The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: the First Epistle of S. John
Again, in seeing God they form his image in their minds, which thus represents Him to them. As S. Augustine says (Enchirid. cap. iii.), “ When the mind is imbued with the beginning of faith which worketh by love, it strives by holy living to reach that sight wherein is that ineffable beauty, which holy souls know, and in the full vision of which is supreme happiness.” And again, they will be like Him, as partaking of His everlasting blessedness. See S. Gregory, Horn. ii. in Ezek.
Then follows on this another resemblance, viz., in will, in the perfect love of God beheld and possessed. As S. Fulgentius says, “We shall be like Him, in imitating His righteousness.” And this love will make a man love God with all his heart and soul, so as to have no wish or desire to love anything else than God. As S. Augustine says ( Confessions ), “When I cleave to Thee with my whole heart, I shall have no pain or labour. My life will be full of Thee, but now, when I am not full of Thee, I am a burden to myself.”
Moreover, this love will last for ever, and will ever enkindle the blessed to praise God. (See S. Augustine, Serm. cxviii. de Divers, cap. 5.) “When we are like to Him, never shall we fall away, or turn aside. Let us be sure then, the praise of God will never cloy. If thou failest in love, thou wilt cease to praise, but if thy love be never-ending, never be afraid of being unable to praise Him, whom thou wilt ever be able to love.” And from this glorious vision there will follow all the endowments of the glorified soul and body of Christ, for there will be entire peace, concord, and harmony in all our powers of action. Our bodies will be impassible , bright, subtle. See 1 Cor. xv. 42. Just as the sun shining through a cloud makes mock suns one or more, so will it be with the Godhead as it shines through the bodies and souls of the blessed. And what a happy and glorious sight will this be! See Col. iii. 3 ; 1 Cor. xv. 45 ; Phil. iii. 21 ; 2 Cor. iii. 18 ; Rom. vi.
For we shall see Him as He is. God in His own essence, as the Schoolmen teach.
Again, we shall see Christ as man, clothed as man with a glorious Body (see Bellarmine, de Beat. Sanct. i. 3 ; Gregory, de Valent. &c.)
And this too, not in a glass and in a figure, but face to face. For in this life we do not see God as He is, but as He became clothed with flesh for our sakes. (See S. Augustine (in loc.). Origen, Horn. vi. in Gen., and S. Gregory, Horn. ii. in Ezek.)
Ver. 3. — And every one that hath this hope in Him , purifieth himself even as He is pure. The Apostle next shows us the way to attain this likeness to Christ. We must put our whole trust in Him. To be like Him in glory, we must strive to be like Him in holiness, in suffering, and in passion. For no one will be like Christ in heaven, who is unlike Him on earth. For it is His to give us grace to lead us to accomplish so arduous a work. “ The mercy of God is the ground for hoping” to strive after sanctity. It is not enough to place our hope in God unless we put our hand to the work, and labour together with Him. See Rom. viii. 17; Heb. xii. 14; Matt v. 8. [Pseudo]- Augustine admirably says (de cognit verce vitce , in fin.): “To this highest good the righteous are drawn by one link after another. First faith, then hope, then love, perfected in action, action led on by its intention to the highest good, this again issues in perseverance, which will bring us even to God Himself, the fountain of all good.”
Purifieth himself, i.e. sanctifieth himself, for sanctity “is freedom from every kind of pollution, the most uncontaminated and most perfect purity.” (Dionysius, de dip . nom. cap . xii.)
The true sanctity of men consists in purification from sins, and rooting out of vices, as S. Paul says, 2 Tim. ii. 21.
Moreover, this cleansing from vices is effected by the implanting and exercise of the contrary virtues, as the rooting out of pride by humility, &c. Sanctity then includes all the virtues with which the soul is sanctified and devoted to God. For that is the meaning of ‘sanctus.’ Some then explain the word in this sense. Just as Priests and ‘Religious’ dedicate themselves. And indeed all the faithful in a more imperfect way who are by baptism consecrated to God. See 1 Pet ii. 9. And Christ said (John xvii. 19), “I sanctify Myself (I offer myself as a holy victim), that they also may be sanctified in the truth”
S. Gregory Nazianzen says, “What is sanctity? To hold converse with God.” And S. Bernard (de Consid. v. 14) says, “Holy affection , which is of two kinds, the fear of God, and holy love, makes a man holy. For a soul which is completely affected by these motives, embraces Him with both its arms, and says, I hold Him and will not let Him go.” And he says also ( Serm . xxv. inter parvos ), “There are three things which make a man holy, — simple living, holy deeds, a pious intention,” &c. (this is pursued at great length).
As He is holy . See Lev. xxvi. and xxvii. 28. St John enforces great sanctity, like the sanctity of God Himself, and continued and daily progress therein, that we may be more and more like Him.
If thou wishest to be holy, set before thee the pattern of sanctity, the life and passion of the Lord. As St. Ambrose says (de Isaac), “Let every one strip off the filthy wrappings of His soul, and prove it, when cleansed from its filth, as gold in the fire. But the beauty of a soul, when thus cleansed, consists in a truer knowledge of heavenly things, and the sight of that supreme Good from which all things depend, being Itself from nothing.” And S. Gregory Nazianzen, “Let us restore to His image its beauty, let us recognise our dignity, follow our pattern, learn the power of the mystery, and for what purpose Christ died. Let us be as Christ, since He became as one of us. Let us be gods for His sake, as He became man for ours.” And speaking of God he says, “ He holds nothing so precious as purity or cleansing.” (Orat. vi.)
Ver 4. — Whosoever committeth sin , also doeth iniquity, for sin is iniquity . “ For whosoever sins,” says Bede, “ acts contrary to the equity of the Divine Law.” The faithful ought to sanctify themselves in order to be like Christ, and on the contrary sin is ἀνομία, a transgression of the Divine Law, and makes us utterly unlike God, and hateful to Him. He means “ deadly sin.” S. Augustine (contr. Faust. xxii. 7) says, that “sin is anything we say, do, or desire, against the Divine Law.” And S. Ambrose (de Parad. cap. 8), “Sin is disobedience to the Divine commands.” In like manner iniquity is a departure from the equity which the law prescribes, and injustice is contrary to justice, and ἀνομία is what is contrary to law. Sin and iniquity mean, in S. John, the same thing, though in popular speech iniquity has a worse meaning than sin. See S. Gregory, Mor. xi. ai. S. Ambrose (Apol. Dav . cap . 13) says the exact contrary, regarding sin as the worse of the two.
But every sin, even against human or ecclesiastical law, is contrary to God, as being contrary to His eternal law, which is the source of all law. As S. Thomas says (1. 2, quæst. 91), “Law is the highest reason existing in the Divine mind, according to which He directs the actions of all creatures to their own proper ends. For as there is in God the reason for His creating things, so also is the law by which they are to be governed. And as the one is the conception in the Divine mind, which decided how they were to be made, so is the other that eternal law, by which every creature should discharge its own functions, together with the will which obliges them, or at least impresses on them an inclination, to follow it.”
Ver. 5. — And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins. That is Christ. “ And He takes away our sins, ” says Bede, “ by forgiving the sins which have been done, by keeping us from doing, and by leading us to that life where they cannot be committed.” The word αἴρω and the Syriac nasa, both of them signify to bear , and take away . Both meanings are suitable here. See Is. liii. 4, 6, and 11.