I. Of Practical Religion.
In the seventh verse he shows that all true religion is practical: ‘He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.’ Our Blessed Lord was practically righteous, so His people will be the same.
In the eighth verse he shows that the practice of sin is of the Devil: ‘He that committeth sin is of the Devil.’
In ver. 5–8 he teaches that to destroy the works of the Devil was the great object of the manifestation of our Blessed Redeemer: ‘For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil.’
In the tenth verse he asserts that this practical righteousness is the distinguishing test between the children of God and the children of the Devil. It was clearly such conduct as was visible to other men, or the distinction would not have been manifest. ‘In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the Devil.’
II. Of Habitual Religion.
The present tense, indicating a continued habit, is employed throughout the passage. So the word sometimes rendered ‘committeth,’ and sometimes ‘doeth,’ is used to express the habit. This may be seen from the use of it in these words of our Blessed Saviour (John, ix. 19): ‘None of you keepeth the law.’ If we adopt the rendering of that verse, and substitute ‘keepeth’ for ‘committeth’ in this passage there will be very little difficulty in understanding the meaning of the Apostle. The fourth verse would then be, ‘He that keepeth sin transgresseth also the law;’ and the eighth, ‘He that keepeth sin is of the Devil.’
The whole passage teaches us the great importance of being most earnest in urging the necessity of a practically consistent life on the children of God, and in showing that there must be a change in heart, in principle, and in habitual practice, whenever a person is born of God; but it has no reference whatever to the secret heart-struggles of the true believer in his earnest conflict with indwelling sin. They are not the subject of the passage. There are other Scriptures which speak of them, but this refers to practical and habitual conduct.
Note C.—On the Word ‘Perfect.’
The word τέλειος is of so frequent occurrence in Scripture that it requires our careful study.