NOTES for Jo1 3:11-20

The language of the First General Epistle of the apostle and evangelist John is so close to the language of his Gospel that the question of authorship looks completely idle. It is all the more interesting how the beloved disciple uses the Teacher's expressions. In the Gospel the Lord says: "he who believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life" (John 5:24). In today's passage from the epistle we read: "we know that we have passed from death into life." We have every right to think that with this Greek expression in both cases the apostle is accurately conveying the words of Christ that he remembered. Why then, as the apostle says, do we know that we have passed from death into life? Because we love the brothers.

To be honest, these words sound somewhat shocking. The turns of history make us think that the reason for confidence in the accomplished passage from death into life lies in other things. Yet for the apostle everything is so simple: we know that we have passed from death into life because we love the brothers. It is even a little painful, because this is precisely what, as a rule, we do not know how to do... At the same time, reading these words is very joyful, because Christianity turns out to be a much more living faith than one might think by looking at ourselves.