ARGUMENTUM.
Rationem verbi, et quod Deus ipse sit charitas, manifestat, et susurrones fratrum nec Deum scire, nec pios fieri posse eousque dissertat, ut esse comprobet homicidas, eo quod odium sit interfectionis occasio.
THE ARGUMENT.
He makes plain the nature of the Word, and that God himself is charity, and he discourses of the whisperers against the brethren, that they can neither know God nor be made godly, so far that he proves them to be murderers, in that hatred is the occasion of killing.
CAPUT PRIMUM.
VERS. 1.-- Quod fuit ab initio. In natura, seu vero esse Deitatis, quod audivimus, per legem et prophetas, quod vidimus, sensibiliter hominem venientem, quod perspeximus, Divinitatem advertentes in homine, et manus contrectaverunt, de Verbo vitae: non fortuitu consentientes ei qui in carne visus, sed cum multa contrectatione Scripturas perhibentes 694Dtestimonium de ipso Verbo. Quod vidit aliquis nuntiare potest aliis, quod perfecte conspexerit aliquando, non potest explicare verbis.
VERS. 2.-- Vidimus et testes sumus. Vidimus et incredulis annuntiantes martyres effecti sumus. Annuntiamus vobis. Sic per eos audivimus nos, sed non vidimus, non minus tamen felices quam illi, quia scriptum est: Beati qui non viderunt et crediderunt (Luc. XXIV).
VERS. 5.-- Et haec est annuntiatio. Quare Verbum caro factum? quid novi attulit mundo? Cur venit pati? Non frustra fuit, vide quid voluit docere, quia Deus lux est. Hac sententia divinae puritatis excellentiam monstrat, quam imitari jubemur. Hinc Manichaei confutantur qui Dei naturam a principe 695Atenebrarum dicunt bello victam et vitiatam. Annuntiamus, etc. Applicuimus nos: ad lucem lux nobis irradiavit. Tenebrae eramus, modo per lucem lux sumus, et alios illuminamus, dum peccata dimitti et tenebras expelli nuntiamus.
VERS. 6.-- Si dixerimus. Hactenus commendatio epistolae; hic ostendit qualiter charitas sit habenda. Et in tenebris, etc. Persistentes in peccatis, et alios obscurantes non computantur in membris ejus; unde: Quae conventio Christi ad Belial? quae societas lucis ad tenebras? (II Cor. VI.)
VERS. 7.-- Si autem in luce. Sumus mundi, si ambulamus in luce, sed tamen non debemus putare nos, quandiu vivimus, omnino posse a peccatis mundari. Sicut et ipse, etc. Deus in luce esse dicitur, 695Bquia summa bonitas ubi proficere valeat non invenit, homo in luce ambulat, quia virtutum operibus ad meliora proficit.
VERS. 8.-- Si dixerimus, etc. Illi etiam non habent charitatem qui de meritis superbientes se dicunt esse mundos. Habemus. Non ait, habuimus: ne forte de praeteritis dictum videretur.
VERS. 9.-- Remittat nobis peccata. Ea quae in nobis sunt graviora, vocat peccata, at minora, appellat iniquitatem.
VERS. 10.-- Mendacem. Solus Deus ex se verax: homo ex Deo verax, ex se mendax. Impossibile est quemlibet sanctum aliquando non cadere in minimis peccatis. Nec justi esse desistunt, quia ocius opitulante Deo resurgunt.
CHAPTER ONE.
VERS. 1.-- That which was from the beginning. In the nature, or the true being, of the Godhead, which we have heard, through the law and the prophets, which we have seen, coming as man in a manner perceptible to the senses, which we have looked upon, discerning the Godhead in the man, and hands have handled, of the Word of life: not agreeing by chance with him who was seen in the flesh, but with much handling bringing forward the Scriptures as 694Dtestimony concerning the Word himself. What a man has seen he can announce to others, what he has at some time perfectly beheld he cannot unfold in words.
VERS. 2.-- We have seen and are witnesses. We have seen, and by announcing to unbelievers we have been made martyrs. We declare unto you. Thus we have heard through them, but we have not seen, yet we are not less blessed than they, because it is written: Blessed are they that have not seen and have believed (Luc. XXIV).
VERS. 5.-- And this is the declaration. Why was the Word made flesh? what new thing did he bring to the world? Why did he come to suffer? It was not in vain, see what he willed to teach, that God is light. By this sentence he shows the excellence of the divine purity, which we are bidden to imitate. Hence the Manichaeans are refuted, who say that the nature of God was conquered in war by the prince of 695Adarkness and corrupted. We declare, etc. We have applied ourselves: unto light, light has shone upon us. We were darkness, now through the light we are light, and we enlighten others, while we announce that sins are forgiven and darkness driven out.
VERS. 6.-- If we shall say. Thus far the commendation of the epistle; here he shows in what manner charity is to be held. And in darkness, etc. Those who persist in sins, and who darken others, are not counted among his members; whence: What concord hath Christ with Belial? what fellowship hath light with darkness? (II Cor. VI.)
VERS. 7.-- But if in the light. We are clean, if we walk in the light, but yet we ought not to think that we can, so long as we live, be wholly cleansed from sins. As he also is, etc. God is said to be in the light, 695Bbecause the highest goodness does not find where it may advance, man walks in the light, because by works of the virtues he advances to better things.
VERS. 8.-- If we shall say, etc. Those also have not charity who, being proud of their merits, say that they are clean. We have. He does not say, we had: lest perchance it should seem to have been said of things past.
VERS. 9.-- That he may forgive us sins. Those things in us which are graver, he calls sins, but the lesser, he calls iniquity.
VERS. 10.-- We make him a liar. God alone is truthful of himself: man is truthful from God, of himself a liar. It is impossible that any saint should at some time not fall into the least sins. Nor do they cease to be just, because with God's help they rise again the more quickly.
CAPUT II.
VERS. 1.-- Filioli mei, haec scribo, etc. Ne malam securitatem assumatis, audientes vos a Deo mundari, sed utilem timorem habeatis. Si quis peccaverit. Si ex humana fragilitate non potestis omnia vitia cavere, date operam ut saltem majora et apertiora caveatis, ut non apprehendat vos tentatio nisi humana. Quod si quis etiam post admonitionem meam ceciderit, non desperet. Advocatum. Non est advocatus nisi eum vocantibus. Displiceant peccata tibi, clama: et ipse audit et liberat. Justum. Justus advocatus injustas causas non suscipit, qui tamen justos nos defendet in judicio, si nos nunc accusamus injustos.
695DVERS. 3.-- Et in hoc scimus. Scire vel cognoscere, non semper propter notitiam dicitur, sed propter experimentum et unionem alterius rei. Cognoscimus Deum quando unimur ei. Qui sic noscit, mandata ejus servat. Si mandata ejus observamus. Debemus fragilitatem nostram attendere, debemus in peccatis advocatum quaerere, quod ut impetremus, de custodiendis mandatis laboremus, per quae ad cognitionem ipsius venitur.
VERS. 4.-- Qui dicit se nosse, etc. Non est magnum unum Deum nosse, cum et daemones credant et contremiscant.
VERS. 7.-- Non mandatum novum. Eadem charitas mandatum vetus est, quia ab initio commendata. 696AEadem est novum mandatum, quia tenebris, ejectis desiderium novae lucis infundit.
