1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we to you, that you also may have fellowship with us… Thus the final and highest positive end which St. John aimed to attain by his gospel was this, that the high priestly prayer of Jesus (John 17:21) should have its fulfilment in his readers; that they(1) should grow as living members into that fellowship, the mother-stem and centre of which was the disciples themselves — into that fellowship the members of which among themselves were one, but the common unity of which(2) has its internal ground of life in the unity in which every individual stands with the Father and the Son. It is obvious, accordingly, that the two members of this final statement of the design do not simply stand side by side in external conjunction, but are most internally and livingly one. The latter specifies the internal living ground and principle of life, on which the former grows, and on which alone it can be brought to perfection. (J. H. A. Ebrard.) Parallel Verses KJV: That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. |
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