SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:2
Muy amados, ahora somos hijos de Dios, y aun no es manifestado lo que hemos de ser; pero sabemos que si l apareciere (en nosotros) , seremos semejantes a l, porque le veremos como l es.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 John 3:2
Verse 2. Now are we the sons of God] He speaks of those who are begotten of God, and who work righteousness. See the preceding chapter. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be] oupw efanerwqh? It is not yet manifest; though we know that we are the children of God, we do not know that state of glorious excellence to which, as such, we shall be raised.
When he shall appear] ean fanerwqh? When he shall be manifested; i.e., when he comes the second time, and shall be manifested in his glorified human nature to judge the world.
We shall be like him] For our vile bodies shall be made like unto his glorious body; we shall see him as he is, in all the glory and majesty both of the Divine and human nature. See Philippians iii. 21; and John xvii. 24: Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. John had seen his glory on the mount when he was transfigured; and this we find was ineffably grand; but even this must have been partially obscured, in order to enable the disciples to bear the sight, for they were not then like him. But when they shall be like him, they shall see him as he is - in all the splendour of his infinite majesty.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 2. Beloved, now are we the sons of God , &c.] By adoption, secretly in God's predestination, and in the covenant of grace; and openly in regeneration, through faith in Christ, and by the testimony of the Spirit: and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; though they are sons, they do not appear now as such, as they will do, when they shall be introduced into their Father's house, and into the many mansions there prepared for them; when Christ shall publicly own them as the children given unto him, and when they shall be put into the possession of the inheritance they are heirs of; besides, they will appear then not only to be kings' sons, but kings themselves, as they now are; they will then inherit the kingdom prepared for them, and will sit down on a throne of glory, and have a crown of righteousness, life, and glory, put upon them; and will appear not only perfectly justified, their sins being not to be found; and the sentence of justification afresh pronounced, and they placed out of the reach of all condemnation; but they will be perfectly holy and free from all sin, and perfectly knowing and glorious; they have a right to glory now, and glory is preparing for them, and they for that: and they are now representatively glorified in Christ, but then they will be personally glorified: now, though all this shall certainly be, yet it does not now manifestly appear; it appears to God, who calls things that are not as though they were and to Christ, whose delights were with the sons men, these children of God, before the world was, and saw them in all the glory they were to be brought to; but not even to angels, until they are owned and confessed before them; much less to the world, who do not know what they are now, and still less what they will be, seeing them now in poverty, meanness, under many reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions; and even this does not appear to the saints themselves, whose life is a hidden life; and that by reason of darkness, desertion, and diffidence, for want of more knowledge, and from the nature of the happiness itself, which is at present unseen: but we know that when he shall appear ; that is, Jesus Christ, who is now in heaven, and out of sight, but will appear a second time: the time when is not known, but the thing itself is certain: we shall be like him ; in body, fashioned like to his glorious body, in immortality and incorruption, in power, in glory, and spirituality, in a freedom from all imperfections, sorrows, afflictions, and death; and in soul, which likeness will lie in perfect knowledge of divine things, and in complete holiness; for we shall see him as he is ; in his human nature, with the eyes of the body, and in his glorious person, with the eyes of the understanding; not by faith, as now, but by sight; not through ordinances, as in the present state, but through those beams of light and glory darting from him, with which the saints will be irradiated; and this sight, as it is now exceeding desirable, will be unspeakably glorious, delightful, and ravishing, soul satisfying, free from all darkness and error, and interruption; will assimilate and transform into his image and likeness, and be for ever. Philo the Jew observes f34 , that Israel may be interpreted one that sees God; but adds, ouc oiov estin o yeov , not what God is, for this is impossible: it is indeed impossible to see him essentially as he is, or so as to comprehend his nature, being, and perfections; but then the saints in heaven will see God and Christ as they are, and as much as they are to be seen by creatures; God will be seen as he is in Christ; and Christ will be seen as he is in himself, both in his divine and human natures, as much as can be, or can be desired to be seen and known of him. Ver. 3. And every man that hath this hope in him , &c.] Or on him, Jesus Christ; for a true hope of that eternal happiness, which lies in likeness to Christ, and in the vision of him, is only founded on his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice: and this hope every man has not, only he who is born again; for this grace is implanted in regeneration, when men are of abundant mercy begotten unto it, and have it bestowed upon them as a free grace gift; and which is of great service to them both in life and in death; and among the rest it has this influence and effect upon them, that every such person that has it, purifieth himself even as he is pure ; not that any man can purify or cleanse himself from sin, this is only owing to the grace of God and blood of Christ; nor that any man can be so pure and holy as Christ is, who is free from all sin, both original and actual; but this must be understood either of a man that has faith and hope in Christ, dealing by these with the blood of Christ for purity and cleansing, with whom and which these graces are conversant for such purposes; or of such a person's imitating of Christ in the holiness of his life and conversation, making him his pattern and example, studying to walk as he walked; to which he is the more excited and stimulated by the hope he has of being a Son of God, a dear child of his, and therefore ought to be a follower of him, and walk as Christ walked, in humility; love, patience, and in other acts of holiness; and by the hope he has of being like unto him, and with him in the other world to all eternity: but then this as is only expressive of some degree of likeness and similitude, and not perfect equality, which is not to be expected in this, or in the world to come; believers indeed, who have faith and hope in the justifying righteousness of Christ, may, and should consider themselves pure and righteous, and free from sin, as Christ is; being clothed upon with his robe of righteousness, in which they stand without fault before the throne, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but this does not seem to be the sense of the place here, the argument being to engage the saints to purity and holiness of life and conversation, from the consideration of the great love of God bestowed upon them in their adoption, and from their hope of eternal happiness, as the context shows; (see 2 Corinthians 7:1); other arguments follow.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1, 2 - Little does the world know of the happiness of the real followers of Christ. Little does the world think that these poor, humble, despise ones, are favourites of God, and will dwell in heaven. Let the followers of Christ be content with hard fare here, since they are in land of strangers, where their Lord was so badly treated before them The sons of God must walk by faith, and live by hope. They may wel wait in faith, hope, and earnest desire, for the revelation of the Lor Jesus. The sons of God will be known, and be made manifest by likenes to their Head. They shall be transformed into the same image, by their view of him.