VERS. 8.-- Quod verum est. Secundum quod promisit per observationem mandatorum Dei ad ipsius cognitionem et dilectionem perveniri. Et in ipso. Christo impletum, quia obedivit Patri usque ad mortem: et ideo glorificatus est. Et in vobis. Quorum quidam jam per hoc cum Deo gloriantur, et vere est novum quia tenebrae jam transierunt. Tenebrae ad veterem hominem pertinent, lux vero ad novum hominem.
VERS. 9.-- Qui dicit, etc. Determinat quod mandatum accipiat, id est charitatem, et qualiter charitas ipsa habenda sit, scilicet dilectio Dei et proximi.
VERS. 10, 11.-- Qui diligit fratrem suum, est in 696Blumine scientiae et operationis; sed qui odit est in tenebris ignorantiae, et per ipsam ignorantiam ambulat de vitio in vitium, et nescit, id est non providet, quo eat; et ad quam poenam recipiendus sit. Vel, nescit quo eat, id est ignorat viam qua convertatur ad melius, et hoc non ideo, quasi via aperta non sit, sed quia tenebrae obcaecaverunt oculos ejus, qui a lumine Christi recedens peccatis et carnali voluptate ita praepeditur, ut etiamsi bonum videat, non tamen exsequatur.
VERS. 12.-- Scribo vobis, etc. Praeponit causam quae posset eos abstrahere ab amore mundi, quia baptizatis in nomine Christi et invocantibus nomen Christi, dimittuntur peccata, ergo Christo magis adhaerendum est quam mundo. Filioli. Patres, adolescentes, 696Cjuvenes. Ideo filii: quia remittuntur peccata. Ideo patres, quia cognovistis antiqua. Ideo juvenes, quia fortes, quia vicistis.
VERS. 13.-- Adolescentes. Adolescentiae tempus propter incentiva carnis lubricum; sed propter robur aetatis habile certamini, et hi tentamenta voluptatum verbi Dei amore vicerunt, et persecutiones contempserunt.
VERS. 14.-- Et vicistis. Trahebantur tunc temporis juvenes consuetudine ad lupanar, sed isti viriliter resistendo vincebant.
VERS. 15.-- Nolite diligere mundum. Utimini mundo ad necessitatem, sed non diligite ad superfluitatem. Et carnis curam ne feceritis in desideriis. Nolite diligere mundum. Unum cor duos sibi adversarios 696Damores non capit. Radicati in charitate, super hanc radicem nihil aedificetis, nisi quod convenit charitati, quia non potestis duobus dominis servire. Sicut dilectio Dei fons omnium virtutum, ita dilectio mundi omnium vitiorum.
VERS. 16.-- Omne quod est in mundo. (BEDA.) Id est: Omnes dilectores mundi, nihil habent nisi haec tria, quibus, etc., usque ad noluit extolli super regna mundi.
VERS. 17.-- Qui autem facit voluntatem, etc. Hoc etiam modo potest haberi charitas, si nimirum nullo instinctu hae eticorum dejecti estis a fide et caeteris quae sunt Dei. Et ut eam teneatis, permaneant in vobis quae audistis ab initio.
697AVERS. 18.-- Filioli, novissima hora est. Et propterea debetis persistere, quia multi sunt Antichristi qui vos volunt seducere. Sicut audistis quia Antichristus venit. Cum quanto enim impetu et terrore audistis venturum Antichristum, cum tanta violentia et isti veniunt. In undecima hora sumus, venit Salvator in carne, et secutura est pestis Antichristi, qui praeconia salutis impugnet, qui vineam quam Christus excolit exstirpet, et hujus nequissimi capitis jam multa membra praemissa sunt, a quibus cavendum est, quia jam imminet finis saeculi; vel novissima hora, id est similis novissimae, similis est haec persecutio illi futurae. Nunc Antichristi multi. Antichristi sunt omnes haeretici, omnes qui fidem quam confitentur verbis destruunt 697Bactibus; omnes Christo contrarii, qui venturo suo capiti testimonium reddunt, quia mysterium iniquitatis jam operatur in illis.
VERS. 19.-- Ex nobis prodierunt, etc. Licet sint multi Antichristi, non tamen vos terreat si ad judaismum vel paganismum redierunt, non ideo putetis Ecclesiam ex hoc pati aliquod damnum; quia si ex nobis exierunt, tamen non erant ex nobis veraciter. Non potuissent egredi nisi essent Christo contrarii. Qui non est Christo contrarius, in corpore Christi manet. Sic sunt ficti in Ecclesia quomodo humores mali in corpore; quando evomuntur, relevatur corpus; sic quando exeunt mali, relevatur Ecclesia. Sed ut manifesti. Multi qui non sunt ex nobis accipiunt nobiscum sacramenta Christi, sed 697Ctentatio probat quia non sunt ex nobis. Quando illis tentatio venerit, quasi occasione venti volant foras, quia grana non erant. Omnes tunc volabunt, cum area Dominica coeperit ventilari in die judicii. Ideo, permittente Deo, quidam ante ultimam dissensionem exeunt de Ecclesia, ostendentes se non fuisse de corpore Christi, ut per hoc manifeste clarescat, quoniam non sunt omnes ex nobis qui nobiscum intra positi sacramenta Christi recipiunt, et ideo non debet vos gravare eorum separatio.
VERS. 20.-- Sed vos unctionem habetis. Cum de haereticis loqueretur, repente ad suos conversus, dicit eos habere unctionem a Sancto, ut econtrario ostendat quod haeretici et omnes Antichristi, sint gratiae spiritualis munere privati, nec pertineant 697Dad eum qui Sanctus vocatur a prophetis. Nostis omnia. Nostis veritatem fidei et vitae, docti per unctionem Spiritus, nec opus habetis doceri, nisi ut persistatis in eo quod coepistis.
VERS. 21.-- Et quoniam omne mendacium. (BEDA.) Dixerat omne mendacium non esse ex veritate, etc., usque ad omnium qui Christi mandatis obtemperare contemnunt.
VERS. 22.-- Hic est Antichristus, etc. Ecce admoniti sumus quomodo cognoscamus Antichristum, scilicet, quicunque negat Christum, etc. Qui negat Patrem. Frustra confitetur Deum Patrem qui negat Filium, qui ex Deo procedit.
VERS. 24.-- Quod audistis, etc. Si quis dixerit: 698AEcce hic Christus, ecce illic, ne credideritis, sed hoc quod ab apostolis audistis, tenete. Et vos in Filio et Patre. Ita eritis membra Patris et Filii, ut a memoria et protectione Patris et Filii non excidatis, et hoc debetis appetere, ut sitis in Patre et Filio, quia inde mercedem consequemini.
VERS. 25.-- Haec est repromissio. Memoria promissae mercedis perseverantem te faciat in opere.
VERS. 27.-- Sed sicut unctio ejus. Id est Spiritus sanctus, cujus sacramentum est in unctione visibili; vel intelligitur unctio charitatis quae diffunditur in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis; quae ad observanda Dei mandata cor quod implet inflammat.
VERS. 28.-- Et nunc, filioli, manete. Crebra iteratione 698Binculcat, ut mentibus arctius infigat. Manete in eo. Et si quid boni habetis, illi totum et non vobis imputate; mala vobis et diabolo imputate.
VERS. 29.-- Omnis, etc. (BEDA.) Justitia perfecta vix est in angelis, etc., usque ad quando non erit lucta cum carne, sed triumphus de hoste.
Ex ipso. Jam si nati sumus ex justo, justitiam justi Patris sequi oportet.
