1 John 3:14 - Exposition

We know that we have passed over out of death into life ( John 5:24 ), because, etc. "We" is emphatic; whatever the world may feel about us, we have certain knowledge (not γινώσκομεν , but ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν ). The love of the brethren is the cause, not of the passing over, but of our knowing it. It proves that we have passed. And this test every one can apply to himself; "Do I, or do I not, find the love of the brethren within me?" A Christian can no more live without love than a plant can live without growth. He that loveth not abideth in death: he has not made the passage over. There is no accusative after "loveth," τὸν ἀδελφόν being a gloss. The statement is quite general; absence of love implies an atmosphere of death.