John Calvin Commentary 1 John 5

Whosoever believeth. He confirms by another reason that faith and brotherly love are united; for since God regenerates us by faith, He must necessarily be loved by us as a Father, and this love embraces all His children. Then faith cannot be separated from love.

The first truth is that all who are born of God believe that Jesus is the Christ; where, again, you see that Christ alone is set forth as the object of faith, as in Him faith finds righteousness, life, and every blessing that can be desired, and God in all that He is. Hence, the only true way of believing is when we direct our minds to Him. Besides, to believe that He is the Christ is to hope from Him all those things which have been promised concerning the Messiah.

Nor is the title Christ given Him here without reason, for it designates the office to which He was appointed by the Father. As, under the Law, the full restoration of all things, righteousness, and happiness were promised through the Messiah, so today the whole of this is more clearly set forth in the gospel. Then Jesus cannot be received as Christ unless salvation is sought from Him, since for this purpose He was sent by the Father and is daily offered to us.

Hence, the Apostle declares that all those who really believe have been born of God; for faith is far above the reach of the human mind, so that we must be drawn to Christ by our heavenly Father; for none of us can ascend to Him by our own strength.

And this is what the Apostle teaches us in His Gospel, when he says that those who believe in the name of the Only-begotten, were not born of blood nor of the flesh (John 1:13). And Paul says that we are endowed not with the spirit of this world, but with the Spirit that is from God, that we may know the things given us by him (1 Corinthians 2:12).

For eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the mind conceived, the reward laid up for those who love God; but the Spirit alone penetrates into this mystery. And further, as Christ is given to us for sanctification and brings with it the Spirit of regeneration, in short, as He unites us to His own body, it is also another reason why no one can have faith unless he is born of God.

Loveth him also that is begotten of him. Augustine and some others of the ancients have applied this to Christ, but not correctly. For though the Apostle uses the singular number, yet he includes all the faithful; and the context plainly shows that his purpose was none other than to trace brotherly love to faith as its fountain. It is, indeed, an argument drawn from the common course of nature; but what is seen among men is transferred to God.

But we must observe that the Apostle does not speak only of the faithful and pass by those who are outside, as though the former alone are to be loved, and no care or account is to be taken of the latter; but he teaches us, as it were, by this first exercise to love all without exception, when he bids us to make a beginning with the godly.

By this we know. In these words, he briefly shows what true love is: that is, love directed towards God. He has until now taught us that there is never true love for God unless our brothers and sisters are also loved, for this is always its effect. But he now teaches us that people are rightly and properly loved when God holds the primacy. And this is a necessary definition, because it often happens that we love people apart from God, as unholy and worldly friendships focus only on personal advantages or other fleeting things. Therefore, just as he first referred to the effect, he now refers to the cause, for his purpose is to show that mutual love should be cultivated in such a way that God is honored.

To the love of God he joins the keeping of the law, and rightly so, for when we love God as our Father and Lord, reverence must necessarily be connected with that love. Besides, God cannot be separated from Himself. Therefore, since He is the fountain of all righteousness and equity, whoever loves Him must necessarily have his heart prepared to render obedience to righteousness. The love of God, then, is not idle or inactive.

But from this passage we also learn what the keeping of the law is. For if we obey God by keeping His commandments only when constrained by fear, we are very far from true obedience. Therefore, the first thing is that our hearts should be devoted to God in willing reverence, and then, that our lives should be conformed to the rule of the law. This is what Moses meant when, in giving a summary of the law, he said:

O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to love Him and to obey Him? (Deuteronomy 10:12).

His commandments are not grievous. This has been added so that difficulties, as is usually the case, do not dampen or lessen our zeal. For those who with a cheerful mind and great ardor have pursued a godly and holy life often grow weary afterward, finding their strength inadequate. Therefore John, to rouse our efforts, says that God’s commandments are not grievous.

But it may, on the other hand, be objected that our experience has been far different, and that Scripture testifies that the yoke of the law is insupportable (Acts 15:2). The reason is also evident. Since the denial of self is, as it were, a prelude to keeping the law, can we say that it is easy for a man to deny himself? Indeed, since the law is spiritual, as Paul teaches us in Romans 7:14, and we are nothing but flesh, there must be a great discord between us and the law of God. To this I answer that this difficulty does not arise from the nature of the law but from our corrupt flesh. This is what Paul expressly declares, for after saying that it was impossible for the Law to confer righteousness on us, he immediately places the blame on our flesh.