CHAPTER II.
VERS. 1.-- My little children, these things I write, etc. Lest you take up an evil security, hearing that you are cleansed by God, but that you may have a profitable fear. If any man shall have sinned. If out of human frailty you cannot beware of all vices, give diligence that you beware at least of the greater and the more open ones, that temptation may not take hold of you except such as is human. But if anyone shall have fallen even after my admonition, let him not despair. We have an advocate. He is not an advocate save to those who call upon him. Let sins displease thee, cry out: and he both hears and sets free. Jesus Christ the just. A just advocate does not undertake unjust causes, yet he will defend us as just in the judgment, if we now accuse ourselves as unjust.
695DVERS. 3.-- And in this we know. To know or to recognize is not always said on account of acquaintance, but on account of experience and union with another thing. We know God when we are united to him. He who so knows, keeps his commandments. If we keep his commandments. We ought to attend to our frailty, we ought in our sins to seek an advocate, which that we may obtain, let us labour at the keeping of the commandments, through which one comes to the knowledge of him.
VERS. 4.-- He that saith that he knoweth him, etc. It is not a great thing to know one God, since the devils also believe and tremble.
VERS. 7.-- Not a new commandment. The same charity is the old commandment, because it was commended from the beginning. 696AThe same is a new commandment, because, the darkness being cast out, it pours in the desire of a new light.
VERS. 8.-- Which thing is true. According to that which he promised, that through the observance of God's commandments one comes to the knowledge and the love of him. And in him. Fulfilled in Christ, because he obeyed the Father unto death: and therefore he was glorified. And in you. Of whom certain ones already through this make their boast with God, and it is truly new because the darkness is now passed away. Darkness pertains to the old man, but light to the new man.
VERS. 9.-- He that saith, etc. He determines what commandment he takes, that is, charity, and in what manner charity itself is to be held, namely, the love of God and of the neighbour.
VERS. 10, 11.-- He that loveth his brother, is in the 696Blight of knowledge and of working; but he that hateth is in the darkness of ignorance, and through that very ignorance he walks from vice to vice, and knoweth not, that is, does not foresee, whither he goeth; and to what punishment he is to be received. Or, he knoweth not whither he goeth, that is, he is ignorant of the way by which he may be turned to better things, and this not for this reason, as though the way were not open, but because the darkness hath blinded his eyes, who, departing from the light of Christ, is so hindered by sins and by carnal pleasure that even if he sees the good, yet he does not follow it out.
VERS. 12.-- I write unto you, etc. He puts first a cause which might draw them away from the love of the world, because to those baptized in the name of Christ and calling upon the name of Christ, sins are forgiven, therefore one must cleave to Christ rather than to the world. Little children. Fathers, youths, 696Cyoung men. Therefore children: because sins are forgiven. Therefore fathers, because you have known ancient things. Therefore young men, because you are strong, because you have overcome.
VERS. 13.-- Youths. The time of youth is slippery because of the incitements of the flesh; but because of the vigour of that age it is fit for the contest, and these overcame the temptations of pleasures by the love of the word of God, and despised persecutions.
VERS. 14.-- And you have overcome. At that time young men were dragged by custom to the brothel, but these, by resisting manfully, kept overcoming.
VERS. 15.-- Love not the world. Use the world for necessity, but love it not for superfluity. And make not provision for the flesh in its desires. Love not the world. One heart does not hold two mutually adverse 696Dloves. Rooted in charity, build nothing upon this root except what befits charity, because you cannot serve two masters. As the love of God is the fountain of all virtues, so the love of the world is the fountain of all vices.
VERS. 16.-- All that is in the world. (BEDA.) That is: All lovers of the world have nothing but these three things, by which, etc., as far as he willed not to be exalted above the kingdoms of the world.
VERS. 17.-- But he that doth the will, etc. In this way also charity can be had, if indeed by no instigation of heretics hae eticorum you have been cast down from the faith and from the other things which are God's. And that you may hold it, let there remain in you the things which you have heard from the beginning.
697AVERS. 18.-- Little children, it is the last hour. And therefore you ought to persist, because there are many antichrists who wish to seduce you. As you have heard that Antichrist cometh. For with how great an onset and terror you have heard that Antichrist would come, with so great a violence do these also come. We are in the eleventh hour, the Saviour has come in the flesh, and the plague of Antichrist is to follow, who is to assail the proclamations of salvation, who is to root up the vineyard that Christ cultivates, and many members of this most wicked head have already been sent before, of whom we must beware, because the end of the world is now at hand; or the last hour, that is, like the last, this persecution is like that which is to come. Now there are many antichrists. All heretics are antichrists, all who destroy the faith which they confess in words 697Bby their acts; all who are contrary to Christ, who bear witness to their head that is to come, because the mystery of iniquity is already working in them.
VERS. 19.-- They went out from us, etc. Although there are many antichrists, yet let it not terrify you if they have returned to Judaism or to paganism, do not for that reason think that the Church suffers any loss from this; because if they went out from us, yet they were not truly of us. They could not have gone out unless they were contrary to Christ. He who is not contrary to Christ remains in the body of Christ. The feigned are in the Church just as evil humours are in the body; when they are vomited out, the body is relieved; so when the wicked go out, the Church is relieved. But that they may be made manifest. Many who are not of us receive with us the sacraments of Christ, but 697Ctemptation proves that they are not of us. When temptation shall have come upon them, they fly outside as if by occasion of a wind, because they were not grains. All will then fly, when the Lord's threshing-floor shall have begun to be winnowed in the day of judgment. Therefore, God permitting, certain men go out of the Church before the last dissension, showing that they were not of the body of Christ, that through this it may become manifestly clear that not all are of us who, placed within with us, receive the sacraments of Christ, and therefore their separation ought not to burden you.
VERS. 20.-- But you have the unction. When he was speaking of heretics, turning suddenly to his own, he says that they have the unction from the Holy One, that he may show on the contrary that heretics and all antichrists are deprived of the gift of spiritual grace, nor do they pertain 697Dto him who is called Holy by the prophets. You know all things. You know the truth of faith and of life, taught by the unction of the Spirit, nor have you need to be taught, save that you persist in that which you have begun.
VERS. 21.-- And that every lie. (BEDA.) He had said that every lie is not of the truth, etc., as far as of all who scorn to obey the commandments of Christ.
VERS. 22.-- This is Antichrist, etc. Behold, we are admonished how we may know Antichrist, namely, whosoever denieth Christ, etc. He that denieth the Father. In vain does he confess God the Father who denies the Son, who proceeds from God.
VERS. 24.-- That which you have heard, etc. If anyone shall say: 698ABehold, here is Christ, behold, there, believe not, but that which you have heard from the apostles, hold fast. And you also in the Son and in the Father. So shall you be members of the Father and of the Son, that you fall not away from the memory and the protection of the Father and of the Son, and this you ought to seek, that you may be in the Father and in the Son, because from thence you will obtain the reward.
VERS. 25.-- This is the promise. Let the memory of the promised reward make thee persevering in the work.
VERS. 27.-- But as his unction. That is, the Holy Spirit, whose sacrament is in the visible anointing; or there is understood the unction of charity which is poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who is given to us; which inflames to the keeping of God's commandments the heart that it fills.
VERS. 28.-- And now, little children, abide. By frequent repetition 698Bhe drives it home, that he may fix it the more closely in their minds. Abide in him. And if you have any good, impute it all to him and not to yourselves; impute the evils to yourselves and to the devil.
