1 John 2:28-3:10: We Shall Be Like Him

2:28

And now, little children [teknia], abide [2Pl Pres Act Impv] in him, so that when he is made manifest [3S 1 Aor Pass Subj] we may have [1Pl 2 Aor Act Subj] complete confidence [parresian] and not shrink in shame [1Pl 1 Aor Pass Subj] from him at his coming [parousia]. 29If you know [2Pl 2 Aor Act Subj eidete] that righteous he is [3S Pres Act Indic], you know [2Pl Pres Act Indic - ginoskete] that also every doing-one-of-righteousness from him has been born [3S Perf Pass Indic].
3:1

See [2Pl 2 Aor Act Impv] what kind of love he has given [3S Perf Act Indic] to us, the Father, that children of God we might be called [1Pl 1 Aor Pass Subj], and we are [1Pl Pres Act Indic]! Because of this the world does not know [3S Pres Act Indic] us, for it did not know [3S 2 Aor Act Indic] him. 2 Beloved, now children of God we are [1Pl Pres Act Indic], and not yet it has been made manifest [3S 1 Aor Pass Indic] what we will be [1Pl Fut Mid Indic]. We know [1Pl Perf Act Indic] that when he appears [3S 1 Aor Pass Indic], the same to him we will be [1Pl Fut Act Indic], for we will see [1Pl Fut Mid Indic] him as he is [3S Pres Act Indic] 3And every having-that-hope-one [MS Nom Pres Act Part] in him purifies [3S Pres Act Indic] himself, just as he pure is [3S Pres Act Indic].
4

Every doing-sin-one [MS Nom Pres Act Part] also lawlessless does [3S Pres Act Indic], and sin is [3S Pres Act Indic] lawlessness. 5And you have come to know [2Pl Perf Act Indic] that he appeared [3S 1 Aor Pass Indic] in order that sins he might take away [3S 1 Aor Act Subj], and sin in him there is not [3S Pres Act Indic]. 6Every in-him-abiding-one [MS Nom Pres Act Part] does not sin [3S Pres Act Indic]; every sinning-one [MS Nom Pres Act Part] has not seen [3S Perf Act Indic] him, neither he has come to know [3S Perf Act Indic] him. 7Little children [teknia], let no one deceive [3S Pres Act Impv] you: the doingrighteousness-one [MS Nom Pres Act Part] righteous is [3S Pres Act Indic], just as he righteous is [3S Pres Act Indic]. 8The doing-sin-one [MS Nom Pres Act Part] from the devil is [3S Pres Act Indic], for from the beginning the devil is sinning [3S Pres Act Indic]. Unto this purpose manifested [3S 1 Aor Pass Indic] the Son of God, that he might destroy [3S 1 Aor Act Subj] the works of the devil. 9Every havingbeen-born-of-God-one [MS Nom Perf Pass Part] does not sin [3S Pres Act Indic], for the seed of him in him abides [3S Pres Act Indic], and he is not able [3S Pres Mid Indic] to sin [Pres Act Inf], for from God he has been born [3S Perf Pass Indic]. 10In this manifest is [3S Pres Act Indic] the children of God and the children of the devil: every not-doing-righteousness-one [MS Nom Pres Act Part] is not [3S Pres Act Indic] from God, and the not-loving-his-brother-one [MS Nom Pres Act Part].

2:28: Coming off the multiple uses of abide (meno) in the previous section, John again urges his little children to abide in him. The current reason for abiding in Christ is so that when he appears we may have complete confidence and not shrink in shame from him at his coming. This statement is a transitional statement (transitioning from the idea of remaining with Christinstead of the antichrists toward the idea of Christs appearance, which is both the motivation for and the completion of our sanctification) into 3:2-3, which contain the heart of the passage. 2:29: Here, John sets up a logical deduction that he will carry through the rest of this passage: since we know that God is righteous, anyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. This assumes that only God is righteous, and that he is the only source of righteousness. The logical extension of this idea is that whoever does not practice righteousness has not been born of God. John gets to that idea in a moment, but has a brief detour first. 3:1: Johns next move is not to give the above-mentioned logical extension (whoever sins has not been born of God), but first to exult in the magnitude of what our new birth entails. What?! We are called children of the living God? How can this be? You meanwe actually are? There has been no mistake? To John, only our adoption into Gods own family can sufficiently illustrate the kind of love the Father has given to us. But this is where John gives the first hint of giving the corollary of 2:29: Because of this the world did not know us, for it did not know him. The world is so unlike us that it does not know us; and the reason it does not know us is that we are like him, whom they also did not know. John will explore the corollary more in 3:4-10, but he lays the idea aside for a moment to get to the idea at the heart of the passage. Here is the structure of 2:28-3:1: y y y 2:28: The instruction (abide in him) and the telos (confidence, and not shame, at his appearance) 2:29: The principle: Everyone who practices righteous has been born of the Righteous One 3:1: The reality: We are not merely called children of God; we are children of God! (Implicitly, we are those who practice righteousness2:29.) This is why the world does not know us: we resemble Jesus, whom the world also did not know.

