Fellowship in the Life Eternal 1 John
FELLOWSHIP IN THE
LIFE ETERNAL
AN EXPOSITION OF THE
EPISTLES OF ST JOHN
BY
GEORGE G. FINDLAY, D.D.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON MCMIX (1909)
[Digitized by Ted Hildebrandt, GordonCollege, 2006]
UXORI DILECTISSIMAE
PER TRIGINTA TRES ANNOS
PRECUM ET LABORUM CONSORTI
COHEREDI GRATIAE VITAE.
PREFACE
THE Exposition here presented was first delivered
sixteen years ago to the Headingley students of
that time, and is published partly at their request.
Chapters of it have appeared, occasionally, in the
pages of the Expositor, the Wesleyan, Methodist Maga-
zine, and Experience; these have been carefully
revised and re-written. The features of the work
and the method of treatment will be apparent from
the full Table of Contents that is furnished. I have
had primarily in view the needs of theological
students and preachers; but professional language
has been avoided and matters of technical scholarship
kept in the background, and I venture to hope that
the interpretation may be of service to other readers
who are interested in questions of New Testament
doctrine and Christian experience. To no age since
his own has St John had more to say than to ours;
the opening of the twentieth century is, in some
ways, wonderfully near to the close of the first.
Amongst previous interpreters of the Epistles of
John, my debts—at least, my more immediate debts—
are greatest to Lucke, Erich Haupt, Rothe, and
Westcott. Lucke excelled in grammatical and logical
vii
viii PREFACE
acumen; Haupt in analytic power and theological
reflexion; Rothe was supreme in spiritual insight
and fineness of touch; in Westcott there was a
unique combination of all these gifts, though he may
have been surpassed in any single one of them.
Neither Lucke's nor Rothe's commentaries, unfortu-
nately, have been translated from the German.
GEORGE G. FINDLAY.
HEADINGLEY.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I
PAGE
THE TWO LITTLE LETTERS (2 and 3 John) 3
Nature of the Two Notes—The Apostle John's Correspondence—
Private or Public Letters?—Connexion between 2 and 3 John—
Relation of both to I John—Causes of their Survival.
CHAPTER II
HOSPITALITY IN THE EARLY CHURCH (2 and 3 John)13
Importance of the Imperial Roman Roads—Churches echeloned
along the Great Highways—W. M. Ramsay upon Travelling at the
Christian Era—Hospitality an essential Church Function—Enter-
tainment of Itinerant Ministers—Abuse of Church Hospitality—
The Didache—St John's Solicitude on the subject.
CHAPTER III
THE ELECT LADY (2 John)23
The words e]klekth> kuri<a—Theory of Dr Bendel Harris—Vindication
of rendering "Lady"—Proof of the Public Destination of 2 John-
Lady-ship of the Church—The Apostle's relations to the Church in
question--Possibility of identifying the “Elect Lady.”
CHAPTER IV
GAIUS, DEMETRIUS, DIOTREPHES (3 John) 35
3 John full of Personalities—Three Typical Characters of late
Apostolic Times—The Gaiuses of the New Testament—Gaius of
ix
x CONTENTS
PAGE
Porgamum—His Characterization—The name Demetrius—A Tra-
velling Assistant of St John—His Visit to Gaius' Church—The
Triple Testimony to him—Diotrephes the Marplot—Significance of
his Name—Nature of his Influence—His Insolence toward the
Apostle—Indications of the State of the Johannine Churches.
CHAPTER V
THE APOSTLE JOHN IN HIS LETTERS47
St John's Reserve — Companionship with St Peter — Contrast
between the Friends—St John's Place in the PrimitiveChurch—
The Apostle of Love—The Apostle of Wrath—Combination of the
Mystical and Matter-of-fact—St John's Symbolism a product of
this Union—Twofold Conflict of the Church: Imperial Persecution,
Gnosticizing Error.
CHAPTER VI
SCOPE AND CHARACTER OF THE FIRST EPISTLE59
The Letter a Written Homily—Addressed to Settled Christians—St
John's Ministry that of Edification—Complement of St Peter's
Ministry—Continuation of St Paul's Ministry—Polemical Aim of
the Epistle—Connexion of this with its Ethical Strain—Comparison
of St John's Teaching with St Paul's—Obligation of the latter to
the former—Absence of Epistolary Formulae—"We" and "I" in
the Epistle—An Epistle General—Traits of Johannine Authorship
—Relation of Epistle to Gospel of John—Analysis of 1 John—
Appendix: Tables of Parallels.
DIVISION I: FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD
(CHAPTER 1. 1-2. 27)
CHAPTER VII
THE MANIFESTED LIFE (1 John 1. 1-4)83
Construction of the Passage—The Eternal Life unveiled—Gnostic
Dualism of Nature and Spirit—"In the Beginning" and "From
the Beginning"—Actuality of the Manifestation—Competence of
the Witnesses—Fellowship of Men in the Testimony—Fellowship
with God through the Testimony.