VERS. 29.-- Every one, etc. (BEDA.) Perfect justice scarcely exists in the angels, etc., as far as when there will not be a struggle with the flesh, but a triumph over the enemy.
Of him. Now if we are born of the just one, we must follow the justice of the just Father.
CAPUT III.
VERS. 1.-- Videte, etc. Advertite diligenter quantis et qualibus donis ostenderit Deus erga nos paternam charitatem. Dedit enim ut in hoc saeculo nomine et actu nominaremur filii Dei, et in futuro simus, possidendo haereditariam beatitudinem. Dedit. 698CAd hoc Deus dedit charitatem ut eum amare noverimus et possimus, non tamen ut dominum servi, sed ut patrem filii. Unde dicitur: Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri (Joan. I).
VERS. 2.-- Filii Dei sumus. Quasi dicat: Esse et dici filios Dei, quae dignitas est? respondet: Charissimi, nunc filii Dei sumus. Nunc per miracula quae facimus et per puritatem vitae apparet quod sumus filii Dei, sed quidquid est in praesenti, parum est ad respectum futuri. Similes ei erimus. Cum enim immutabilis aeternaeque Divinitatis contemplatione perfruemur, nos quoque immortales et aeterni in illo erimus: non quidem idem quod ipse, sed similes, quia creatura et ad similitudinem ejus facti sumus. 698DQuoniam videbimus. Secundum quod Verbum caro factum est, viderunt mali, et in judicio sunt visuri: sed quomodo Verbum in principio erat apud Patrem, videbunt soli justi: tolletur impius ne videat gloriam Dei.
VERS. 3.-- Sanctificat se. (BEDA.) Non aufert liberum arbitrium, dum dicit, etc., usque ad dicentes Deo: Adjutor meus es tu, ne derelinquas me (Psal. XXVI).
VERS. 4.-- Et peccatum, etc. (ID.) Quod Latini appellant legem, Graeci, etc., usque ad qui innocentiam naturalis legis corrumpunt, praevaricationis rei sunt.
VERS. 5.-- Et scitis. Ne nos (qui peccatis et iniquitatibus 699Acarere non possumus) de salute desperemus, subdit quod per Christum a peccatis solvimur. Non solum ergo per gratiam facti sumus filii Dei, et speramus quod ei similes erimus, sed etiam ab iniquitate liberamur: quia ideo apparuit, ut peccata tolleret, de qua iniquitate nemo se excuset.
VERS. 6.-- Qui peccat non vidit eum. Et qui manet in eo, non peccat. Et in hoc nemo vos seducat, dicendo quod, vel justitia sit ex homine, vel quod cum peccato possit aliquis in Deo manere, quia et omnis justitia ex Deo, et omne peccatum ex diabolo est.
VERS. 7.-- Qui facit justitiam. Id est: qui habet actum justitiae et intentionem, justus quidem est, sed non ex se: sed sicut ille est, ab eadem radice 699Bprocedit. Justitia in illo principaliter, in isto secundarie, in illo naturaliter, in isto per adoptionem. Hoc ipsum quod qui justus est ab illo justus est.
VERS. 8.-- Ex diabolo est. (BEDA.) Non carnis originem ducendo, sicut Manichaeus voluit, etc., usque ad natus est Christus homo, ut solvat peccata hominum, ut reducat ad vitam.
VERS. 9.-- Peccatum non facit. Non de omni peccato dicit: Si enim dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus, sed de violatione charitatis, quam qui semen Dei, id est verbum Dei quo renatus est, in se habet, committere non potest. Quoniam semen ipsius est. Verus Filius Patris non potest legem dimittere. Lex Patris est: Diligite invicem.
699CVERS. 12.-- Quoniam opera ejus maligna erant. Ubi est invidia, non est fraternus amor. Opera Cain mala non dicit, nisi invidiam et odium fratris. Opera Abel justa non dicit, nisi charitatem. Hinc discernuntur homines. Nemo attendat linguas, sed facta. Cor si non benefaciat pro fratribus suis, ostendit quid in se habeat. Cain recte offerebat, creatura Creatori, sed non bene dividebat, quando credebat placere munera quae offerebat cum odio fratris. Abel cum dilectione obtulit, et placuit.
VERS. 14.-- Nos scimus, etc. Nemo de virtutibus se falso extollat, nemo suarum virium paupertatem ultra modum metuat. Qui fratrem diligit, apertum dat judicium, quia ad sortem justorum pertineat. Manet in morte. Vita carnis anima, vita animae Deus; corporis 699Dmors amittere spiritum; animae mors amittere Deum. Qui ergo per odium fratris amittit Deum, amittit vitam.
VERS. 15.-- Qui odit fratrem. Qui ex odio insequitur fratrem provocat ad iram et discordiam, et sic quantum ad se occidit eum in anima. Si quis contemnat odium fratris, non contemnet in corde suo homicidium? Non movet manus ad occidendum, et homicida jam tenetur: vivit ille, et iste interfector judicatur. Non habet vitam aeternam. In perpetuum, cum Cain damnabitur qui hoc genere homicidii tenetur, ut discordet a fratribus.
VERS. 16.-- In hoc cognoscimus, etc. Praepositis multis rationibus de habenda charitate, tandem supponit 700Ade charitatis perfectione, sub exemplo passionis Dominicae. Hanc Petrus monetur habere, cum Domino interroganti profiteretur se amare, cui dicitur: Cum autem senueris, extendes manus tuas, et alius te cinget, et ducet quo tu non vis (Joan. XXI). In quibus verbis, ut animam pro ovibus poneret, docebatur. Majorem enim charitatem nemo habet quam ut animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis (Ibid. XV).
VERS. 17.-- Qui habuerit, etc. Si vel ex temporis opportunitate, vel ex humana infirmitate non contigerit animas ponere, debemus saltem res nostras pro fratribus deponere, et hoc est nutrimentum charitatis. Qui didicit rem suam dare, quandoque poterit seipsum deponere.
VERS. 18.-- Filioli, non diligamus, etc. Quia non 700Best perfecta charitas in illo; qui non ponit animam pro fratribus, vel qui saltem non dat pecuniam. Ergo ut perfectam charitatem habeatis, filioli ejusdem patris. Non diligamus verbo, neque lingua. In verbo pura locutio, non opus; in lingua multiplex oratio intelligitur, sicut quidam saepe repetitis sermonibus affectum suum volunt commendare. Sed opere. Quia etiamsi fallimur in dilectione ex humana infirmitate, non fallimur in mercede, quia Deus major est corde nostro, et novit quo zelo fiant omnia. Et veritate. Si simplici intentione beneficia praestemus, non propter jactantiam, vel propter aliquod temporale commodum, sed respectu solius Dei.
VERS. 19.-- In hoc cognoscimus, etc. In hoc quod veritatem diligimus, scimus quod ex veritate sumus, 700Cid est scimus nos ex Deo (qui est veritas) hanc veram dilectionem habere, et ex hac dilectione scimus nos esse in conspectu, id est promereri ejus conspectum, et in hac etiam suademus corda nostra, ad meliora opera excogitanda. Et in conspectu, etc. Id est, tales cogitationes corda nostra habere suademus, quae divinis sint dignae conspectibus. Omnes enim qui aliquid facere disponunt, ad idem factum meditandum corda sua se convertere suadent. Sed qui mala cogitat, si posset, Deo occultaret: qui vero bona, hi facillime cordibus suadent, ut conspectui Dei patefieri desiderent, quod est indicium magnae perfectionis, cum sua operatio vel cogitatus a Deo gaudet videri.
