1 John 5:12

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 5:12

The supreme possession. "He that hath the Son hath the life," etc. In our text the apostle expresses— I. A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST . "He that hath the Son." What are we to understand by these words? What is involved in them? 1 . Realizing faith in him. 2 . Acceptance of his teaching. The Christian is intellectually and practically loyal to the teaching of Jesus Christ. In a very true and important sense Plato may be said to have had... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 John 5:12

He that hath the Son, hath life - See the notes at John 5:24. John evidently designs to refer to that passage in the verse before us, and to state a principle laid down by the Saviour himself. This is the sense of all the important testimony that had ever been borne by God on the subject of salvation, that he who believes in the Lord Jesus already has the elements of eternal life in his soul, and will certainly obtain salvation. Compare the notes at John 17:3.And he that hath not the Son of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 John 5:11-12

1 John 5:11-12. And this is the record Η μαρτυρια , the testimony; the sum of God’s testimony concerning his Son, and salvation through him: this is the thing testified by the six witnesses the three in heaven, and the three on earth; that God hath given to us Hath sincerely and freely offered to mankind in general, and hath actually conferred on true believers in particular; eternal life Namely, a title to it, in their justification and adoption, Titus 3:7; Romans 8:17; a meetness... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 John 5:6-12

5:6-21 ASSURANCE OF ETERNAL LIFEThe basis of assurance (5:6-12)Those who taught Gnostic-type theories did not believe that the person who died on the cross was Jesus Christ the Son of God. They claimed that ‘the Christ’ (i.e. God) descended on Jesus (the man) in the form of a dove after his baptism and empowered him to do miracles, but departed before his crucifixion. According to them, the Jesus who suffered and died was merely a man. He was not ‘the Christ’. In other words, ‘the Christ’ came... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 John 5:12

life = the life (1 John 5:11 ). read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 John 5:12

He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.He that hath the Son ... means "he that is a Christian." "Hath the life ... This means "eternal life," but the present possession of it must not be understood as the totality of it. See discussion of "Eternal Life" under 1:4, above. The eternal life promised the faithful followers of Jesus Christ is a life uninterrupted by death. Certain qualities of the life eternal, however, are experienced by Christians in... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 John 5:12

1 John 5:12. He that hath the Son, &c.— "He, who is vitally united to the Son of God, as his Head andRedeemer, through faith in him, is already spiritually alive: and he who has not an interest in theSon of God has not this spiritual life, whatever proud conceit he may entertain of his own merits and excellencies; but, on the contrary, remains exposed to the righteous displeasure of God, and under a sentence of eternal death." read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 1 John 5:12

12. the Son . . . life—Greek, "THE life." BENGEL remarks, The verse has two clauses: in the former the Son is mentioned without the addition "of God," for believers know the Son: in the second clause the addition "of God" is made, that unbelievers may know thereby what a serious thing it is not to have Him. In the former clause "has" bears the emphasis; in the second, life. To have the Son is to be able to say as the bride, "I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine" [Song of Solomon 6:3].... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 John 5:3-15

B. The Empowerment of Brotherly Love 5:3b-15If love for our brethren really boils down to keeping God’s commandments, how can we do that? It sounds difficult, even impossible. John proceeded to respond to this concern. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 John 5:11-12

This is the content of God’s testimony. Eternal life is inseparable from the person of Jesus Christ. Some of the false teachers seem to have tried to separate them (cf. 1 John 2:25-26). Jesus Christ and eternal life are one gift from God."’Eternal’ life is qualitative, not quantitative; it is the highest kind of spiritual and moral life, irrespective of time, which God enables the believer to share in relationship with Jesus." [Note: Smalley, p. 287.] 1 John 5:12 is not an offer of eternal... read more

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