1 John 3:18

And hereby we know that we are of the truth,.... By the saints loving one another in deed and in truth, they know, as the cause is known by the effect, that they are of God, who is the true God, the…

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue - By mere profession; by merely sayinG that we love each other. See 1Pe 1:22. But in deed and in truth - In such acts as shall show that…

My little children - Τεκνια μου, My beloved children, let us not love in word - in merely allowing the general doctrine of love to God and man to be just and right;

Neither in tongue - In making…

The beloved apostle can scarcely touch upon the mention of sacred love, but he must enlarge upon the enforcement of it, as here he does by divers arguments and incentives thereto; as,

I. That it is a…

My little children, let us not love in word S. John, as in 1Jn 2:28; 1Jn 3:13; 1Jn 4:1; 1Jn 4:7, hastens on to a practical application of what he has been stating as the principles of Christian…