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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Glory, Privileges, and Obligations of Sonship.
The beauty of the sonship of God:
v. 1. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him. not.
v. 2. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
v. 3. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.
It was righteousness in life and conduct which the apostle had been urging. He now introduces another motive for such conduct: See how great a love the Father has given to us that we should be called the sons of God, and are. The Christians should behold and see, they should use the eyes of both body and mind, they should concentrate their attention upon that miracle, upon that mystery, that we should be honored with the name of children of God. To have been taken out of the state of wrath and damnation and to have been placed into such intimate fellowship with God as to have been born anew through the power of His Spirit in the Word, that is the experience which we have had. Children of God, that is what we are by faith in Christ Jesus, Gal_3:26, sons of God, led by the Spirit of God, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, Rom_8:14-17. The image of God, lost by the Fall, is being renewed in us. once more, Christ Himself is being formed in us. Gal_4:19. What unspeakable, immeasurable majesty is ours! With this assurance in our hearts we can well bear what the apostle tells us: For this reason the world does not know us, because it does not know Him. The children of this world will not know, will not acknowledge us, will consider us beneath their notice, because we are the children of God, with all that this relation implies. The world did not know, did not acknowledge God as the Lord, did not accept Him in faith, and therefore it cannot possibly enter into friendly relations with us. His children; the unbelievers refuse to acknowledge the new, spiritual, divine character which the Christians show.
For our comfort, however, the apostle repeats and amplifies his statement: Beloved, now are we the children of God, and not yet has it been manifested what we shall be; we know that, when it shall be manifested, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. By nature we were the children of wrath and of Satan, but now, by our conversion, we have become and are children of God. Of that fact we are assured in so many passages of Scriptures that there can be no doubt in our minds. This confidence is not shaken either by the statement that it has not yet been manifested what we shall be. Although we have the certainty of our sonship even now and enjoy many of its blessings, yet the full glory of our future state has not yet been revealed to us. But when that revelation will take place, on the day when Christ will appear to us in the fullness of His glory, then we shall be like God the Lord, as nearly like Him as it is possible for creatures to become; then the image of God will be restored in us in the perfection of its beauty; then we shall be holy and righteous before Him. No longer shall we then view Him through a glass, darkly, but we shall see God face to face, as He is, in all the inexpressible beauty of His holiness and love. This seeing of God will, at the same time, be the means by which the image of God in us will ever again be renewed and kept in the fullness of its glory. That is the certain hope of the believers, a confidence which cannot fail.
It is self-evident, then, for a Christian: And every one that has this hope resting upon Him will purify himself, just as He is pure. Every one without exception that clings to this hope of the final glorious revelation, every one that rests his confidence in God, as the Author and Finisher of his salvation, will find it self-evident that he separates and cleanses himself from all defilements and carnal allurements, from everything that is an abomination in the sight of God. We have the example of Christ before our eyes always, as one who was perfectly pure and holy. It is impossible for Christians that have such hope in their hearts any longer to serve sin. This hope nourishes and strengthens the new life which was created in us in regeneration unto the genuine righteousness of life.