Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 John 5:1-12
V.(8.)FAITH THE TEST OF LOVE (1 John 5:1-12).(a)Its power (1 John 5:1-5).(b)The evidence on which it rests (1 John 5:6-10).(c)What it contains (1 John 5:11-12).(8 a.) St. John has been setting love in the supreme place which it held in our Lord’s teaching and in St. Paul’s. But there is another faculty which has to regulate, purify, direct, and stir up our weak and imperfect loving powers, and that is, faith. Without faith we cannot be certain about the quality of our love. He begins very... read more
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 5:1-21
The Love, Obedience, and Assurance of Believers1. The reason for brotherly love. 2. This is the converse of 1 John 4:19-21. Love to God and love to the brethren being inseparable, each is the test of the other. 4. Whatsoever] not ’whosoever.’ ’It is not the man, but his birth from God, which conquers’ (Plummer).6. This is he that came by water and blood] According to the most generally accepted interpretation of this difficult passage, the reference is primarily to our: Lord’s baptism in Jordan... read more