1 John 5:19-21 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 John 5:18-21

Here we have, I. A recapitulation of the privileges and advantages of sound Christian believers. 1. They are secured against sin, against the fulness of its dominion or the fulness of its guilt: We know that whosoever is born of God (and the believer in Christ is born of God, 1 John 5:1) sinneth not (1 John 5:18), sinneth not with that fulness of heart and spirit that the unregenerate do (as was said 1 John 3:6, 9), and consequently not with that fulness of guilt that attends the sins of... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:18-20

5:18-20 We know that he who has received his birth from God does not sin, but he whose birth was from God keeps him, and the Evil One does not touch him. We know that it is from God that we draw our being, and the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One. We know that the Son of God has come, and that he has given us discernment to come to know the Real One; and we are in the Real One, even through his Son Jesus Christ. This is the real God and this is eternal life. ... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:21

5:21 My dear children, guard yourselves from idols. With this sudden, sharp injunction John brings his letter to an end. Short as it is, there is a world of meaning in this phrase. (i) In Greek the word idol has in it the sense of unreality. Plato used it for the illusions of this world as opposed to the unchangeable realities of eternity. When the prophets spoke of the idols of the heathen, they meant that they were counterfeit gods, as opposed to the one true God. This may well mean,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 5:19

And we know that we are of God ,.... The sons of God, and regenerated by him; this is known by the Spirit of God, which witnesses to the spirits of the saints that they are the children of God; and by the fruits and effects of regenerating grace, as love to the brethren, and the like: and the whole world lies in wickedness ; that is, the men of the world, the greater part of the inhabitants of it, who are as they were when they came into it, not being born of God; these are addicted to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 5:20

And we know that the Son of God is come ,.... That the second Person in the Godhead, who is equal to the Father, and of the same nature with him, is come from the Father, from heaven into this world, not by local motion, but by assumption of nature; that he is come in the flesh, or is become incarnate, in order to work out salvation for his people, by his obedience, sufferings, and death; and this John and others knew, for they had personal knowledge of him, and converse with him; they saw... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 5:21

Little children, keep yourselves from idols, Amen. From Heathen idols and idolatry, into which the saints in those times might be liable to be drawn, by reason of their dwelling among Heathen idolaters, and being related to them, and by the too great freedom used in eating things sacrificed to idols in their temples; and from all other idols that might be introduced by some who went by the name of Christians, as the Gnostics, who worshipped the images of Simon and Helena; and the passage may... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 5:19

We know that we are of God - Have the fullest proof of the truth of Christianity, and of our own reconciliation to God through the death of his Son. The whole world lieth in wickedness - Εν τῳ πονηρῳ κειται· Lieth in the wicked one - is embraced in the arms of the devil, where it lies fast asleep and carnally secure, deriving its heat and power from its infernal fosterer. What a truly awful state! And do not the actions, tempers, propensities, opinions and maxims of all worldly men... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 5:20

We know that the Son of God is come - In the flesh, and has made his soul an offering for sin; and hath given us an understanding - a more eminent degree of light than we ever enjoyed before; for as he lay in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him unto us; and he hath besides given us a spiritual understanding, that we may know him who is true, even the True God, and get eternal life from him through his Son, In whom we are by faith, as the branches in the vine, deriving all our... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 5:21

Little children - Τεκνια· Beloved children; he concludes with the same affectionate feeling with which he commenced. Keep yourselves from idols - Avoid the idolatry of the heathens; not only have no false gods, but have the true God. Have no idols in your houses, none in your churches, none in your hearts. Have no object of idolatrous worship; no pictures, relics, consecrated tapers, wafers, crosses, etc., by attending to which your minds may be divided, and prevented from worshipping... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 5:19

Verse 19 19We are of God He deduces an exhortation from his previous doctrine; for what he had declared in common as to the children of God, he now applies to those he was writing to; and this he did, to stimulate them to beware of sin, and to encourage them to repel the onsets of Satan. Let readers observe, that it is only true faith, that applies to us, so to speak, the grace of God; for the Apostle acknowledges none as faithful, but those who have the dignity of being God’s children. Nor... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 John 5:18-21

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:18-20

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:21

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 5:19

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 5:20

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 5:21

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 5:19

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 5:20

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 5:21

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 5:19

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