1 John 5:18

(3) SOME PRACTICAL POINTS RECAPITULATED ( 1John 5:18-21 ). (a)God’s sons do not sin (1John 5:18). St. John refers back to “that ye may know” in 1John 5:13, and sums up three points from former portions of the Epistle, describing the true consciousness of the Christian. Each begins with “We know.” (18) Sinneth not.—There is no reason to supply “unto death.” (Comp. the Note on 1John 3:9.) St. John means strongly to insist, in this the solemn close of his Letter, that the true ideal Christian frame is the absence of wilful sin. Stumbles there may be, even such as need the prayers of friends, but intentional lawlessness there cannot be. But he that is begotten of God keepeth himself.—Rather, he that is begotten of God keepeth him: that is, the Son of God preserves him. (Comp. John 6:39; John 10:28; John 17:12; John 17:15.) And that wicked one toucheth him not.—The last mention of the devil was in 1John 3:10. The devil and his angels attack, but cannot influence so long as the Christian abides in Christ. (Comp. 1Peter 5:8; Ephesians 6:11; Revelation 3:10.) (3 b.) Personal assurance that we are God’s sons (1John 5:19). Next after the cardinal point that righteousness is the characteristic of the new birth comes the necessity that the Christian should make up his mind that he has been, or is being, born again, and is really different from the world.

The proofs would be seen in 1John 1:6; 1John 2:3; 1John 2:5; 1John 2:29; 1John 3:9; 1John 3:14; 1John 3:19; 1John 3:24; 1John 4:7; 1John 4:13; 1John 4:15; 1John 5:1; 1John 5:10. (19) The whole world lieth in wickedness.—Rather, the wicked one. There is a constant danger lest Christians should forget this. (Comp. Galatians 1:4.) (3 c.) Personal assurance of the Incarnation, of the gift of the spiritual sense, and of abiding in the God of Truth through His Son (1John 5:20). The series ends with a climax: the Son is indeed come; He gave us the faculty of seeing the true God; and in that Almighty Being we actually are. through the Son. The greatest fact of all to St. John’s mind is that his Friend and Master of sixty years ago was the very Word made flesh. (Comp. 1John 1:1-2; 1John 2:13; 1John 2:22-23; 1John 3:5; 1John 3:8; 1John 3:16; 1John 3:23; 1John 4:2; 1John 4:9-10; 1John 5:1; 1John 5:5; 1John 5:9; 1John 5:11.) (20) And hath given us an understanding.—Comp. Acts 26:18; 1Corinthians 2:12-15; Ephesians 1:18. This spiritual faculty of discernment was one of the gifts of that Spirit which Christ was to send. (Comp. 1John 2:20; 1John 2:27; John 14:26; John 16:13.) Him that is true.—The personality of God. Amid all the deceptions and fluctuations of the world, St. John felt, with the most absolute and penetrating and thankful conviction, that the followers of Christ were rooted and grounded in perfect, unshakable, unassailable truth.

{17} We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. (17) A reason why not all, or rather why no sin is mortal to some: that is, because they are born of God, that is to say, made the sons of God in Christ, and being ended with his Spirit, they do not serve sin, nor are they mortally wounded by Satan.

The great advantage is here signified of the regenerate, who, by the seed remaining in them, {as 1Jo 3:9} are furnished with a self-preserving principle, with the exercise whereof they may expect that co-operation of a gracious Divine influence by which they shall be kept, so as that wicked one, the great destroyer of souls, shall not mortally touch them, to make them sin unto death.

1 John 5:18-19 . We know, &c. — As if he had said, Yet this gives no encouragement to sin. On the contrary, it is an indisputable truth, that whosoever is born of God — That is, regenerated and made a new creature; see on 1 John 2:29 ; sinneth not — Doth not commit any known sin, so long as he lives by faith in the Son of God, and by that faith has union with Christ; but he that is begotten of God — By the word of truth, ( James 1:18 ; 1 Peter 1:23 ,) accompanied by the influence of the Divine Spirit; keepeth himself — By the aid of divine grace watching unto prayer, denying himself and taking up his cross daily; and that wicked one — Namely, the devil; toucheth him not — So as to overcome and lead him into known, wilful sin. And we know — By the testimony of the Holy Spirit and our own consciences; that we — Who believe in Christ, ( 1 John 5:13 ,) and are born of God, and made partakers of the divine nature; are of God — Belong to him, as his children and his heirs; and the whole world — All the rest of mankind, that are not such, all who have not his Spirit, are not only touched by him, but very generally are guilty of idolatry, fraud, violence, lasciviousness, impiety, and all manner of vice; lieth in wickedness — Rather, in the wicked one, as εν τω πονηρω signifies.

