepare themselves by living a purified lifestyle now, just as Jesus lived during his earthly life and ministry (cf. 2:6 again). This serves to rebut the opponents’ claims to moral indifference, that what the Christian does in the present life is of no consequence.


text: 1 John 3:1-3 . All of 3:1-3 is a parenthesis within the present section in which the author reflects on what it means to be fathered by God, a subject he has mentioned at the end of 2:29 . The sequence of the argument is then resumed by 3:4 , which is in opposition to 2:29 .


text: Everyone who practices sin. In contrast to the πᾶς ὁ ( pas Jo ) + participle construction in 3:3 ( everyone who has , πᾶς ὁ ἔχων [ pas Jo ecwn ]) which referred to believers, the use of everyone who practices sin ( πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν [ pas Jo poiwn thn Jamartian ]) here refers to the author’s opponents. A similar use, referring to the opponents’ denial of the Son, is found in 2:23 .


text: The Greek word ἀνομία ( anomia ) is often translated “iniquity” or “lawlessness” and in the LXX refers particularly to transgression of the law of Moses. In Jewish thought the ideas of sin ( ἁμαρτία , Jamartia ) and lawlessness or iniquity ( ἀνομία ) were often equated because sin involved a violation of the Mosaic law and hence lawlessness. For example, Ps 51:5 LXX sets the two in parallel, and Paul in Rom 4:7 (quoting Ps 32:1 ) does the same. For the author, it is not violation of the Mosaic law that results in lawlessness, since he is writing to Christians. The ‘law’ for the author is the law of love, as given by Jesus in the new commandment of John 13:34-35 . This is the command to love one’s brother, a major theme of 1 John and the one specific sin in the entire letter which the opponents are charged with ( 3:17 ). Since the author has already labeled the opponents “antichrists” in 2:18 , it may well be that he sees in their iniquitous behavior of withdrawing from the community and refusing to love the brethren a foreshadowing of the apocalyptic iniquity of the end times (cf. 2 Thess 2:3-8 ). In Matt 24:11-12 Jesus foretold that false prophets would arise in the end times (cf. 1 John 4:1 ), that lawlessness ( anomia ) would increase, and that “the love of many will grow cold” (which would certainly fit the author’s portrait of the opponents here).


text: The one who practices righteousness. The participle ( ὁ ποιῶν , Jo poiwn ) + noun constructions in 3:7 and in 3:8 a, the first positive and the second negative, serve to emphasize the contrast between the true Christians (“the one who practices righteousness”) and the opponents (“the one who practices sin,” 3:8 a).


text: The person who practices sin is of the devil. 1 John 3:10 and John 8:44 might be cited as parallels, because these speak of opponents as the devil’s “children.” However, it is significant that the author of 1 John never speaks of the opponents as “fathered by the devil” in the same sense as Christians are “fathered by God” ( 3:9 ). A concept of evildoers as “fathered” by the devil in the same sense as Christians are fathered by God would imply a much more fully developed Gnosticism with its dualistic approach to humanity. The author of 1 John carefully avoids saying that the opponents are “fathered by the devil,” because in Johannine theology not to be fathered by God is to be fathered only by the flesh ( John 1:13 ). This is a significant piece of evidence that 1 John predates the more fully developed Gnosticism of the 2nd century. What the author does say is that the opponents (“the one who practices sin”) are from the devil, in the sense that they belong to him and have given him their allegiance.


text: For this is the gospel message…that we should love one another. The structure of this verse is parallel to 1:5 , indicating the beginning of a second major section of the letter.


text: Since the author states that Cain … was of the evil one ( ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ , ek tou ponhrou ), in the immediate context this imagery serves as an illustration of 3:8 a: The person who practices sin is of the devil ( ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου , ek tou diabolou ). This is similar to John 8:44 , where Jesus told his opponents “you people are from your father the devil…[who] was a murderer from the beginning.” In both Jewish and early Christian writings Cain is a model for those who deliberately disbelieve; Testament of Benjamin 7:5 looks forward to the punishment of those who “are like Cain in the envy and hatred of brothers.” It is not difficult to see why the author of 1 John used Cain here as a model for the opponents in light of their failure to “love the brothers” (see 1 John 3:17 ).