VERS. 20.-- Quoniam si reprehenderit. Et hoc 700Dmagnum est quod per dilectionem ita mundas habemus cogitationes, quod Deo eas volumus ostendere: quia etiamsi conscientia accusaret nos intus et vellet latere Deum, quia non bono animo bona nostra faceremus, tamen Deo occultare non possemus, quia major est corde nostro, et novit omnia: valet ergo dilectio quae nos commendat illi quem latere non possumus.
VERS. 22.-- Et quidquid petierimus. Magna promissio et desiderabilis fidelibus. Sed si quis est adeo perversus, ut coelestibus promissis non delectetur, saltem timeat quod econtrario sapientia terribiliter intonat: Qui avertit aurem suam ut non audiat legem, oratio ejus erit exsecrabilis (Prov. XXVIII).
701AVERS. 23.-- Et hoc est mandatum. Mandatum singulari numero praeponit, et duo subjungit, quia haec nequeunt separari.
CHAPTER III.
VERS. 1.-- See, etc. Consider diligently with how great and what manner of gifts God has shown his fatherly charity toward us. For he granted that in this world we should be named sons of God in name and in deed, and that in the world to come we should be so, by possessing the inherited blessedness. He gave. 698CTo this end God gave charity, that we might know how to love him and be able to, yet not as servants a master, but as sons a father. Whence it is said: And as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God (Joan. I).
VERS. 2.-- We are the sons of God. As if he should say: To be and to be called sons of God, what dignity is that? he answers: Dearly beloved, now we are the sons of God. Now through the miracles which we do and through purity of life it appears that we are sons of God, but whatever is in the present is little in comparison with what is to come. We shall be like to him. For when we shall fully enjoy the contemplation of the unchangeable and eternal Godhead, we also shall be immortal and eternal in him: not indeed the same as he, but like, because we are a creature and were made to his likeness. 698DBecause we shall see. According as the Word was made flesh, the wicked have seen him, and in the judgment they shall see him: but how the Word in the beginning was with the Father, the just alone shall see: the wicked man shall be taken away, lest he see the glory of God.
VERS. 3.-- He sanctifieth himself. (BEDA.) He does not take away free will, when he says, etc., as far as saying to God: Thou art my helper, forsake me not (Psal. XXVI). [Vulg. Ps 26:9 Adjutor meus esto, "be thou my helper", an imperative and not a statement]
VERS. 4.-- And sin, etc. (ID.) What the Latins call law, the Greeks, etc., as far as they who corrupt the innocence of the natural law are guilty of transgression.
VERS. 5.-- And you know. Lest we (who cannot be free of sins and iniquities 699A) should despair of salvation, he adds that through Christ we are loosed from sins. Not only therefore have we been made sons of God through grace, and do we hope that we shall be like to him, but we are also freed from iniquity: because for this reason he appeared, that he might take away sins, from which iniquity let no one excuse himself.
VERS. 6.-- He that sinneth hath not seen him. And he that abideth in him sinneth not. And in this let no man deceive you, by saying either that justice is from man, or that anyone can abide in God together with sin, because all justice is from God, and all sin is from the devil.
VERS. 7.-- He that doth justice. That is: he who has the act of justice and the intention is indeed just, but not of himself: but as that one is, he proceeds from the same 699Broot. Justice is in that one principally, in this one secondarily, in that one naturally, in this one by adoption. This very thing, that he who is just is just from him.
VERS. 8.-- He is of the devil. (BEDA.) Not by deriving the origin of the flesh, as Manichaeus would have it, etc., as far as Christ was born man, that he might loose the sins of men, that he might lead them back to life.
VERS. 9.-- He doth not commit sin. He does not say it of every sin: For if we shall say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, but of the violation of charity, which he cannot commit who has in himself the seed of God, that is, the word of God by which he was born again. Because it is his own seed. [Vulg. 1 Jo 3:9 semen ipsius in eo manet, "his seed abideth in him"] The true Son of the Father cannot let go the law. The law of the Father is: Love one another.
699CVERS. 12.-- Because his works were wicked. Where envy is, there is no fraternal love. He does not call Cain's works evil, save envy and hatred of his brother. He does not call Abel's works just, save charity. Hence men are distinguished. Let no one attend to tongues, but to deeds. If the heart does not do good for its brethren, it shows what it has within itself. Cain offered rightly, a creature to the Creator, but he did not divide rightly, when he believed that the gifts pleased which he offered with hatred of his brother. Abel offered with love, and pleased.
VERS. 14.-- We know, etc. Let no one falsely exalt himself over his virtues, let no one fear beyond measure the poverty of his own strength. He who loves his brother gives an open judgment, because he pertains to the lot of the just. He abideth in death. The life of the flesh is the soul, the life of the soul is God; the body's 699Ddeath is to lose the spirit; the soul's death is to lose God. He therefore who through hatred of his brother loses God, loses life.
VERS. 15.-- He that hateth his brother. He who out of hatred pursues his brother provokes him to anger and to discord, and so, as far as in him lies, kills him in his soul. If anyone makes light of hatred of a brother, will he not make light of murder in his heart? He does not move his hand to kill, and he is already held a murderer: the one lives, and the other is judged a slayer. He hath not eternal life. For ever, he who is held by this kind of murder, so that he is at variance with his brethren, will be damned with Cain.
VERS. 16.-- In this we know, etc. [Vulg. 1 Jo 3:16 In hoc cognovimus, "In this we have known"] Many reasons having been set forth concerning the charity that is to be had, at length he subjoins 700Aconcerning the perfection of charity, under the example of the Lord's passion. Peter is admonished to have this, when to the Lord questioning him he professed that he loved him, to whom it is said: But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldest not (Joan. XXI). In which words he was taught to lay down his life for the sheep. For no man hath greater charity than that a man lay down his life for his friends (Ibid. XV). [Vulg. Jo 15:13 Majorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, ut animam suam ponat qui pro amicis suis, "Greater love than this hath no man"]
VERS. 17.-- He that shall have, etc. If, whether from the opportunity of the time or from human infirmity, it has not befallen us to lay down our lives, we ought at least to lay down our goods for the brethren, and this is the nourishment of charity. He who has learned to give his own property will one day be able to lay down himself.
VERS. 18.-- Little children, let us not love, etc. Because charity is not 700Bperfect in him; who does not lay down his life for the brethren, or who at least does not give money. Therefore, that you may have perfect charity, little children of the same father. Let us not love in word, neither in tongue. By word is understood pure speech, not work; by tongue, manifold discourse, as some wish by often-repeated speeches to commend their affection. But in deed. Because even if we are deceived in our love out of human infirmity, we are not deceived in the reward, because God is greater than our heart, and knows with what zeal all things are done. And in truth. If we bestow benefits with a simple intention, not for the sake of boasting, nor for the sake of any temporal advantage, but with regard to God alone.
VERS. 19.-- In this we know, etc. In this, that we love the truth, we know that we are of the truth, 700Cthat is, we know that we have this true love from God (who is truth), and from this love we know that we are in his sight, that is, that we deserve his sight, and in this also we persuade our hearts to devise better works. And in the sight, etc. That is, we persuade our hearts to have such thoughts as are worthy of the divine sight. For all who set themselves to do anything persuade their hearts to turn to meditating upon that same deed. But he who thinks evil things would hide them from God, if he could: but they who think good things most easily persuade their hearts to desire to be laid open to the sight of God, which is a sign of great perfection, when one's own work or thought rejoices to be seen by God.
