RSV ~ 1 John 5 Notes
1 Jn 5:1 | ISB Notes
Jesus is the Christ: For a confession of faith to be orthodox, it must affirm that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah anointed by Yahweh (2:22). The same standard applies to belief in Jesus’ divine Sonship (5:5) (CCC 436, 454). See note on 1 Jn 2:18.
1 Jn 5:3 | ISB Notes
the love of God: Love for God is an act of the will that expresses itself in obedience to his commandments (Jn 14:15). It directs us to fulfill his law by loving one another (1 Jn 3:23) and adhering to the Ten Commandments (Rom 13:8-10).
1 Jn 5:4 | ISB Notes
our faith: Faith opens the way to salvation and rescues us from the sinful world. The towering importance of faith is stressed in 1 John (3:23; 5:10, 13), as well as in the Gospel of John (Jn 1:12; 3:16-18; 5:24, etc.). See note on Jn 3:36.
1 Jn 5:6 | ISB Notes
by water and blood: Alludes to the historical ministry of Jesus, which began with a baptism of water in the Jordan (Lk 3:21) and ended with a baptism of blood in Jerusalem (Lk 12:50). Again, John is emphasizing the full reality of Christ’s humanity (CCC 463).
1 Jn 5:7-8 | ISB Notes
A handful of late Greek manuscripts, along with a few medieval Vulgate manuscripts and the Clementine Vulgate of 1592, expand these verses with the line: “There are three who give witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and Holy Spirit, and these three are one” (inserted either in 5:7 or in 5:8 with minimal variation). This is known as the “Johannine Comma” or the “heavenly witnesses” text. Despite the fact that this line is a clear expression of trinitarian doctrine, the Holy Office decreed in 1927 that Catholic scholarship, after careful examination of the manuscript evidence, is not bound to accept the text as part of the original wording of 1 John. The reading does not appear in the Nova Vulgata, the updated edition of the Latin Vulgate Bible approved by Pope John Paul II (1979).
1 Jn 5:8 | ISB Notes
three witnesses: Evidence of Christ’s humanity is present in the liturgy, where the Spirit never ceases to bring Christ to the world through the water of Baptism and the blood of the Eucharist. Faith in the Incarnation is thus supported by the joint testimony of history and liturgy.
John was uniquely qualified to insist on this: he not only engaged in sacramental ministry, but he was the sole apostle to witness the Spirit, the water, and the blood come forth from the crucified body of Jesus (Jn 19:30, 34) (CCC 1108, 1225). See note on Jn 19:34.
• The Mosaic Law requires joint testimony from two or three witnesses to uphold a claim in court (Deut 19:15). For other uses of this legal standard in the NT, see Jn 5:30-47 and 2 Cor 13:1.
• The three witnesses become one in Baptism, for if you eliminate one of them, the sacrament ceases to be. Without the Cross of Christ, water is simply a natural element. Without water, there is no mystery of regeneration. And unless one is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, there is neither remission of sins nor reception of spiritual grace (St. Ambrose, On the Mysteries 4, 20).
1 Jn 5:13 | ISB Notes
you have eternal life: John is certain, not that his readers will make it to heaven, but that they are filled with the living presence of Christ. This is how John understands “eternal life” throughout the letter (1:2; 3:14-15; 5:1-12, 20). Readers are thus assured that they possess Christ, not that they will persevere in his grace until the end. The danger still exists that the saints on earth can fall into deadly sin (5:16).
1 Jn 5:14 | ISB Notes
if we ask anything: The children of God (3:1) can approach the Father with the filial confidence that he hears us and desires to meet our needs (Lk 11:9-13). This is made possible through Christ, whose holy name gives us access to the heavenly throne (Jn 14:13-14; Heb 4:16; CCC 432).
1 Jn 5:16-17 | ISB Notes
John distinguishes between sin that is deadly (Gk., “unto death”) and sin that is not deadly (Gk., “not unto death”). The reference is to spiritual death rather than physical death. Sinning unto death means sinning so grievously that one forfeits the indwelling “life” of Christ (5:12) and lapses back into a state of “death” (the reverse of 3:14). The evil in view is probably “apostasy”, i.e., the sin of the heretical secessionists who denied the truth of apostolic doctrine (2:22) and severed themselves from the life and liturgy of the apostolic Church (2:19). Sin that does not lead to death weakens one’s fellowship with God and requires cleansing and forgiveness (1:6-9) but does not extinguish the divine life abiding within (3:24). It is unclear why John does not ask believers to pray for persons guilty of deadly sins. Whatever the reason, his words do not imply that such a one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy or incapable of future repentance.
• Catholic moral theology adopts this distinction between mortal and non-mortal (venial) sins. Venial offenses can be forgiven by prayers of contrition and other means, but, ordinarily, mortal sins cannot be forgiven apart from the absolution and restorative grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (CCC 1854-64). .
1 Jn 5:18-20 | ISB Notes
John concludes with a synopsis of several themes from the letter. Each verse in succession declares what believers “know” with the certitude of faith.
1 Jn 5:20 | ISB Notes
the true God: An assertion of Christ’s divinity that balances John’s persistent emphasis on Chri
st’s humanity (1:1-2; 4:2; 5:6-8; CCC 464). These words could describe the Father, but they more likely refer to his Son Jesus Christ in the preceding sentence. eternal life: Also a reference to Christ, who is the embodiment of divine life (1:2).
1 Jn 5:21 | ISB Notes
idols: The confession that Christ is the “true God” (5:20) implies that every pagan deity is a false god unworthy of worship. Idolatry was everywhere present in Asia Minor, where John’s readers probably lived (CCC 2112).