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3. πᾶς ὁ ἔχων. Once more, as in 1Jn 2:23; 1Jn 2:29, the Apostle explicitly states that there is no exception to the principle laid down. It is not only a general rule that he who has this hope of becoming like God purifies himself, but it is a rule without any exceptions; πᾶς ὁ ἔχων. There is absolutely no room for the Gnostic belief that to the enlightened man sin brings no pollution. Ἐπʼ αὐτῷ of course does not mean ‘in Him,’ but ‘on Him’: in eo sitam, as Beza. Every man who has the hope, based upon God, of one day being like Him, purifies himself. Comp. ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν (Rom 15:12): ἠλπίκαμεν ἐπὶ θεῷ ζῶντι (1Ti 4:10).
ἁγνίζει. In LXX. this verb (ἁγνίζειν) is used chiefly in a technical sense of ceremonial purifications, e.g. of the priests for divine service: and so also even in N.T. (Joh 11:55; Act 21:24; Act 21:26; Act 24:18). But we need not infer that, because the outward cleansing is the dominant idea in these passages, it is therefore the only one. Here, Jam 4:8, and 1Pe 2:22, the inward purification and dedication become the dominant idea, though perhaps not to the entire exclusion of the other.
ἁγν. ἑαυτόν. See on 1Jn 1:8 and 1Jn 5:21. S. John once more boldly gives us an apparent contradiction, in order to bring out a real truth. In 1Jn 1:7 it is ‘the blood of Jesus’ which ‘cleanseth us from all sin:’ here the Christian ‘purifieth himself.’ Both are true, and neither cleansing will avail to salvation without the other. Christ cannot save us if we withhold our efforts: we cannot save ourselves without His merits and grace.
καθὼς ἐκεῖνος ἁγνός ἐστιν. As in 1Jn 3:2, the ‘even as’ brings out the reality of the comparison: similarly in Joh 17:11; Joh 17:22 we have ‘that they may be one, even as we are.’ It is not easy to determine with certainty whether ‘He’ means the Father or Christ. The change of pronoun in the Greek from ‘on Him’ (ἐπʼ αὐτῷ) to ‘He’ (ἐκεῖνος) favours, though it does not prove, a change of meaning. Probably throughout this Epistle ἐκεῖνος means Christ (1Jn 3:5; 1Jn 3:7; 1Jn 3:16; 1Jn 2:6; 1Jn 4:17). He who, relying on God, hopes to be like God hereafter, purifies himself now after the example of Christ. Christ conformed Himself to the Father; we do the like by conforming ourselves to Christ. This interpretation brings us once more in contact with Christ’s great prayer. ‘For their sakes I consecrate Myself, that they themselves may be consecrated in truth’ (Joh 17:19). Moreover, would S. John speak of God as ‘pure’? God is ‘holy’ (ἅγιος); Christ in His perfect sinlessness as man is ‘pure’ (ἁγνός). The Vulgate here renders ἁγνός sanctus, as the Corbey MS. in Jam 3:17, where the Vulgate has pudicus. The usual Vulgate rendering is castus. Note that S. John does not say ‘even as He purified Himself:’ that grace which the Christian has to seek diligently is the inherent attribute of Christ. The consecration of Christ for the work of redemption is very different from the purification of the Christian in order to be like Him and the Father. Comp. Heb 12:14.