VERS. 20.-- Because if it shall reprove. And this 700Dis a great thing, that through love we have thoughts so clean that we wish to show them to God: because even if the conscience should accuse us within and should wish to lie hid from God, because we were doing our good deeds not with a good mind, yet we could not hide them from God, because he is greater than our heart, and knows all things: love therefore avails, which commends us to him from whom we cannot lie hid.
VERS. 22.-- And whatsoever we shall ask. A great promise, and one to be desired by the faithful. But if anyone is so perverse that he is not delighted by the heavenly promises, let him at least fear what wisdom on the contrary thunders terribly: He that turneth away his ear that he may not hear the law, his prayer shall be an abomination (Prov. XXVIII). [Vulg. Prov. 28:9 Qui declinat aures suas ne audiat legem, "He that turneth away his ears lest he hear the law"]
701AVERS. 23.-- And this is the commandment. He puts the commandment first in the singular number, and subjoins two, because these cannot be separated.
CAPUT IV.
VERS. 1.-- Quoniam multi. Multi haeretici, multi schismatici confitentur Jesum in carne venisse, sed factis negant, non habendo charitatem. Charitate Verbum caro factum est; qui non habet charitatem, negat eum venisse in carne, et hic convincitur spiritum ex Deo non habere. Spiritus Dei non sono linguae, sed amando et faciendo dicit Jesum in carne venisse. Jesus venit ut colligat, haereticus spargit: hic non habet spiritum Dei.
VERS. 3.-- Omnis spiritus, etc. Multi haeretici, qui 701Bunitatem Ecclesiae separare pravo dogmate volebant, hunc versiculum ex epistola raserunt, ne per eum erroris convincerentur. Solvit. Qui Deum ab homine distinguit, qui membra a Deo dividit, qui verba Dei male interpretatur, qui a Deo male vivendo recedit, hic solvit Jesum.
VERS. 5.-- Ipsi de mundo. Hi spiritus qui sunt de mundo non sunt diligendi, non sunt audiendi. Quia etsi Christi nomen invocant, et signo Christi se notant, tamen sunt de illorum numero qui mundana cupiunt, qui coelestia ignorant. Ideo de mundo loquuntur. Ratione mundanae sapientiae probantes Deum non posse suscitare hominem mortuum, hominem mortalem in coelis habere mansionem, et alia hujusmodi.
701CVERS. 7.-- Charissimi, diligamus nos. Commendavit charitatem multis modis, jam ad ejus singularem laudem accedit in quo eum maxime debemus audire, scilicet: Qui diligit, ex Deo natus est et Deum novit, quia Deus charitas est. Dixerat: Charitas ex Deo est; hic superaddidit: Deus charitas est.
VERS. 8.-- Quoniam Deus charitas. Non differt charitas in Deo, cum justus et justitia dicatur, ut diligens et dilectio quia non transnominative a justitia dicitur justus vel diligens dilectione, quasi justitiam vel dilectionem a se distinctam habeat, sed quia est justitia et dilectio sua.
VERS. 9.-- In hoc apparuit. Probando quod Deus charitas est et quod nos diligit, voluit inducere nos suo exemplo, ut invicem diligeremus et ad notitiam 701Dejus veniremus. Sicut Deus non exspectavit ut eum diligeremus, sic nos non exspectemus ut alii nos diligant, sed priores diligamus. Dilectio Patris probata est, quia misit Filium: dilectio Filii in hoc apparuit, quod pro nobis quos praedilexit mortuus est.
VERS. 10.-- Non quasi nos. Non prius dileximus, ut quasi merito nostrae dilectionis ipse diligeret nos, sed ipse prior dilexit nos, ut praeeunte gratia ejus nos eum diligamus.
VERS. 11.-- Et nos debemus alterutrum diligere. Dilige, et quod vis fac. Sive taceas, dilectione tace: sive clames, dilectione clama. De hac radice non potest nisi bonum exire.
702AVERS. 12.-- Deum nemo vidit unquam. (BEDA.) Sicut videntur ista visibilia corporis sensibus nota, sic non videtur Deus, etc., usque ad dum adhuc peregrinamur in corpore, diligamus invicem, etc.
VERS. 13.-- In hoc cognoscimus. Unde sciemus si habeamus spiritum Dei? Interroga viscera tua: si sint plena charitate, habes spiritum Dei. Quoniam in eo manemus. Deus in nobis manet, et nos in eo, ideoque nemo de salute desperet, quia etsi morbi scelerum nos deprimunt, omnipotens est medicus qui salvet. Gaudeamus in spe ut veniamus ad rem.
VERS. 16.-- Et nos cognovimus. Nos vidimus et testamur quod Deus misit Filium suum, et cognovimus qua causa hoc fecit: non quia indigeret, non quia aliquid deberet, sed sola charitate. Cum haberet 702Bunicum noluit illum esse unum, sed ut fratres haberet, et adoptavit illi eos qui cum illo possiderent vitam aeternam.
VERS. 18.-- Timor non est in charitate. In ea nimirum charitate quae ad imitationem divinae bonitatis etiam inimicis benefacit, non est timor.
CHAPTER IV.
VERS. 1.-- Because many false prophets are gone out. Many heretics, many schismatics confess that Jesus has come in the flesh, but by their deeds they deny it, by not having charity. By charity the Word was made flesh; he who has not charity denies that he came in the flesh, and he is convicted of not having the Spirit from God. The Spirit of God says that Jesus has come in the flesh not by the sound of the tongue, but by loving and by doing. Jesus came that he might gather, the heretic scatters: he has not the Spirit of God.
VERS. 3.-- Every spirit, etc. Many heretics, who 701Bwished by a depraved dogma to divide the unity of the Church, erased this little verse from the epistle, lest through it they should be convicted of error. He dissolveth. He who separates God from man, who divides the members from God, who interprets the words of God ill, who departs from God by living ill, he dissolves Jesus.
VERS. 5.-- They are of the world. These spirits who are of the world are not to be loved, are not to be heard. For although they invoke the name of Christ, and mark themselves with the sign of Christ, yet they are of the number of those who desire worldly things, who are ignorant of heavenly things. Therefore they speak of the world. Proving by the reasoning of worldly wisdom that God cannot raise up a dead man, that a mortal man cannot have a dwelling in the heavens, and other things of this kind.
701CVERS. 7.-- Dearly beloved, let us love one another. He has commended charity in many ways, now he comes to its singular praise, wherein we ought most of all to hear him, namely: He that loveth is born of God and knoweth God, because God is charity. [Vulg. 1 Jo 4:7 reads Et omnis qui diligit, ex Deo natus est, et cognoscit Deum, and closes quia caritas ex Deo est; Deus caritas est belongs to v. 8] He had said: Charity is of God; here he has added further: God is charity.
VERS. 8.-- Because God is charity. Charity does not differ in God, since he is called both just and justice, as also loving and love, because he is not called just by a transferred name from justice, nor loving by love, as though he had a justice or a love distinct from himself, but because he is his own justice and love.
VERS. 9.-- In this hath appeared. By proving that God is charity and that he loves us, he wished to lead us on by his own example, that we should love one another and come to the knowledge 701Dof him. As God did not wait for us to love him, so let us not wait for others to love us, but let us love first. The love of the Father has been proved, because he sent the Son: the love of the Son appeared in this, that he died for us whom he loved beforehand.