This explanation fully reconciles what is said by Paul and by David, which apparently seems completely contradictory. Paul makes the law the master of death, declares that it achieves nothing but to bring God’s wrath upon us, that it was given to increase sin, and that it lives in order to kill us.

David, on the other hand, says that it is sweeter than honey and more desirable than gold; and among other recommendations, he mentions the following: that it cheers hearts, converts to the Lord, and quickens. But Paul compares the law with the corrupt nature of man; from this the conflict arises. David, however, shows how those whom God by His Spirit has renewed think and feel; from this comes the sweetness and delight of which the flesh knows nothing.

And John has not omitted this difference, for he confines to God’s children these words, God’s commandments are not grievous, lest anyone take them literally. He intimates that it comes through the power of the Spirit that it is not grievous nor wearisome for us to obey God.

The question, however, does not yet seem to be fully answered. For the faithful, though ruled by the Spirit of God, still carry on a hard contest with their own flesh. However much they may toil, they still hardly perform half their duty. Indeed, they almost fail under their burden, as though they stood, as they say, between the sanctuary and the steep. We see how Paul groaned as one held captive and exclaimed that he was wretched because he could not fully serve God. My reply to this is that the law is said to be easy, insofar as we are endowed with heavenly power and overcome the lusts of the flesh. For however the flesh may resist, the faithful still find that there is no real enjoyment except in following God.

It must further be observed that John does not speak of the law only, which contains nothing but commands, but connects it with the paternal indulgence of God, by which the rigor of the law is mitigated. Since, then, we know that we are graciously forgiven by the Lord when our works do not measure up to the law, this makes us far more ready to obey, according to what we find in Psalm 130:4:

With You is propitiation, that You may be feared.

This, then, is the reason for the ease of keeping the law: because the faithful, being sustained by pardon, do not lose heart when they fall short of what they ought to be. The Apostle, meanwhile, reminds us that we must fight so that we may serve the Lord, for the whole world hinders us from going where the Lord calls us. Thus, only the one who courageously resists the world keeps the law.

This is the victory. As he had said that all who are born of God overcome the world, he also sets forth the way of overcoming it. For it might still be asked, from where does this victory come? He then makes the victory over the world depend on faith.

This passage is remarkable, for though Satan continually repeats his dreadful and horrible attacks, yet the Spirit of God, declaring that we are beyond the reach of danger, removes fear and encourages us to fight with courage. And the past tense is more emphatic than the present or the future; for he says, that has overcome, so that we might feel certain, as though the enemy had already been put to flight. It is, indeed, true that our warfare continues through life, that our conflicts are daily, indeed, that new and various battles are, every moment, on every side, stirred up against us by the enemy. But as God does not arm us only for one day, and as faith is not that of one day but is the perpetual work of the Holy Spirit, we are already partakers of victory, as though we had already conquered.

This confidence does not, however, introduce indifference, but renders us always earnestly intent on fighting. For the Lord thus commands his people to be certain, while still not wanting them to be complacent; but on the contrary, he declares that they have already overcome, so that they may fight more courageously and more strenuously.

The term world has here a wide meaning, for it includes whatever is adverse to the Spirit of God. Thus, the corruption of our nature is a part of the world, as are all lusts, all the schemes of Satan—in short, whatever leads us away from God.

With such a force to contend with, we have an immense war to wage. We would have already been conquered before even entering the contest, and we would be conquered a hundred times daily, if God had not promised us the victory.

But God encourages us to fight by promising us the victory. And as this promise perpetually secures for us the invincible power of God, so, on the other hand, it annihilates all the strength of men.

For the Apostle does not teach us here that God only gives us some help, so that, being aided by Him, we might be strong enough to resist. Instead, he makes victory depend on faith alone, and faith receives from Another that by which it overcomes. Therefore, those who ascribe triumph to their own power take from God what is His own.

Who is he that overcometh the world? This is a reason for the previous sentence; that is, we conquer by faith because we derive strength from Christ, as Paul also says,

I can do all things through him that strengtheneth me, (Philippians 4:13).

He only then can conquer Satan and the world, and not succumb to his own flesh, who, distrustful of himself, relies on Christ’s power alone. For by faith he means a real apprehension of Christ, or an effectual laying hold of him, by which we apply his power to ourselves.