CONTENTS xi
CHAPTER VIII
PAGE
FELLOWSHIP IN THE LIGHT OF GOD (1 John 1. 5-10)95
The Gospel a Message about God, proposing Fellowship with God
—The Old Gods and the New God—The God of Philosophy—The
Incubus of Idolatry—God as Pure Light —Light a Socializing
Power—One Light for all Intelligence—Blindness to God the
mother of Strife—Cleansing through the Blood of Jesus—Three
Ways of opposing the Light of God.
CHAPTER IX
THE ADVOCATE AND THE PROPITIATION (1 John 2. 1, 2)111
Aim of the Gospel the Abolition of Sin—Perversion of the Doctrine
of Gratuitous Pardon—Ground of the Apostle's Joy in his Children
—Case of a Sinning Brother—Implication of the Society—Resort to
the Advocate—Discrepancy in St John's Teaching —The title
Paraclete—Advocate and High Priest—Character and Competency title
of the Advocate—Disposition of the Judge—The Advocate has
"somewhat to offer"—The term Propitiation — Heathen and
Jewish Propitiations — The Scandal of the Cross to Modern
Thought -- The Cost of the Propitiation to its Offerer—Law
operative in Redeeming Grace—The Advocate in the Sinner's place
—Universal Scope of the Propitiation.
CHAPTER X
THE TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD (1 John 2. 3-6)133
Elements of Fellowship with God— Connexion of Ideas in chap. 2. 1-6
—Danger of Providing for Sin in Believers—Loyalty the Test and
Guard of Forgiveness—What is keeping of Commands?—What the
Commands to be kept?—Good Conscience of Commandment-keeper
—Falseness of Knowledge of God without Obedience—Knowledge
translated into Love—Love the Soul of Loyalty—"Perfecting" of
God's Love—"The Commandments" and "the Word" of God—
Communion passing into Union with God—Mutual Indwelling—
Jesus the Example of Life in God—The Features of His Image.
CHAPTER XI
THE OLD AND NEW COMMANDMENT (1 John 2. 7-11)155
Teaching of last Paragraph familiar to Readers—"The Command-
ment" Christ's Law of Brother-love — St John harps on this
xii CONTENTS
PAGE
String—The Breaker of the Christian Rule—The Sin of Hatred—
Its Course and Issue—The Scandal it Creates—Life in the Light—
The Commandment of Love Old as the Gospel—Old as Revelation
—Old as the Being of God—New as the Incarnation and the Cross
—"New in Him, and in You"—The Novelty of Christian Brother-
hood—Dawn of the World's New Day.
CHAPTER XII
RELIGION IN AGE AND YOUTH (1 John 2. 12-14)177
Pause in the Letter—"I write," "I have written"—Little
Children, Fathers, Young Men—All knowing the Father through
Forgiveness — The "Fathers" deep in Knowledge of Christ-
Christology the Crown of Christian Thinking—"Young Men" and
their Strength—Violence of Passion—Allurements of Novelty—
Beacon Light of Scripture—The Militant Strength of Young Men.
CHAPTER XIII
THE LOVE THAT PERISHES (1 John 2. 15-17) 195
The Rival Loves—"The World" in St John—To be loved and to be
loathed—The Church and the World--"All that is in the World"
—The Temptations in the Garden and in the Desert—Physical
Appetite—Subjection of the Body — AEsthetic Sensibility—The
Worlds of Fashion and of Art—Life's Vainglory—Intellectual
Ambition — Pride of Wealth — The Essence of Worldliness —
Transience of the Evil World—Of the Roman Empire—Of the
Kingdom of Satan on Earth.
CHAPTER XIV
THE LAST HOUR (1 John 2. 18-27) 213
St John in Old Age —The Veteran sure of Victory—Seceders from
the Church—"Last Hour" of the Apostolic Age—Ignorance of
Times and Seasons—Cyclical Course of History—Etymology of
"Antichrist"—Gnostic Denial of the Son of God — Separation
of "Jesus" from "Christ"—Axiom of Gnosticism--Safeguards of
Faith—The Chrism of the Spirit—The Witness of the Apostles—
The Promise of Christ.
CONTENTS xiii
DIVISION II: SONSHIP TOWARD GOD
(CHAPTER 2. 28-5. 12)
CHAPTER XV
PAGE
THE FILIAL CHARACTER AND HOPE (1 John 2. 28-3. 3) 229
Main Division of the Letter—Comparison of its two Halves—St
John awaiting Christ's Coming — New Testament Horizon —
Confidence or Shame at the Judgement-seat—Pauline and Johannine
Eschatology--"Begotten of God"—Doing the Vital Thing—The
Righteous Father and Righteous Sons--"Look, what Love!"—To
be, and to be called, God's Children--Veiling of the Sons of
God—The Hope of Glory — Internal and External Likeness to
Christ—Vision presumes Assimilation—Purification by Hope.