Greek Textus Receptus
αγαπητοι 27 νυν 3568 τεκνα 5043 θεου 2316 εσμεν 2070 5748 και 2532 ουπω 3768 εφανερωθη 5319 5681 τι 5101 εσομεθα 2071 5704 οιδαμεν 1492 5758 δε 1161 οτι 3754 εαν 1437 φανερωθη 5319 5686 ομοιοι 3664 αυτω 846 εσομεθα 2071 5704 οτι 3754 οψομεθα 3700 5695 αυτον 846 καθως 2531 εστιν 2076 5748
Vincent's NT Word Studies
2. Beloved. See ii. 7.
Now are we and, etc. The two thoughts of the present and the future condition of God's children are placed side by side with the simple copula, and, as parts of one thought. Christian condition, now and eternally, centers in the fact of being children of God. In that fact lies the germ of all the possibilities of eternal life.
It doth not yet appear (oupw efanerwqh). Rev., more correctly, it is not yet made manifest. See on John xxi. 1. The force of the aorist tense is, was never manifested on any occasion.
What we shall be (ti esomeqa). "This what suggests something unspeakable, contained in the likeness of God" (Bengel).
But we know. Omit but.
When He shall appear (ean fanerwqh). Rev., correctly, if He (or it) shall be manifested. We may render either "if it shall be manifested," that is what we shall be; or, "if He," etc. The preceding ejfanerwqh it is (not yet) made manifest, must, I think, decide us in favor of the rendering it. We are now children of God. It has not been revealed what we shall be, and therefore we do not know. In the absence of such revelation, we know (through our consciousness of childship, through His promise that we shall behold His glory), that if what we shall be were manifested, the essential fact of the glorified condition thus revealed will be likeness to the Lord. This fact we know now as a promise, as a general truth of our future state. The condition of realizing the fact is the manifestation of that glorified state, the revealing of the ti ejsomeqa what we shall be; for that manifestation will bring with it the open vision of the Lord. When the what we shall be shall be manifest, it will bring us face to face with Him, and we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is.
As He is (kaqwv estin). Strictly, just as. Rev., even as.
"As long as the festivity Of Paradise shall be, so long our love Shall radiate round about us such a vesture. Its brightness is proportioned to the ardor, The ardor to the vision; and the vision Equals what grace it has above its worth.
Dante, "Paradiso," iv., 37-42. 8. Every man that hath (pav o ecwn). A characteristic form of expression with John, containing "a reference to some who had questioned the application of a general principle in particular cases." Here to some persons who had denied the practical obligation to moral purity involved in their hope. See vv. 4, 6, 9, 10, 15, 23, 29; iv. 7; v. 1, 4, 18; 2 John 9. Hope. John's only reference to Christian hope. The phrase used here, to have the hope upon one, is unique in the New Testament. Compare ejp' aujtw eqnh ejlpiousin "on Him shall the Gentiles hope" (Romans xv. 12): hjlpikamen ejpi Qew zwnti "we have hoped on the living God" (1 Tim. iv. 10). On the force of ecwn, see on John xxvi. 22.
In Him (ep autw). Ambiguous. Better, as Rev., set on Him.
Purifieth himself (agnizei eauton). On the verb, see on 1 Pet. i. 22; Jas. iv. 8. In the Septuagint used only of ceremonial purification, and so four out of the seven instances in which it occurs in the New Testament (John xi. 55; Acts xxi. 24, 26; xxiv. 18). In the remaining cases, of purifying the heart and the soul (Jas. iv. 8; 1 Pet. i. 22). The kindred adjective aJgnov pure, has a moral signification in every case, as has the noun aJgothv pureness (only 2 Cor. vi. 6). Agnismov purification (only Acts xxi. 26), ceremonial.
He (ekeinov). Christ, as always in the Epistle.
Pure (agnov). See above. Though marking moral and spiritual purity, and that of a very high grade, since it is applied to Christ here, yet it admits the thought of possible temptation or pollution, thus differing from agiov, which means absolutely holy. Hence aJgnov cannot properly be applied to God, who is agiov; but both may be used of Christ, the latter in virtue of His human perfection.
