THE MORAL TEACHING OF ST. JOHN.
By W. Bright
“Hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” 1 John 2:3. I. It is conduct, as distinct from mere talking or pleasing supposition as to one's own goodness, on which the epistle insists; for St John is intolerant of shams, as becomes the disciple who was loved by Him who was the Truth. He has been called a mystic; but there is nothing dreamy or indefinite in His teaching about duty; it is very plain-spoken, even sternly direct, uncompromisingly practical. And Christian practice with him is found to circle around the two ideas of light and of truth. II. This is true whether we consider what concerns our own souls practically or what belongs to our relations to each other. Under the former head—(1) St. John would have us think of Christian conduct as exhibiting the two aspects of obedience and of purity. Take obedience first. He that doeth sin, whose daily life drifts ordinarily into sin, whose life is characterized by wilful sinning, is also thereby doing lawlessness. And purity is but another aspect of the same moral condition. (2) But the same principle will work itself out in love to our brethren. In proportion as we realize Christ's presence and His claims, we appreciate more practically the bonds which unite us to those who are treading the same path, who, with us, have been made His children. We walk in darkness, we are liars, not only when we are impure or disobedient, but also when we are uncharitable.—W. Bright, “Morality in Doctrine,” p. 39.