CHAPTER XVI
THE INADMISSIBILITY OF SIN (1 John 3. 4-9)253
Hope awakens Fear—Five Reasons against Sin in Believers—Sin
Ruinous—Sin Illegal—Deepening of Sense of Sin in Scripture—The
Constitutional Objection to Sin—Sin Unchristian — Bearing and
Removing Sin—Sinlessness of Sin's A.bolisher — Sin and Christ
Incompatibles—Paradox of a Sinning Christian—Sin Diabolical-
Extra-human Origin of Sin—The Dominion of Satan—Its coming
Dissolution—"Children of the Devil"--Sin Unnatural in God's
Child—The Facts of Saintship—The Source of Saintship—The
Christian non possumus—St John's High Doctrine of Holiness.
CHAPTER XVII
LOVE AND HATRED, AND THEIR PATTERNS (1 John 3. 10-18)273
Divine or Diabolic Sonship "manifest"—Two Sorts of Men—
Personality of the Evil One—Marks of Spiritual Parentage—Love
the Burden of the Gospel—Diligo, ergo sum--The Master of Love,
and His Lesson—Testing of Love by Material Needs—Cain a
Prototype—Evil must hate Good—Implicit Murder—Misanthropy.
CHAPTER XVIII
CHRISTIAN HEART ASSURANCE (1 John 3. 19-24)289
Probing of the Uneasy Conscience—Double Ground of Re-assurance
—Love, Faith's Saviour—Love, the Touchstone of Knowledge-
xiv CONTENTS
PAGE
"We shall persuade our Hearts"—The Scrutiny of God—Assurance
by the Spirit's Witness -- Peril of Mysticism — Grammatical
Ambiguity in verses 19, 20—The Apostle warning, not soothing—
Grounds for Self-reproach—Christian Assurance and Prevailing
Prayer—God's Favour toward Lovers of their Brethren.
CHAPTER XIX
THE TRIAL OF THE SPIRITS (1 John 4. 1-6)311
False Spirits abroad in the World—A Critical Epoch—Spurious
Inspiration — Some Popular Prophets—The Criteria of True and
False Christianity—The Doctrinal Test: the Person of Christ—
St Paul's Confessional Watchword, and St John's—The Practical
Test: the Consensus of Believers— The Historical Test: the
Authority of the Apostles—Papal Claims versus the New Testament
—Modernism on its Trial.
CHAPTER XX
THE DIVINITY OF LOVE (1 John 4. 7-14)327
Solidarity of Love in the Universe—Love of, not only from God—
Love the "One Thing needful"—Lovelessness of Man—Love and
other Attributes of the Godhead—The Incarnation the Outcome of
God's Fatherhood—Bethlehem consummated on Calvary — The
Surrender of the Son by the Father for Man's sake—The Conquests
of God's Father-love—Divine Love " perfected " in Good Men—
Thwarted in Selfish Men.
CHAPTER XXI
SALVATION BY LOVE (1 John 4. 15-21)343
St John's Freshness in Repetition—God in Men that love Him—
Men love Him for sending His Son—Chilling Effect of a minimizing
Christology—Faith reproduces the Love it apprehends —Love
removes Fear of Judgement—Confidence of the Christ-like—Fear a
Salutary Punishment—Learning Love from God—The Lie of loving
God alone—Orthodoxy without Charity—God no Monopolist.
CHAPTER XXII
THE CONQUERING FAITH (1 John 5. 1-5)359
St John's Life-span—The World of his Time—The Long Campaign
—The Centre of the Battle—Ancient Doketism—Modern Hu-
CONTENTS xv
PAGE
manism—A Real Incarnation and Atonement—Love and Discipline
—Loving the Begetter in the Begotten—Depth and Breadth of
Christian Love—The Anvil of Character—Failure of Undisciplined
Churches—"His Commandments not grievous."
CHAPTER XXIII
THE THREE WITNESSES, AND THE ONE TESTIMONY
(1 John 5. 6-12) 377
Transcendental and Experimental in St John—His Gospel an
Autobiography—The Three Heavenly Witnesses—One Jesus Christ
—"Through Water and Blood"—The Lord's Baptism and Cruci-
fixion—Crises of St John's Faith—The Testimony of Pentecost—
Three Witnesses merged in One—"Making God a Liar"—Witness
of the Christian Consciousness.