VERS. 10.-- Not as though we had loved God. We did not love first, so that he should love us as though by the merit of our love, but he himself loved us first, that with his grace going before we should love him.
VERS. 11.-- And we ought to love one another. Love, and do what thou wilt. Whether thou art silent, be silent in love: whether thou criest out, cry out in love. From this root nothing can come forth except good.
702AVERS. 12.-- No man hath seen God at any time. (BEDA.) As those visible things known to the senses of the body are seen, so God is not seen, etc., as far as while we are still pilgrims in the body, let us love one another, etc.
VERS. 13.-- In this we know. Whence shall we know whether we have the Spirit of God? Question thine own bowels: if they are full of charity, thou hast the Spirit of God. Because we abide in him. God abides in us, and we in him, and therefore let no one despair of salvation, because although the diseases of crimes weigh us down, the physician who saves is almighty. Let us rejoice in hope, that we may come to the reality.
VERS. 16.-- And we have known. We have seen and bear witness that God sent his Son, and we have known for what cause he did this: not because he had need, not because he owed anything, but out of charity alone. Though he had 702Ban only Son, he willed not that he should be one alone, but that he might have brethren, and he adopted for him those who should possess eternal life with him.
VERS. 18.-- Fear is not in charity. In that charity, namely, which in imitation of the divine goodness does good even to enemies, there is no fear.
CAPUT V.
VERS. 1.-- Omnis qui credit. Credit, qui sic vivit quomodo Christus praecepit, aliter et daemones credunt. Opera autem praeter fidem, vel nulla, vel, etiamsi bona videantur, sunt inania, quia sunt praeter viam, quae Christus est. Vere qui diligit Deum, diligit fratrem. Nam qui diligit Deum Patrem, diligit Deum Filium, a Patre genitum, et qui diligit Deum Filium, diligit etiam Dei filios, membra illius 702Ccapitis.
VERS. 3.-- Gravia non sunt. (BEDA.) Non trahunt deorsum, ut talentum plumbi, etc., usque ad ne quis sua virtute confidat se posse vincere mundum, subdit de fide:
VERS. 4.-- Et haec est victoria, etc. Illa nimirum fides, quae per dilectionem operatur, quae Dei auxilium flagitat.
VERS. 5.-- Quis est autem? etc. Determinat quae fides vincit, scilicet fides Christi. Quasi: Vere per fidem vincit mundum, quia per aliud non vincitur. Fides nostra. Ecce quae fides vincit, quae credit verum hominem et verum Deum.
VERS. 6.-- Hic est, etc. Quia sola fides et confessio divinitatis non sufficit ad salutem et ad vincendum 702Dmundum, addit et de humanitate: propterea expressit sanguinem.
Spiritus. Id est, humana anima quam emisit in passione; aqua et sanguis, quae fluxerunt de latere. Hoc fieri non posset, si veram carnis naturam non haberet. Sed et ante passionem, sudor qui factus est sicut guttae sanguinis ostendit veritatem carnis. Hoc autem quod de latere jam mortui contra naturam aqua sanguis vivaciter fluxit, testabatur quod corpus Domini post mortem melius esset victurum, et mors ejus vitam nobis daret. Quod vero sudor sicut sanguis in terram fluebat, signabat quod suo sanguine Ecclesiam toto orbe lavaret.
VERS. 7.-- Quoniam tres sunt. Per hoc apparet, 703Aquod Jesus est veritas, verus Deus, verus homo. Et de utroque habemus certum testimonium, de Deitate quidem per Patrem, et Filium, et Spiritum sanctum: de humanitate per animam, aquam, et sanguinem. Pater dedit testimonium Deitatis quando dixit: Hic est Filius meus dilectus. Ipse Filius dedit, quando in monte transfiguratus est, et potentiam Divinitatis et spem aeternae beatitudinis ostendit. Spiritus sanctus dedit, quando super baptizatum in specie columbae requievit, vel quando ad vocationem nominis Christi corda credentium implevit.
VERS. 10.-- Qui credit in Filium Dei. Is intelligit Patrem veracem in testimonio Filii. Qui non credit, dicit Patrem esse mentitum. Frustra igitur dicunt 703BJudaei se credere in Patrem, quandiu contemnunt Christum. In Filium. Quia Pater testatur de Filio, credamus in Filium. Quia qui ita credit in Filium, ut bene optando tendat in ipsum habet testimonium Dei in se, quasi dicat: De eo etiam testatur Deus, quod ipse sic credens erit in numero filiorum Dei, ipso Filio suis ita pollicente: Si quis mihi ministraverit, honorificabit illum Pater meus (Joan. XII). Si ergo Deum testem tuae fidei habueris, quid te hominum infamia vel persecutio laedit? Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos? (Rom. VIII.)
VERS. 11.-- Et hoc est testimonium. De Filio testatus est, et etiam de nobis filiis adoptivis, quod per Filium suum unicum etiam nobis jam in spe, quandoque autem in re vitam aeternam daret.
703CEt haec est vita. (BEDA.) In fide et confessione nominis, in perceptione sacramentorum, etc., usque ad qui dat suis vitam aeternam.
VERS. 14.-- Et haec est fiducia. Multipliciter eadem quae supra promiserat inculcat, ut nos ad orandum vivacius excitet. Secundum voluntatem ejus. Qua vult ut quod velit rogemus, vel quales nos esse desiderat ad rogandum veniamus. Si volumus nostram salutem et proximorum non discordamus a voluntate Dei. Si voluntas nostra per ignorantiam a voluntate Dei recedit, bona voluntas Dei nostram stultam corrigit, ut apostolo Paulo contigit.
VERS. 15.-- Scimus quoniam, etc. Quia scimus quod habemus ab eo petitiones quas petimus, nihil petamus quod ei sit adversum, nihil nisi quod nos 703Ddocuit, quod nobis inspiravit, petamus: et si in aliquo erramus, statim corrigimur.
VERS. 16.-- Qui scit fratrem. (BEDA.) Loquitur de quotidianis et levibus peccatis, etc., usque ad et ad illorum examen castiga te.
704AEst peccatum ad mortem. Hoc peccatum separat a Deo, sicut mors separat animam a corpore.
VERS. 17.-- Omnis iniquitas peccatum. Quasi: Vere orandum est pro peccantibus non ad mortem, quia multis peccatis occupantur omnes, et nemo potest esse sine peccato, quia omnis iniquitas est peccatum. Sed supra alia est peccatum ad mortem, quod non humana fragilitate committitur, et ideo oratione justorum non purgatur: quoniam cui talia agunt, regnum Dei non consequentur.
VERS. 18.-- Omnis qui natus est, etc. Qui natus est ex Deo non peccat ad mortem: qui non est natus, peccat; sed nos sumus de illis qui nati sunt ex Deo: ideo non peccabimus, non tangemur ab hoste, sed mundi amatores sunt subjecti maligno hosti. 704BNon peccat. David graviter peccavit, sed quia ex Deo natus ad societatem filiorum Dei pertinebat, non peccavit, ad mortem, sed veniam poenitendo meruit. Sed generatio Dei, etc. Qui in generatione Dei perseverant, peccare non possunt, neque a maligno contingi. Quomodo dies et nox misceri nequeunt, sic justitia et iniquitas malignus et generatio Dei. Tangit ergo aliquos malignus laedens et affligens, sed non ad malum eorum.
