Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Footnotes

1. 1 John 4:1 We must learn to discern the thoughts of human beings—the “spirits.” Among the teachers and theorists that had appeared at this time there were those who did not acknowledge Jesus as the Lord and Savior and wished to impose their views on the Christian communities. John says that this is perversion, the appearance of false christs of the end times (see 1 Jn 2:18-22). He strengthens believers by telling them that they do not belong to the world, i.e., this universe that delights in its limitations and its own insignificances. They must believe in the Gospel of God proclaimed by the witnesses who have been sent, among whom he places himself by saying “We are from God” (v. 6).
2. 1 John 4:2 Jesus Christ has come in the flesh: see note on 1 Jn 1:1. John excludes the Gnostics, especially those known as Cerinthians, who taught that the Divine Christ came upon the human Christ at his Baptism and left him at the Cross—thus claiming that only the man Jesus died.
3. 1 John 4:4 From God: another expression for “born of God” (1 Jn 2:29; 3:9). The one who is in the world: the devil (see Jn 12:31; 16:11).
4. 1 John 4:6 Spirit of truth . . . spirit of falsehood: this refers to the theme of the two spirits, which is similar to the theme of the two ways (see Deut 11:26; Mt 7:13-14). Confronted by two worlds, those who live on earth choose one or the other by partaking of the spirit of either one (see 1 Jn 3:8, 19). However, those who choose the right one (the spirit of truth) will attain certain victory (see 1 Jn 2:13f; 4:4; 5:4f).
5. 1 John 4:7 There are splendid pages in the Bible that speak of what love is—for example, Paul’s hymn on love (1 Cor 13) and this text. The whole theology of love is developed in these verses, which give us the deepest understanding of Christianity as a great movement of life and experience, and not an abstract speculation. Love is reality: i.e., in God; it is witnessed to in an experience: i.e., in Christ; and it is expressed in the reality of fraternal love: i.e., among believers.
   God and love: the two words go together, just as do knowledge of God and fraternal love. The living discovery of God does not take place in plumbing the most compelling ideas but in becoming like Christ, in the experience of fraternal love. Without this, no fellowship with God is possible. Fraternal love and faith in Christ go together; and this experience enables us to verify the value of every religion and every spirituality. Nothing else can deliver human beings from the fear of judgment.
6. 1 John 4:7 Love is from God: hence, those who love God show that they are born of God. God is love: i.e., he is loving in his essential nature and in all his actions. The Gospel of John also affirms that God is spirit (see Jn 4:24) and light (see Jn 1:5) as well as true and just, powerful, holy, and faithful.
7. 1 John 4:10 It was God who first loved us when we had no love for him or even for ourselves (see Rom 5:6-10). He showed his love by sending his Son to atone for our sins (see 1 Jn 2:2). This is the motive for our love for one another.
8. 1 John 4:13 A share in his Spirit: this is the Spirit promised for the Messianic Age (see Acts 2:17-21, 33); he has been poured out into our hearts (see Rom 5:5; 1 Thes 4:8) and brings forth in us the inner certainty that the Apostles proclaimed outwardly (see 1 Jn 5:6f; Acts 5:32)—in this case about the Divine adoption of Christians (see Rom 8:15f; Gal 4:6).
9. 1 John 5:1 In opposition to the fantasies spread about by the false teachers, John insists that there is no knowledge of God without an acknowledgment of his Son and acceptance of his commandments and his Gospel. There is no victory over the world (the forces of evil and human limitations) without adherence to Christ. There is no finding God except through the testimony in which he makes himself present: in Jesus Christ who offers his life for the world. Baptism and the Spirit are nothing if the blood is forgotten, for Redemption, the Paschal Mystery, and the Eucharist are the heart of faith. God’s self-revelation includes the entire life of Jesus from his Baptism to his Cross: the water and the blood (see Jn 19:34). Hence, there is no knowledge of God that does not transform itself into faith in his Son and in the acknowledgment of other human beings as brothers and sisters because they are God’s children.
10. 1 John 5:6 John is answering the false teachers who claimed that Jesus was born only a man, then at his Baptism the Son of God descended on him, but he left Jesus before the latter’s death on the Cross; therefore, it was only the man Jesus who died. In keeping with his teaching throughout the Letter that Jesus is God as well as man (1 Jn 1:1-4; 4:2; 5:5), John emphasizes that Jesus was Son of God all the time. This is a key point because if Jesus had died only as a man, his atonement would not have been enough to take away the sins of human beings.
11. 1 John 5:7 Three: the Scriptures required three witnesses (see Deut 17:6; 19:15; 1 Tim 5:19). In many manuscripts the text has been amplified; thus the post-Tridentine Vulgate has: “There are three witnesses in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are as one: there are three witnesses on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three are as one.” The words in italics are not found in any of the early Greek manuscripts or translations, or in the best manuscripts of the Vulgate. They are almost universally regarded as a gloss.
12. 1 John 5:8 The three witnesses converge; blood and water join the Spirit (see 1 Jn 2:20, 27; Jn 3:5; 4:14) in testifying (see Jn 3:11f) to the mission of the Son who gives life (v. 11; Jn 3:15).
13. 1 John 5:13 Believers can be certain of partaking of the life of God; this whole Letter has given them the criteria that allow them to be sure of it.
14. 1 John 5:13 This summary of the Letter is reminiscent of the Epilogue of John’s Gospel (20:30f).
15. 1 John 5:14 Believers are not perfect; they all have their weaknesses. However, these failures are not to be confused with refusal of Christ, which is refusal of fellowship with God. The Bible speaks to us about Abraham and Moses, who could intervene for the sins of human beings. In the Church, all members can intercede for their brethren. The author does not include in his prayer those who pervert the faith.
16. 1 John 5:16 In general, the words There is a sin that leads to death refer not to just any sin that causes the loss of sanctifying grace (the “life of the soul”), but to an especially serious sin, such as apostasy, that causes the loss not only of grace but of faith as well. The distinction is intended to underscore the danger in which those who abandon the Christian fellowship (“are excommunicated”) place themselves, and to instill a salutary fear into them.
17. 1 John 5:18 The great certitudes that the speculations of the false teachers would like to shake are affirmed one last time, like a cry of victory. The community of God’s children, adhering to Christ, overcomes the forces of evil, truly knows God, and shares his life. To seek anything else is idolatry. The idols to be avoided are either paganism or the false gods of the heart that can turn believers away from faith and love.