2:28-3:1, therefore, is a summary statement that John unpacks through the rest of this passage . 3:2: In this verse, John makes two statements that will hang in tension through the rest of this passage: (1) We are Gods children now; and (2) What we will be has not yet been made manifest. Johns third statement resolves the tension: (3) We know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1) We are Gods children now. John has already stated that we are Gods children (3:1), but by insisting that we are Gods children now, John does not relegate our adoption to an uncertain future day. In effect, John is saying, We are Gods children now (and that status is not in question for those who remain in Christ), even though we are not fully righteous. It is toward our not being righteous that John turns his attention next. (2) What we will be has not yet appeared. The significance of this statement cannot be overstated. In 3:4-10, John will state in very strong terms that no one who sins has been born of God, but is of the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning; however, this phrase demonstrates that John does not have some kind of Christian perfectionism in mind. What we will eventually become (one day, some day, when Christ returns) is not a complete reality today. To insist on perfection is to ignore what John actually says.

(3) We know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. The good work that God has begun in us (for we are Gods children now) will be completed (that is, when we become that which has not yet appeared) only in the day of Christ Jesus, and not before. Phrase (3) has long captured my imagination. Why should seeing him as he is transform us to be like him? What is the correlation between sight and sanctification? John does not elaborate, but merely states the facts: when we see Christ at his coming, we shall at that moment be like him. Augustine follows the line of logic that he sets out in De Trinitate concerning the sense in which the wicked will see Christ, if seeing Christ as he is is what transforms us to be like him: The wicked cant see Christ in this way, in the form of God, as the Word of God, as the Only-Begotten of the Father, as equal to the Father. But, as far as the Words having become flesh is concerned, even the wicked can see that, because on the day of judgment even the wicked will see him, because he will come to judge just as he had come to be judgeda man in terms of form itself, but God. For cursed is everyone who places his hope in a man (Jer 17:5). As a man he came to be judged, as a man he will come to [page] judge.1 3:3: In verse 3, John explains what our lives ought to be about now that we are Gods children (1), but before he appears (3) and transforms us into what we will be, which has not yet appeared (2): Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. This ought to clarify that John does not have in mind some kind of perfectionism. Christian sanctification is not about achieving perfection, but about growth in Christ, in which we purify ourselves as he is pure. If this were about achieving perfection, then there would be no room for purificationwe would be pure already. More importantly, observe how John writes this phrase: pas ho echon ten elpida tauten He uses the word pas (every) with a participial phrase (the having-this-hope-one). This is exactly the structure John uses throughout 3:4-10 to describe everyone who practices sin (4), whoever practices righteousness (7), whoever practices sinning (8), everyone who is born of God (9), and whoever does not practice righteousnessnor the one who does not love his brother (10). I would suggest, then, that the sin that John has in mind is not so any and all sin whatsoever, but a sin that refuses to participate in the purification of the gospel. The great sin that John addresses in this passage is the sin of an unrepentant life. All those who know and love Jesus Christ will submit to his purification of their lives by regularly repenting from the sin that they do commit, and regularly returning to the gracious message of the gospel. Yes, there will be unpurified areas, but everyone in Christ will be growing in purity. 3:4: John continues to follow the pas ho participle formula speaking of every doing-sin-one. Every person who practices sin also does lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. Although I am not entirely sure, it seems that, by anomia, John intends to portray evil in its absolute sense, which would contrast with his statements about righteousness in an absolute sense. In other words, John is speaking about two categories of people: those who practice righteousness, and those who practice lawlessness. Although the righteous people are not fully righteous, and although the lawless people do some nice things here and there, nevertheless, every single person fits into one of these two categories. Why? Because some are the children of God, and others are the children of the devil (1 John 3:8).

