THE GOSPEL AND FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN
[p. 454] THE GOSPEL AND FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN
I would say a few words to show the contrast between John’s epistle and John’s gospel; for these distinctions are of very great importance. First, as to the different way in which the same Person is presented to us in each.
In the gospel the Son, though become Man, is presented on the divine side; and in the epistle mediatorially as Man, though at the same time the true God; and it is in this connection eternal life to us comes in. To prove it to you, I have only to call your attention to the beginning of each book. (See John 1:1, etc.). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. The first thirteen verses present an epitome of what He was, and the effect of His manifestation down here; it is not till verse 14 we get incarnation stated. The object of what is recorded is seen in John 20:30,31. “These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name”. Jesus (His personal name), the lowly Man, is the Christ, in whom is the accomplishment of the hopes and promises presented in the Old Testament, and at the same time the Son of God who has revealed the Father. He is thus the object of faith, that you might have life through His name. The object for which the gospel was written was to unfold the truth as to the only-begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, who has declared God.
In the epistle the same Person is presented to us on another side, as I have said, mediatorially as Man. We have what is true in Him and in us. You must have Christ as Man for that. In the gospel it is rather what is true in the Father and the Son. I have no [p. 455] part in Him as God, for I never cease to be a creature, though I may be richly blessed as such; it is on the human side only we can have any part in Christ. In the gospel He takes the ground, “before Abraham was, I am”, John 8:58. Here in 1 John 1 it is what He was from the outset, that is, of that which the apostles had seen and heard of in Him as Man down here, from a point of which they could take account; the passage may possibly go on to resurrection, but refers to Him down here, as they had actually seen and known and been familiar with Him; but while presenting this, the epistle closes with the positive statement of the divine glory of His Person: He (Jesus Christ) is the true God and eternal life (s1 John 5:20).
Another point of difference between the gospel and the epistle is in the way in which eternal life is spoken of. In the gospel it is referred to as given, and viewed chiefly on the gift side. In the epistle we have the experimental side, the progress and apprehension of the soul. You must hold to what Scripture teaches on both sides: for instance, in 1 Peter 1 we have saints ‘called’, ‘redeemed’ and ‘born again’—all this is what God has done, while in chapter 2:2-5 we have the advance and progress of the soul to salvation and the apprehension of corporate privileges. The epistles generally are for the instruction and leading on of believers, unfolding the features of their blessings that they may be able to give an account of them. The difference of intent between the gospel and the first epistle of John is seen by contrasting John 20:31 already quoted, and 1 John 5:13: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God: that ye may know that ye have eternal life”.
One more point of difference is as to the position of Jesus. In the gospel the glory of His Person is unfolded; but He appears as Man here in humiliation, having taken that form in order to suffer and thus [p. 456] glorify God. We have in John 13:31, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him”. He took suffering to glorify God. In the epistle, on the other hand, He is seen as Man with the Father. He does not go as Man to the Father till every question in which man was involved was settled. He was equally perfect as Man down here as now in glory. He came from the Father, and it was open to Him to go back at any moment to the place whence He came; but He had become the woman’s seed, and before going back He removed every reproach that rested on man; all the judgment was removed. He can say in resurrection, “Peace be unto you”, John 20:26. In the epistle Jesus is no longer seen in humiliation but in glory. He is as Man with the Father. When He is manifested we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.