THE EPILOGUE (CHAPTER 5. 13-21)
CHAPTER XXIV
THE ETERNAL LIFE, AND THE SIN UNTO DEATH (1 John
5. 13-17) 395
Postscript to the Letter—Purpose of Gospel and Epistle—Faith and
Assurance of Faith—The Certainty of Life Eternal—Practical Use
of Christian Assurance—"Asking according to His Will" — The
Possibilities of Intercessory Prayer—A Limit to Prayer—What is
the "Sin unto Death"?—Mortal and Venial Sins—The Case of
Jeremiah and his People—The Mystery of Inhibited Prayer.
CHAPTER XXV
THE APOSTOLIC CREED (1 John 5. 18-21)415
The three-fold "We know"—St John's Positiveness—The Order of
his Creed—"I believe in Holiness"—The Blight of Cynicism—The
Son of God Keeper of God's Sons—The Question of Entire Sanctifi-
cation—"I believe in Regeneration"—A "World lying in the
Evil One"—Mystery of New Births—The Christian Noblesse oblige
—"I believe in the Mission of the Son of God"—Come to stay—
Christian Use of the Understanding—The True God and the Idols
—Christ come to conquer.
INTRODUCTION
THE TWO LITTLE LETTERS
THE SECOND AND THIRD EPISTLES OF ST JOHN
Nature of the two Notes—The Apostle John's Correspondence—Private
or Public Letters?—Connexion between 2 and 3 John—Relation of both
to 1 John—Causes of their Survival.
"The Elder to the Elect Lady and her children."--2 JOHN 1.
"The Elder to Gaius the beloved."--3 JOHN 1.
CHAPTER I
THE TWO LITTLE LETTERS
THE Second and Third Epistles of John are the
shortest books, of the Bible. They contain in
the Greek less than three hundred words apiece;
closely written, each might cover a single sheet of
papyrus—to this material the word "paper" (chartes)
refers in 2 John 12. Together they barely fill a page
out of the eight or nine hundred pages of the English
Bible. These brief notes, or dispatches, appear to have
been thrown off by the Apostle in the ordinary course
of his Church-administration, and may have occupied
in their composition but a few moments of his time; in
all likelihood, he wrote scores of such letters, bearing
upon public or private affairs, during his long presi-
dency over the Christian societies of Asia Minor. By
a happy providence, these two have been preserved to
us out of so much that has perished with the occasion.
Doubt has been entertained, both in ancient and
modern times, as to whether these notes should
not be ascribed to another "John the Elder," of
whose existence some traces are found in the ear-
liest Church history, rather than to the Apostle
of that name; but their close affinity to the First
Epistle of John sustains the general tradition as to
their authorship and vindicates them for the beloved
Apostle. The writer assumes, as matter of course, a
unique personal authority, and that in a Church to
which he does not belong by residence, such as no
Life Eternal 3
4 THE TWO LITTLE LETTERS
post-apostolic Father presumed to arrogate; that St
John should have styled himself familiarly "the elder"
in writing to his friends and children in the faith, is a
thing natural enough and consistent with his tem-
perament. Those scholars may be in the right who
conjecture that "the Elder John" of tradition is
nothing but a double of the Apostle John.
It was surely their slight and fugitive character,
rather than any misgiving about their origin, which
excluded these writings from the New Testament of
the SyrianChurch and led to their being counted in
other quarters amongst the antilegomena, or disputed
Books of Scripture. They were overshadowed by the
First Epistle, beside which they look almost insignifi-
cant; and to this fact it is due, as well as to their
brevity and the obscurity of their allusions, that the
Second and Third Epistles of John were seldom quoted
in early times and are comparatively neglected by
readers of the Bible.
These are notes snatched from the every-day
correspondence of an Apostle. They afford us a
glance into the common intercourse that went on
between St John and his friends—and enemies (for
enemies the Apostle of love certainly had, as the
First Epistle shows). They add little or nothing to
our knowledge of Johannine doctrine; but they throw
a momentary light upon the state of the Churches
under St John's jurisdiction toward the close of the
first century and the intercommunion linking them
together; they indicate some of the questions which
agitated the first Christian societies, and the sort of
personalities who figured amongst them. These brief
documents lend touches of local colour and personal
feeling to the First Epistle, which deals with doctrine
and experience in a studiously general way. Taken
along with the Apocalyptic Letters to the Seven
Churches, they help us, in some sort, to imagine the
aged Apostle in "his habit as he lived"—the most
retired and abstracted of all the great actors of the
THE TWO LITTLE LETTERS 5
New Testament. They serve to illustrate St John's
disposition and methods, and reveal something of the
nature and extent of his influence. These scanty
lines possess, therefore, a peculiar historical and bio-
graphical interest; and their right interpretation is a
matter of considerable moment.
The First Epistle of John appears without Address,
Salutation, or Farewell Greetings, without personal
notes or local allusions of any kind. It is wanting in
the ordinary features of a letter, and is in literary
form a homily rather than an Epistle. The two notes
attached to it supply, to some extent, this defect.
They stand in close relation to the major Epistle;