Augustine of Hippo, Fourth Homily, Homilies on the First Epistle of John (Tractatus in Epistolam Joannis ad Parthos), The works : a translation for the 21st century. (Hyde Park: New City Press, 2008), 68-69.

Augustine presses this point home: Let no one say, Sin is one thing and wickedness is another. Let no one say, Im a sinful man but Im not wicked. Everyone who commits sin also does wickedness; sin is wickedness (3:4).2 3:5: The difference between the two is found in Jesus, who was made manifest [appearedheavy use of phanero in this passage] in order to take away sin. The purpose of Jesuss coming was to transform children of the devil into children of God. Also, Johns description of Jesus as not having sin in him is reminiscent of his earlier statement that there is no darkness in God (1 John 1:5). I would guess that this is a subtle allusion to the earlier statement about Gods being light. 3:6: Two uses of the pas ho participle formula: everyone who abides in him does not sin, and everyone who practices sin has not seen him nor known him. This is the contrast: either you know and abide in Christ (and therefore do not sin), or you sin (and therefore have nothing to do with him). This is the first use of abide since 2:28, when John pleaded that we abide in him. 3:7: This is the first use of teknia since 2:28, when John pleaded that his teknia abide in him. Interestingly, that verse had come on the heels of a long sustained passage about abiding in Christ instead of leaving the fellowship with the antichrists. Notice Johns admonition to his teknia: Let no one deceive you. Deception is one of the greatest weapons of Satan to keep us from abiding in Christ (cf. serpent deceiving Eve). But this is what John does not want us to be deceived about: Pas ho poion righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. John has already been making this case, but he makes a crucial statement here in how he writes this sentence. The last phrase, just as he is righteous, is the exact same phrase that we find in 3:3: And everyone who thus hopes in him out to purify himself just as he is pure. The parallelism here is striking: what John means by pas ho poion ten dikaiosunen (whoever practices righteousness) may be understood by v. 3: we practice righteousness not by living perfectly, but by spending a lifetime seeking to be purified into the image of Christ. But againwe will never reach that goal until Jesus returns, since what we will be has not yet appeared. Nevertheless, when he does appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. In the terms of v. 7, our own personal, perfect righteousness has not yet appearedeven though we live our lives practicing righteousness to a greater and greater degree, as the Spirit gives grace. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be righteous just as he is righteous, for we shall see him as he is. Augustine explains how just as does not mean equal to by saying that a small model basilica could be made that had the same dimensions as a real life basilica, and therefore would be just as the other, although hardly equal. He then applies this truth: We ourselves, therefore, have the image of God, but not that which the Son has, who is equal to the Father. Yet, if we ourselves werent just as he is in some small measure, we would say that in no respect were we like him. Therefore he makes us pure just as he himself is pure, but he is pure from eternity, while we are pure by faith.3

Augustine of Hippo, Fourth Homily, Homilies on the First Epistle of John (Tractatus in Epistolam Joannis ad Parthos), The works : a translation for the 21st century. (Hyde Park: New City Press, 2008), 71. 3 Augustine of Hippo, Fourth Homily, Homilies on the First Epistle of John (Tractatus in Epistolam Joannis ad Parthos), The works : a translation for the 21st century. (Hyde Park: New City Press, 2008), 72.

3:8: Three statements in this verse: (1) ho poion sin is from the devil; for (2) the devil has been sinning from the beginning; so that (3) the reason he [Christ] appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Since Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, those who are in him do not sin. (And again, this does not mean that they never sin, but that they do not live unrepentant lives.) 3:9: Pas ho gegennemenos from God does not sin, for Gods seed abides in him, and he is not able to sin, for from God he has been born [gegennetai]. This is the reason that there is such a sharp, marked contrast between those born of God and those of the devil: the seed of God actually abides in us, making us incapable of sinning. Christians sin all the timebut real Christians cannot remain in their sin. Even the sin that they choose (for a moment) over every other obligation in their lives eventually becomes distasteful and horrifying, so that they are willing to do anything whatsoever in order to restore fellowship with Christ and the church. 3:10: So how do you or I know on which side we fall? John says this is how the children of God and the children of the devil are made apparent: pas ho me poion dikaiosunen (whoever does not do righteousness) is not from God, and neither whoever does not love his brother. The first statement refers (as we have seen) to a life of repentance and purification. The second phrase, however, refers to love, which John sees as the old commandment made new (1 John 2:7-14), the embodiment of all the law. Furthermore, John turns in the next passage to consider the theme of love again, and this is a transition into that passage.