2:19a

They went out from us: (Meaning) These people whom John has just called “antichrists” had originally been members of the church. Then they disagreed with the other members over whether Jesus was the Christ whom God sent from heaven, and so they left the church. This proved that they had never really been true Christians (2:19d).

2:19b

they did not belong to us: (Meaning) John means that those people had never really been members of the group of believers. They were never true Christians like himself and his readers.

2:19d

(Good News Translation) they left so that…: (Meaning) John is not saying that these people left the church with the purpose in their minds of showing that they were not really Christians. Rather he is saying that God’s purpose in their leaving was that it should have the effect of making clear that they were not Christians. See Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, Living Bible.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

3:23a

this: (Pronoun Reference) The word this refers to 3:23b–d, believing in Jesus and loving one another.

His commandment: (Lexical Problem) John here says commandment in the singular to show that belief and love are the summary or main point of all God’s commands. In some languages it may not be possible to have the singular this and commandment referring to the two verbs “believe” and “love.” If that is the case in your language, you can say something like “These are the most important things he told us to do.”

3:23b

the name: (Figure of Speech) This refers to Jesus’ authority and character and everything about him as God’s Son.

3:23d

as He commanded: (Alternative Interpretations) It is not completely clear who He refers to here:

(1) It probably means “Christ” (see Good News Translation), since it was Christ who gave the commandment to love. See John 13:34.

(2) It may mean “God.”

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Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

5:15a–b

He hears us in whatever we ask: (Logical Relationship) This repeats what John has said in the previous verse. When he says whatever we ask he is assuming that this will be “according to His will” as he mentioned in verse 14.

5:15a

if we know: (Multiple Senses) The word if here is used with the meaning of “since/because.” See Good News Translation.

5:15c

we already possess: (Tense) The tense used in the Greek here shows that God grants Christians’ requests at the very moment we make them. When we ask for something we already have it.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

1:7a

if we…: (Expression) Here John is giving a positive contrast to the last verse, showing what Christians should be doing. Therefore it may be appropriate to use “we” here even if you have used “somebody” in 1:6.

walk in the light: (Metaphor) This means behaving consistently with what God has revealed about his nature and his will. This is clearly contrasted with “walk in the darkness” in the previous verse.

1:7b

He is in the light: (Meaning) Notice the difference from 1:5. Here John says that God is in the light. This is focusing on his actions, which are always good and pure and in accordance with his nature.

1:7c

fellowship with one another: (Focus) The obvious consequence of us walking in the light would be that we would have fellowship with God. But here John is focusing on the fact that doing God’s will causes us to be united with all God’s people. He is warning his readers against the false teachers, who led their followers to break away from fellowship with other Christians.

1:7d

blood of Jesus His Son: (Meaning) This term is often used in the N.T. to refer to Jesus’ violent death, which removes our sin in the same way that the blood of the sacrificed animals did in the O.T.

cleanses: (Metaphor) This is a metaphor for removing from us all that would make us unacceptable to God, that is, all evil. Note that here John is referring to the process that continues throughout our Christian lives.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

3:2a

Beloved: (Meaning) As in 2:7, this indicates John’s loving attitude towards his readers. See the note on 2:7a.

3:2b

what we will be: (Meaning) John is not saying that we will stop being children of God and become something else. He is expecting that as God gives us his glory we will be changed, although John does not fully know what our changed state will be.

3:2c

when Christ appears: (Alternative Interpretations) In the Greek the subject of the verb is not expressed explicitly. This phrase in Greek is literally “when he appears.” There are two views about what the subject is and what the verb means:

(1) The subject is probably Christ, so the verb means “he appears.” As in 2:28, it refers to Christ returning to earth from heaven at some time in the future. (Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, New International Version (2011 Revision), Revised Standard Version, King James Version, Living Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

(2) Some think the subject is “what we will be,” so the verb means “it is made known.” (The Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible)

3:2d

for we will see…: (Alternative Interpretations) There are two views about how this clause is linked to the rest of the sentence:

(1) It is probably giving the reason for our being like Christ. See Living Bible. As Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 3:18, the more we see Christ and know him the more the Holy Spirit is able to change us to be like him.

(2) Some think it is showing how we know that we will be like him.

as He is: (Emphasis) This is emphasizing that we will see Christ not unclearly or partially, but fully and truly. (See Good News Translation, The Jerusalem Bible, Living Bible)

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

4:12 (Focus)

The focus of this verse is on two things that will happen if we love one another: (a) God will live in us, and (b) his love will become perfect in us. The statement that no one has ever seen God is not in focus, it is just emphasizing how amazing it is that God lives in us. The verse could therefore be restructured as:

If we love one another, then even though nobody has ever seen God, he will actually be living in us, and….

4:12a

No one has ever seen God: (Meaning) John means that no one has seen God as he really is, in spirit. People have only ever seen God at times when he has appeared in human form, such as when Moses saw him (Exodus 33:22–23) and when people saw Jesus.

4:12b

if we love: (Multiple Senses) This means “whenever we love…”

God remains in us: (Collocation) See the notes on 2:5c “in Him,” and 3:24a “and God in him.”

4:12c

His love is perfected: (Meaning) John means that when God lives in us and we love others, then God’s love is reaching people just as he wants it to. In other words, God’s love is having the effect he intends it to have.

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Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

2:9a

in the light: (Meaning) This is the same phrase as in 1:7. It refers to living and behaving in a good and pure way as God does.

2:9b

hates: (Multiple Senses) This is the opposite of “loves” in 2:10. It refers to the way one person behaves towards another person, not just to the feelings he has about that person.

brother: (Multiple Senses) This has the sense here of “fellow Christian.”

2:9c

still: (Emphasis) John is emphasizing that such a person is not sinning only in hating his brother. If a person hates his brother, it shows that he has always been in the darkness and has not yet come out of it.

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Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.