They are under his dominion: just as it is said of believers in the next verse, that they are εν τω αληθινω , in the true one. “The power of Satan in this lower world, and over its inhabitants, is often spoken of in Scripture. Thus Ephesians 2:2 , he is called the spirit which now worketh in the children of disobedience: 2 Corinthians 4:4 , he is termed the god of this world, and is said to blind the minds of them that believe not: 1 Peter 5:8 , he is called our adversary, and is said to be going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Further, 2 Timothy 2:26 , wicked men are said to be held in the snare of the devil, who ( Ephesians 6:11 ) is said to use wiles for the destruction of mankind, and ( 2 Corinthians 11:3 ) to have beguiled Eve by his subtlety.”

We know (οἴδαμεν) John uses this appeal to knowledge in two forms: we know (1 John 3:2, 1 John 3:14; 1 John 5:18, 1 John 5:19, 1 John 5:20); ye know (1 John 2:20; 1 John 3:5, 1 John 3:15). He that is begotten of God (ὁ γεννηθεὶς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ) Lit., was begotten. This exact phrase does not occur elsewhere. Some refer it to the man who is born of God, making it parallel with ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, he that is begotten of God. Others to Christ, the only-begotten of God. The later is preferable. That wicked one (ὁ πονηρὸς) See on 1 John 2:13. Rev., the evil one. Toucheth (ἅπτεται) See on John 20:17, the only other passage in John's writings where the verb occurs. Both this verb and θιγγάνω (Colossians 2:21; Hebrews 11:28; Hebrews 12:20) express a touch which exerts a modifying influence upon the object, though θιγγάνω indicates rather a superficial touch. On ψηλαφάω (Acts 27:27; Hebrews 12:18; 1 John 1:1), see on Luke 24:39. Compare Colossians 2:21. The idea here is layeth not hold of him.

1 John 5:18 . Οἴδαμεν , we know ) An instance of the figure Anaphora:[26] see the next verses.— ὅτι πᾶς , that every one ) Now he takes care that no one abuse, verses 16, 17, to the purpose of (carnal) security.— γεγεννημένος ) Shortly afterwards γεννηθείς . The Perfect has a loftier sound than the Aorist. An old lexicon says, ὠψωνηκότες , μέγα · ὀψωνήσαντες δὲ , μικρόν . Not only does he who has made great advancement in regeneration, but any one who has been born again, keep himself.— τηρεῖ ἑαυτὸν , keepeth himself ) he is not wanting to himself from within.— οὐχ ἅπτεται , toucheth him not ) The regenerate is not ruined from without. The wicked one approaches, as a fly does to the candle; but he does not injure him, he does not even touch him. The antithesis is lieth , 1 John 5:19 . [26] See Append. on this figure.—E.

18. (1Jo 3:9.) We know—Thrice repeated emphatically, to enforce the three truths which the words preface, as matters of the brethren's joint experimental knowledge. This 1Jo 5:18 warns against abusing 1Jo 5:16, 17, as warranting carnal security. whosoever—Greek, "every one who." Not only advanced believers, but every one who is born again, "sinneth not." he that is begotten—Greek aorist, "has been (once for all in past time) begotten of God"; in the beginning of the verse it is perfect. "Is begotten," or "born," as a continuing state. keepeth himself—The Vulgate translates, "The having been begotten of God keepeth HIM" (so one of the oldest manuscripts reads): so Alford. Literally, "He having been begotten of God (nominative pendent), it (the divine generation implied in the nominative) keepeth him." So 1Jo 3:9, "His seed remaineth in him." Still, in English Version reading, God's working by His Spirit inwardly, and man's working under the power of that Spirit as a responsible agent, is what often occurs elsewhere. That God must keep us, if we are to keep ourselves from evil, is certain. Compare Joh 17:15 especially with this verse. that wicked one toucheth him not—so as to hurt him. In so far as he realizes his regeneration-life, the prince of this world hath nothing in him to fasten his deadly temptations on, as in Christ's own case. His divine regeneration has severed once for all his connection with the prince of this world.