text: Cf. John 15:18 , where this phrase also occurs.


text: Cf. John 5:24 , where this phrase also occurs.


text: The one who does not love remains in death. Again, the author has the secessionist opponents in view. Their refusal to show love for the brothers demonstrates that they have not made the transition from (spiritual) death to (spiritual) life, but instead have remained in a state of (spiritual) death.


text: Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer. On one level it is easy to see how the author could say this; the person who hates his brother is one and the same with the person who murders his brother. Behind the usage here, however, is John 8:44 , the only other occurrence of the Greek word translated murderer ( ἀνθρωποκτόνος , anqrwpoktonos ) in the NT, where the devil is described as a “murderer from the beginning.” John 8:44 refers to the devil’s role in bringing death to Adam and Eve, but even more to his involvement (not directly mentioned in the Genesis account, but elaborated in the intertestamental literature, especially the writings of Philo) in Cain’s murder of his brother Abel. This was the first incident of murder in human history and also the first outward demonstration of the full implications of sin’s entry into the world. Ultimately, then, the devil is behind murder, just as he was behind Cain’s murder of Abel. When the hater kills, he shows himself to be a child of the devil (cf. 1 John 3:10 ). Once again, conduct is the clue to paternity.


text: References to the fact that Jesus laid down his life using the verb τίθημι ( tiqhmi ) are unique to the Gospel of John (10:11, 15, 17, 18; 13:37, 38; 15:13) and 1 John (only here). From John’s perspective Jesus’ act in giving up his life sacrificially was a voluntary one; Jesus was always completely in control of the situation surrounding his arrest, trials, and crucifixion (see John 10:18 ). There is a parallel with 1 John 2:6 – there, as here, the life of Jesus (during his earthly ministry) becomes the example for believers to follow. This in turn underscores the importance of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry (especially his sacrificial death on the cross), a point of contention between the author and his opponents in 1 John. See 1 John 4:10 for a further parallel.


text: Once again the verb μένω ( menw ) is used of a spiritual reality (in this case the love of God) which does or does not reside in a person. Although the author uses the indefinite relative whoever ( Grk ὃς δ᾿ ἄν , Jos d ’ an ), it is clear that he has the opponents in view here. This is the only specific moral fault he ever charges the opponents with in the entire letter. It is also clear that the author sees it as impossible that such a person, who refuses to offer help in his brother’s time of need (and thus ‘hates’ his brother rather than ‘loving’ him, cf. 3:15 ) can have any of the love which comes from God residing in him. This person, from the author’s dualistic ‘either/or’ perspective, cannot be a believer. The semantic force of the deliberative rhetorical question, “How can the love of God reside in such a person?”, is therefore a declarative statement about the spiritual condition of the opponents: “The love of God cannot possibly reside in such a person.”


text: How can the love of God reside in such a person? is a rhetorical question which clearly anticipates a negative answer: The love of God cannot reside in such a person.


text: The noun truth here has been interpreted in various ways: (1) There are a number of interpreters who understand the final noun in this series, truth ( ἀληθείᾳ , alhqeia ) in an adverbial sense (“truly” or “in sincerity”), describing the way in which believers are to love. If the two pairs of nouns are compared, however, it is hard to see how the second noun with tongue ( γλώσσῃ , glwssh ) in the first pair can have an adverbial sense. (2) It seems better to understand the first noun in each pair as produced by the second noun: Words are produced by the tongue, and the (righteous) deeds with which believers are to love one another are produced by the truth.


text: The author of 1 John repeatedly attributes the commandments given to believers as given by God the Father, even though in John 13:34-35 it was Jesus who gave the commandment to love one another. 2 John 4-5 also attributes the commandment to love one another directly to the Father. Thus it is clear that God the Father is the subject of the verb gave here in 3:23 .