VERS. 19.-- Et mundus totus. Non solum mundi amatores, sed etiam nuper nati, qui non habent discretionem boni et mali, propter primam praevaricationem pertinent ad regnum diaboli, nisi gratia Dei eruantur a tenebris.
704CVERS. 20.-- Et scimus, etc. Nemo sine divina cognitione ad vitam aeternam pervenire, nemo cognoscere sine gratia Dei potest, quia nemo novit Filium nisi Pater, neque Patrem quis novit nisi Filius et cui voluerit Filius revelare et Patrem et Filium. Utrumque enim Filius revelat, qui carne visibilis apparens, Divinitatis arcana per Evangelium mundo patefecit.
VERS. 21.-- Filioli. Et quia verum Deum et verum hominem cognoscitis, et vitam aeternam exspectatis, custodite vos a doctrinis haereticorum, qui speciem sanctitatis sibi assumunt, qui pravis dogmatibus gloriam incorruptibilis Dei in similitudinem corruptibilium rerum mutant. Avaritia enim est simulacrorum servitus; qui ergo mundum Deo praeponunt, 704Didololatrae sunt. Custodite. Cum testimonium perfectionis in multis perhibuerit illis, poterat tamen adhuc timeri, ne aliquis nuper conversus reliquias superstitionis mente retineret, ideoque ab idolorum cultu fugiendum esse demonstrat.
CHAPTER V.
VERS. 1.-- Every one that believeth. He believes who so lives as Christ commanded, otherwise the devils also believe. But works apart from faith are either nothing, or, even if they seem good, are empty, because they are apart from the way, which is Christ. Truly he who loves God loves his brother. For he who loves God the Father loves God the Son, begotten of the Father, and he who loves God the Son loves also the sons of God, the members of that 702Chead.
VERS. 3.-- They are not heavy. (BEDA.) They do not draw downward, like a talent of lead, etc., as far as lest anyone should trust that by his own strength he can overcome the world, he adds concerning faith:
VERS. 4.-- And this is the victory, etc. That faith, namely, which works through love, which craves God's help.
VERS. 5.-- But who is he? etc. He determines what faith conquers, namely the faith of Christ. As if to say: Truly through faith he conquers the world, because through anything else it is not conquered. Our faith. Behold what faith conquers, that which believes him true man and true God.
VERS. 6.-- This is he, etc. Because faith and the confession of the divinity alone does not suffice for salvation and for overcoming 702Dthe world, he adds also concerning the humanity: therefore he expressed the blood.
The spirit. That is, the human soul which he gave up in the passion; water and blood, which flowed from his side. This could not have been done, if he had not had the true nature of flesh. But even before the passion, the sweat which was made like drops of blood showed the truth of the flesh. And this, that from the side of one already dead, against nature, water, blood flowed vigorously, bore witness that the body of the Lord would live better after death, and that his death would give us life. But that the sweat flowed like blood onto the earth signified that he would wash the Church in the whole world with his own blood.
VERS. 7.-- For there are three. Through this it appears, 703Athat Jesus is the truth, true God, true man. And of both we have sure testimony, of the Godhead indeed through the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit: of the humanity through the soul, the water, and the blood. The Father gave the testimony of the Godhead when he said: This is my beloved Son. The Son himself gave it, when he was transfigured on the mountain, and showed both the power of the Godhead and the hope of eternal blessedness. The Holy Spirit gave it, when he rested upon him who had been baptized in the form of a dove, or when at the invocation of the name of Christ he filled the hearts of believers.
VERS. 10.-- He that believeth in the Son of God. He understands the Father to be truthful in the testimony of the Son. He who does not believe says that the Father has lied. In vain therefore do the 703BJews say that they believe in the Father, so long as they despise Christ. In the Son. Because the Father bears witness of the Son, let us believe in the Son. Because he who so believes in the Son that by good desiring he strives toward him has the testimony of God in himself, as if he should say: Of him also God bears witness, that he who so believes will be in the number of the sons of God, the Son himself so promising to his own: If any man minister to me, my Father will honour him (Joan. XII). If therefore thou hast God as the witness of thy faith, what does the ill fame or the persecution of men hurt thee? If God be for us, who is against us? (Rom. VIII.)
VERS. 11.-- And this is the testimony. He bore witness of the Son, and also of us his adoptive sons, that through his only Son he would give eternal life to us also, already in hope, but one day in reality.
703CAnd this is the life. (BEDA.) In faith and in the confession of the name, in the receiving of the sacraments, etc., as far as who gives eternal life to his own.
VERS. 14.-- And this is the confidence. In many ways he drives home the same things which he had promised above, that he may rouse us more keenly to prayer. According to his will. By which he wills that we ask what he wills, or that we come to the asking such as he desires us to be. If we will our own salvation and that of our neighbours, we do not disagree from the will of God. If our will through ignorance departs from the will of God, the good will of God corrects our foolish will, as befell the apostle Paul.
VERS. 15.-- We know that, etc. Because we know that we have from him the petitions which we ask, let us ask nothing that is contrary to him, let us ask nothing but what he has 703Dtaught us, what he has inspired in us: and if we err in anything, we are corrected at once.
VERS. 16.-- He that knoweth his brother. (BEDA.) He speaks of daily and light sins, etc., as far as and by their examination chastise thyself.
704AThere is a sin unto death. This sin separates from God, as death separates the soul from the body.
VERS. 17.-- All iniquity is sin. As if to say: Truly one must pray for those who sin not unto death, because all are taken up with many sins, and no one can be without sin, because all iniquity is sin. But above, the sin unto death is another thing, which is not committed out of human frailty, and therefore is not purged by the prayer of the just: since they who [cui; read qui, "who"] do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God.
VERS. 18.-- Every one that is born, etc. He who is born of God does not sin unto death: he who is not born, sins; but we are of those who are born of God: therefore we shall not sin, we shall not be touched by the enemy, but the lovers of the world are subject to the malignant enemy. 704BHe sinneth not. David sinned grievously, but because, born of God, he belonged to the fellowship of the sons of God, he did not sin, unto death, but by repenting he earned pardon. But the generation of God, etc. They who persevere in the generation of God cannot sin, nor be touched by the malignant one. As day and night cannot be mingled, so justice and iniquity, the malignant one and the generation of God. The malignant one therefore touches some, hurting and afflicting them, but not to their harm.
VERS. 19.-- And the whole world. Not only the lovers of the world, but also the newly born, who have not the discretion of good and evil, belong to the kingdom of the devil because of the first transgression, unless by the grace of God they are rescued from the darkness.
704CVERS. 20.-- And we know, etc. No one can come to eternal life without the divine knowledge, no one can know without the grace of God, because no one knows the Son but the Father, neither does anyone know the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall have willed to reveal both the Father and the Son. For the Son reveals both, who, appearing visible in the flesh, laid open to the world the secrets of the Godhead through the Gospel.
VERS. 21.-- Little children. And because you know true God and true man, and look for eternal life, keep yourselves from the doctrines of heretics, who take to themselves an appearance of sanctity, who by depraved dogmas change the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of corruptible things. For covetousness is the service of idols; they therefore who set the world before God 704Dare idolaters. Keep yourselves. Although he had borne them testimony of perfection in many things, yet it could still be feared lest someone newly converted should retain in his mind the remnants of superstition, and therefore he shows that the worship of idols must be fled.