The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: the First Epistle of S. John
And ye need not that any man teach you, but as his anointing teacheth you of all things , understand [abide in it] as S. John adds shortly afterwards. Some MSS. add ‘so do ye.’ It means, ye need not go to false apostles and heretics to teach you the truth, for ye have already learned it from the Apostles themselves, and that which they taught outwardly, the Holy Spirit must needs teach you within. (See Is. liv. 13; John vi. 45 ; Ps. xciv. 10.) Be stedfast then in that which ye have thus been taught. See Bellarmine, de Verbo Dei, iii. 3, who says, “ Ye have no need for a Lutheran or Calvinist to teach you Christian doctrine, because ye have been fully taught it by the teaching of the Church, and the aid of the Holy Spirit. See 1 Pet. v. 12 ; Col. i. 6. And S. Augustine (in loc.) thus writes: “ I for my part have spoken to all. But they to whom that unction speaketh not within, they whom the Holy Spirit teacheth not, go away untaught. The outward teachings of a master are a kind of aid and warning, but He who teacheth the heart hath His seat in heaven. . . . One is your master, even Christ. Let Him speak to you within, when no one is present. For though some one is at thy side, yet there is no one in thy heart. Let there be no one in thy heart, let Christ be in thy heart, let His unction be in thy heart, lest thy heart be athirst in the desert, and have no fountains to water it. The Master who teacheth is within, Christ teacheth, His inspiration teacheth. But where His inspiration and His unction are not, words echo in vain from without.” And so too S. Gregory, expounding these very words, says, “ Unless the same spirit be in the heart of the hearer the words of the teacher are useless;” and he adds, “Do not ascribe to the teacher that which ye hear from his lips, for unless He who really teaches you be within, the tongue of the teacher labours outwardly in vain.” But when he says, “ His unction will teach you of all things,” &c., he means, of all that ye have heard, all that the faithful are bound to know, as having been so taught by their earliest instruction and catechising (so even Beza argues), lest any one should infer from this passage that private judgment should be the interpreter of scripture, and the judge of controversies.” See Ezek. xiii. 3.
This anointing , some refer to Christ, the Anointed One, the abstract for the concrete.
And is truth and is no lie . This is a double assertion, confirming the first statement by a denial of its contrary (see John i. 20).
And as it hath taught you, ‘And’ here stands for ‘therefore.’
And now , little children , abide in it. In the orthodox faith which ye have been taught, amid all the fair words of heretics, and persevere therein.
That when Christ shall appear ye may have confidence . That is, boldness of speech. See Wisdom v. 1 ; Col. iii. 4. S. Basil says (Horn, xl Hex, 1), “ Abraham also will fear in the judgment, and be in agony.” This is an exaggeration. But it signifies the severity of the judgment in itself (1 Pet iv. 18). But if we look at the grace and mercy of God, on the other hand, it will assure all saints of their salvation, and will place them as His friends and His elect on His right hand, and separate them from the reprobate, before the judgment begins.
And not be ashamed before Him at His coming. Let us not shame one another by your falling from the faith — shame, i.e., yourselves, and us your apostles and teachers for not keeping you therein. For the goodness of the scholar is the praise and glory of the teacher. S. Basil (on the words of Ps. xxxiv.), “ I will teach you the fear of the Lord,” says that the shame and confusion of the lost will be their bitterest punishment See Rev. vii. 17. And the ground of their shame will be this, that Christ will proclaim, before the whole world, all their shameful and horrible sins, however secret, and committed in thought only ; that they will see the saints, whom they despised in this world, raised up above them to glory, to judge and to condemn them, because they foolishly neglected to expiate their sins by penitence and the shame of confession. See Isa. lxvi. 24 ; Dan. xii. 2. S. Cyril (Catech. iii.) says that the faithful are at their confirmation anointed on their foreheads, as being the seat of shame, in order that they might not be ashamed to confess the name of Christ, and that they might not commit any shameful act, and thus be confounded at the day of judgment. S. Augustine (in loc.) strikingly observes,
“ Faithful is He that promiseth. He deceiveth not. Only do thou faint not, but wait for the promise. The truth cannot deceive. Be not thou false, professing one thing and doing another. Keep thou the faith, and He will keep His promise. But if thou keep not the faith, thou hast defrauded thyself, He has not broken faith with thee.” And Œcumenius : “ What can be more glorious or more admirable than to act boldly in His sight, to whom we shall give an account of our labours, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming?”
