1 João 3
Alexander Maclaren · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 3:1
Maclaren has an interesting thought on that writing that "The text is, I suppose, generally understood as if it pointed to the fact that we are called the sons of God as the great exemplification of the wonderfulness of His love. That is a perfectly possible view of the connection and meaning of the text. But if we are to translate with perfect accuracy we must render, not ‘that we should be called,’ but ‘in order that we should be called the sons of God.’ The meaning then is that the love bestowed is the means by which the design that we should be called His sons is accomplished. What John calls us to contemplate with wonder and gratitude is not only the fact of this marvellous love, but also the glorious end to which it has been given to us and works. There seems no reason for slurring over this meaning in favour of the more vague ‘that’ of our version. God gives His great and wonderful love in Jesus Christ, and all the gifts and powers which live in Him like fragrance in the rose. All this lavish bestowal of love, unspeakable as it is, may be regarded as having one great end, which God deems worthy of even such expenditure, namely, that men should become, in the deepest sense, His children. It is not so much to the contemplation of our blessedness in being sons, as to the devout gaze on the love which, by its wonderful process, has made it possible for us to be sons, that we are summoned here. (The Love That Calls Us Sons ) The words express a fact, a reality of relationship. We are members of a family; we are “God-children —a divine progeny.” -- Daniel Akin Called (2564) (kaleo) means to speak to another in order to bring them nearer, either physically or in a personal relationship, clearly the latter in this context. Undeserving sinners are called out of the morass of the miserable multitude and made sons and daughters of the Most High God (see El Elyon: Most High God - Sovereign Over All). As believers, we have been invited into His "palace" and given entree (freedom of entry or access) into the King's chamber (cp Ro 5:1+, Ro 5:2+, cp bold access into the Holy of holies, Heb 4:16+). Called children of God is more than a mere title, but is now the very essence of who we are in this godless world! Is this truth not beyond our finite comprehension beloved? CHILDREN OF GOD Warren Wiersbe rightly reminds us that children of God "is not simply a high-sounding name that we bear; it is a reality! We are God’s children! We do not expect the world to understand this thrilling relationship, because it does not even understand God. Only a person who knows God through Christ can fully appreciate what it means to be called a child of God. (Bible Exposition Commentary) I am Your child, Father—a child of the King. Help me realize it and act like who I really am in You. -- Charles Stanley David
1 João 3:1
Maclaren comments on and such we are noting that "these words come with a very great weight of manuscript authority, and of internal evidence. They are parenthetical, a kind of rapid ‘aside’ of the writer’s, expressing his joyful confidence that he and his brethren are sons of God, not only in name, but in reality. They are the voice of personal assurance, the voice of the spirit ‘by which we cry Abba, Father,’ (Gal 4:6, Ro 8:15+) breaking in for a moment on the flow of the sentence, like an irrepressible, glad answer to the Father’s call. With these explanations let us look at the words. (The Love That Calls Us Sons) Steven
1 João 3:2
Maclaren - We are the children of God now—and if we are children now, we shall be grown up some time. Childhood leads to maturity. The infant becomes a man. That is to say, he that here, in an infantile way, is stammering with his poor, unskilled lips the name ‘Abba! Father! (Ro 8:15+, Gal 4:6+) will one day come to speak it fully. He that dimly trusts, he that partially loves, he that can lift up his heart in some more or less unworthy prayer and aspiration after God, in all these emotions and exercises, has the great proof in himself (cp 1Jn 2:20, 27, and "we know" here in 1Jn 3:2) that such emotions, such relationship, can never be put an end to. The roots have gone down through the temporal, and have laid hold of the Eternal. (cp 1Co 13:12+) Anything seems to me to be more credible than that a man who can look up and say, ‘My Father,’ shall be crushed by what befalls the mere outside of him; anything seems to me to be more believable than to suppose that the nature which is capable of these elevating emotions and aspirations of confidence and hope, which can know God and yearn after Him, and can love Him, is to be wiped out like a gnat by the finger of Death. The material has nothing to do with these feelings, and if I know myself, in however feeble and imperfect a degree, to be the son of God, I carry in the conviction the very pledge and seal of eternal life (cp "we know"). That is a thought ‘whose very sweetness yieldeth proof that it was born for immortality.’ ‘We are the sons (children) of God,’ therefore we shall always be so, in all worlds, and whatsoever may become of this poor wrappage in which the soul is shrouded. (The Unrevealed Future of the Sons of God) Note that John repeats what he has just clearly state in 1Jn 3:1, that we are children of God, and undoubtedly his objective is to firmly fix this essential truth in our minds. He wants to emphasize that this is (now) our current position, and this great truth should dominate our think and transform every aspect of our daily conduct. Our position and privilege as children of God should saturate and shape how we think, how we live, and how we relate to the many temptations in this present evil world (Gal 1:4). Children (5043) (teknon from tikto = to bring forth or bear children ) literally refers to those who are "born ones" and in the plural (tekna) refers to descendants, posterity or children, those viewed in relation to their parents or family. Here teknon is used figuratively to refer to those who have by grace through faith been born (by the Spirit - Jn 3:5, 6, 7, 8+, Ep 2:8, 9+) spiritually (Jn 1:12, 13+). How can we be certain we are children of the Living God? (Answer: 1Jn 5:13 What things? E.g., see 1Jn 2:29, 3:7, 9, 10, 5:2, et al - noting that all the verbs [practice, observe, love] in these passages are in the present tense = they reflect one's general lifestyle! They signify the direction of one's life, albeit not perfection in this life! cp Ro 8:14+) The Holy Spirit bears testimony to our human spirit that we are children of God, and our Spirit-energized spirit thus joins the Holy Spirit in a joint-testimony to that fact (Ro 8:16, 17+). Paul adds that now "because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son (Ro 8:9+) into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"" (Gal 4:6+) THE BEST IS YET TO COME! Not yet (3768) (oupo from ou = not [absolute negation] + po = yet) is an adverb which strongly negates an extension of time beyond a certain point = not yet, still not. BDAG says oupo conveys "the negation of extending time up to and beyond an expected point". Beloved, "no, not yet, but yes, then" ought to be our continual mindset. Oupo clearly promises a cessation to our present natural appearance which will be superseded by our supernatural appearance when He appears! Is this grand truth not every child of God's "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13+), a hope which like an anchor sustains us when the times are tough and the storm clouds of affliction hide our Father's face? When those seasons come beloved, may the Spirit bring to our minds a vivid recollection of the truth "no, not yet" but "yes, then" and may this sure truth enliven a faith in future grace which enables us to walk daily by faith and which stabilizes our "spiritual compass" so that we keep on pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Php 3:14+) Oupo - 26x in 26v - NAS = ever(1), yet(24), yet… ever(1). Matt 16:9; 24:6; Mark 4:40; 8:17, 21; 11:2; 13:7; Luke 23:53; John 2:4; 3:24; 6:17; 7:6, 8, 30, 39; 8:20, 57; 11:30; 20:17; 1 Cor 3:2; 8:2; Heb 2:8; 12:4; 1 John 3:2; Rev 17:10, 12. Daniel Akin on not yet - There is a tension in our Christian experience that theologians often refer to as the “already/not yet” of Christian salvation. We are already, today, children of God. However, we do not yet realize or experience all the benefits that salvation promises for God’s children. We are still in process, a work under construction, a divine work of art that is not yet complete. (See Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John - Page 60) D Edmond Hiebert comments that "With "and … not yet" (kai oupo), John contrasts the present with the future and links the two aspects in connection with our new life as God's children. This God-imparted life "is not static but dynamic. A son grows, develops, matures. His goal of growth is maturity in the likeness of Christ Himself." While rejoicing in the present possession of eternal life believers also look forward to the undisclosed future still ahead; they know that God's work in and with them is not yet complete. Paul draws on the truth of our "not yet, but yes, then" blessed hope to encourage us explaining… I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God (Ro 8:18, 19+) And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? (Ro 8:23+, Ro 8:24+) And his first epistle to the church at Corinth, Paul encouraged the saints with a precious "not yet, but yes, then" promise… just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1Cor 2:9) Comment:
1 João 3:2
Maclaren - 1 JOHN 3:2 “NOW ARE WE THE SONS of God." That is the pier upon one side of the gulf. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when he shall appear we shall be like him." That is the pier on the other. How are the two to be connected? There is only one way by which the present sonship will blossom and fruit into the future perfect likeness: If we throw across the gulf, by God's help day by day, the bridge of growing likeness to Himself, and purity therefrom. Behold, what love, what boundless love The Father hath bestowed On sinners lost, that we should be Now called the sons of God! What we in glory soon shall be, It doth not yet appear; But when our precious Lord we see, We shall His image bear.