At His coming , in glory to judge the world. “ We now see through a glass darkly, but then we shall see face to face ” (1 Cor. xiii. 12).
Ver. 29. — (i.e. since) ye know that He is righteous , know ye that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him . He shows the way and means by which we can have confidence before Christ as our Judge : that is, by performing righteous and holy deeds, to offer to Him as our just Judge. Let not any one suppose that orthodox belief alone suffices, works of righteousness are also required. For Christ, not only as God, but as the holiest of men, loves those who are righteous ; and will pass on them a righteous sentence of acquittal. It is the part of a just judge to judge of every one's works, and to assign their rewards and punishments accordingly. He then that doeth righteousness, will in the day of judgment not be confounded before Him, but will have every confidence. Because he is like his judge, nay more, His son and heir, and thus he will be sure of his inheritance (Rom. viii. 17). For all our righteousness flows from the righteousness, holiness, and grace of Christ. Righteousness is here to be understood in a general sense, as including all the virtues through which we are called righteous before God (see John i. 12). Moreover, there is no surer argument that we are born of God than showing Him forth in our deeds and life. Didymus observes that the Apostle uses the present tense (doeth), not the past or future. Because a good root brings forth good fruit. As born again of God by righteousness and grace, and being made partakers of the Divine Nature (2 Pet. i. 4), (for we really partake of the Substance of God by supernatural grace), we ought ever to manifest this our birth and our divine life by loving works of righteousness. For as a man is not alive who does not perform the functions of a living man, so in like manner he is not righteous, not regenerate or living to God, who does not perform righteous acts, especially since it is the part of a child to imitate his father. And since the righteous God ever does righteousness, we, as His children, should ever do the same.
2. Salmeron observes that this divine generation resembles, in a measure, our natural birth. For Christ, as man, brought us forth with the greatest suffering, and as God He works in us that grace and righteousness whereby we are born again as children of God.
3. Œcumenius remarks that as like begets like so are the righteous born of God. And Didymus says, “ that virtue manifests our righteousness in act. No one therefore is righteous, before he does righteous acts, nor yet after he ceases to do them.”
Lastly, S. Augustine says, that righteousness is perfect in the angels, but only beginning in men. “ In the holy angels, who turn aside by no lapse, who fall not away through pride, but remain ever in the contemplation of the Word, and count nothing else sweet, save Him who created them — in them is perfect righteousness, whereas in us it has only begun to be through the Spirit.” And again, “ The beginning of our righteousness is the confession of our sins. Thou hast begun not to defend thy sin : thou hast begun thy righteousness. But it will be perfected in thee, when nothing else shall delight thee to do ; when death will be swallowed up in victory, when no lust shall excite thee, when there will be no struggling with flesh and blood, when there shall be the crown of victory, the triumph over the enemy ; then there will be perfect righteousness . But now we are still fighting, we are still in the lists, we smite and are smitten. We have still to wait, to see who is conqueror . But he is the conqueror, who in striking a blow relies not on his own strength, but on God, who cheers and encourages him on.”
The righteous therefore emulate the righteousness of the angels, so that keeping their minds from all earthly defilements, and tearing away their love from created objects, they may fix it on their Creator alone, and love Him, worship Him, and give Him thanks both in prosperity and adversity, making their words and life together with His Cross and Passion a continuous and constant praise to God. Such is the life of angels. See Job xxxviii. 7.
Christians, moreover, as new born in Christ, should emulate Christ, should “ speak as oracles, should live as gods,” * for Christ thus spake and thus lived. And in this way will they smite even the hearts of sinners, convert and beget them for Christ, as was said of S. Basil (S. Gregory Nazianzen, Orat. funeb.), “His word was as thunder, for his life was as lightning !”
# This seems a quotation.