Jesus was able to make us children of god

JESUS WAS ABLE TO MAKE US CHILDREN OF GOD
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 1:12 But to all who did receive Him, to those
who believedin His name, He gave the right to become
children of God--
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The RejectedAnd ReceivedSaviour
John 1:11, 12
B. Thomas
These words bring under our notice a most interesting subject - the great
subject of the first fifteen verses ofthis chapter, viz. the coming of the Son of
God, the manifestation of the EternalWord in the flesh. We have here one of
the peculiar aspects ofhis coming in order to carry out the greatscheme of
human redemption. We have Jesus here -
I. AS COME TO HIS OWN.
1. This is a specialcoming. He was in the world before and after his
Incarnation. But here we have a specialdescriptionof his manifestation. "He
came." He had to do with the Jewishnation for ages, but no previous

movement of his could be accuratelydescribedin this language. He came now
physically, personally, and visibly.
2. This is a specialcoming to his own. His own land - the land of Palestine;his
own people - the Jewishnation. He came to the world at large, but came
through a particular locality. He came to humanity generally, but came
through a particular nation. This was a necessity, and according to pre-
arrangement. The Jewishnation were his ownpeople:
(1) By a Divine and sovereignchoice. Theywere chosenout of the nations of
the earth to be the recipients of God's specialrevelations of his will, the
objects of his specialcare and protection, and the specialmedium of his great
redemptive thoughts and purposes. There was a mutual engagement.
(2) By a specialcovenant. Godentered into a covenantwith them by which
they were his people, to obey and serve him; and he was their God, to bless
and save them.
(3) By specialpromises. The central one of which was the promise of the
Messiahand the blessings of his reign. This promise permeated every fibre of
their constitution, and became the soul of their national and religious life.
(4) By a specialtraining. They were divinely disciplined for ages forhis
advent. They were taught to expect him, and trained to receive him, and,
under this training, their expectationgrew into a passion. The Messianic idea
was fosteredamong them by a long and carefultraining, by promises, by the
occasionalappearanceof"the Angel of Jehovah," who was doubtless no other
than the EternalWord himself. They were trained by specialprivileges,
revelations, and protection; by an economyof ceremonialrites and sacrifices,
which all pointed to the Messiahas coming. In the light of these facts he was
their own Messiah. andthey were his own people;and it was necessary, as
welt as natural, that he should come to his own. There was a specialattraction
and affinity felt on his part, and there ought to be on theirs. Had he appeared
in any other land than that of Israel, or identified himself with any other
nation than the Jewish, he would not have come according to the volume of
the book written of him. But there were the most cogentreasons, the fittest

propriety, and the most absolute necessitythat he should come to his own, and
he came.
3. This was a specialcoming to all his own. Not to some, but to all. Not to a
favoured class, but to all classes- rich and poor, learned and unlearned. The
unlearned and poor being the large majority of the nation as well as the
world, he identified himself rather with them; for he could reach the higher
classesbetterfront below, than the lowerclassesfrom above. He taught all
without distinction, offered the blessings ofhis coming to all without the least
partiality, and invited all to his kingdom by the same road, viz. repentance
and faith.
II. AS REJECTEDBYTHE MAJORITY. "And his own receivedhim not." A
few receivedhim; but they were exceptions, and they receivedhim
individually, not nationally; as sinners and aliens, and not as his own. So
complete was the rejectionthat it is a sadtruth, "his own receivedhim not."
Their rejectionof him:
1. Was a saddereliction of duty. A duty they owedto their God and Defender;
a duty most sacred, important, and obligatory. A duty for the performance of
which they had been chiefly chosen, speciallyblessed, preserved, and
prepared for ages;but when the time came, they sadly failed to perform it.
"His own receivedhim not."
2. Was most inexcusable. It is true that they knew him not to be the Son of
God, the promised Messiah. This is stated by the apostle. But this is not a
legitimate excuse;they ought to know him. They had the most ample
advantages;they were familiar with his portraits as drawn by the prophets,
and he exactly corresponded. His holy character, his mighty deeds, and his
Divine kindness were well known, and even confessedby them. They had the
mightiest proofs of his Messiahshipand Divinity. So that they had no excuse
for their ignorance, and consequentlyno excuse for their rejection.
3. Was cruelly ungrateful. Ingratitude is too mild a term to describe their
conduct. It was cruel. Think who he was - the Son of God, the Prince of Life,
their rightful King, their promised and long expectedMessiah, come to them
all the way from heaven, not on a message ofvengeanceas might be expected,

but on a messageofpeace and universal goodwill, to fulfil his gracious
engagementand carry out the Divine purposes of redeeming grace. Leaving
out the graver charge of his crucifixion, his rejectionwas cruelly ungrateful
and ungratefully cruel. "His own receivedhim not."
4. Was most fatal to them. They rejectedtheir best and only Friend and
Deliverer, who had most benevolently come to warn and save them - come for
the lasttime, and their receptionof him was the only thing that could deliver
them sociallyand spiritually; but "his own receivedhim not." This proved
fatal to them. There was nothing left but national dissolution and ruin, and
that was soonthe case;and they are the victims of their own conduct to this
day. To rejectJesus is ultimately fatal to nations as well as to individuals.
5. Was most discouraging to him. To be rejected, and to be rejectedby his
own - by those who it might be expectedwould receive him with untold
enthusiasm. Betterbe rejectedby strangers and spurned by professedfoes, -
this would he expected;but to he rejectedby his own is apparently more than
he can bear. And not satisfiedwith leaving him an outcastin his ownworld,
they banish him hence by a cruel death. What will he do? Will he be
disheartened, leave with disgust, and hurl on the world the thunderbolts of
vengeance?No;but stands his ground, and tries his fortune among strangers,
according to ancient prophecy, "He shall not fail, nor be discouraged," etc.
III. AS RECEIVED BY SOME. "Butas many as receivedhim," etc. He was
receivedby a minority - a small but noble minority. With regardto the few
who receivedhim we see:
1. The independency and courage oftheir conduct. They receivedhim, though
rejectedby the majority, which included the most educatedand influential. It
is one thing to swim with the tide, but another to swim againstit. It is easyto
go with the popular current, but difficult to go againstit. This requires a great
independency of actionand decisionof character. Those who receivedJesus at
this time did this - they received"the Despisedand Rejectedofmen." They
acceptedthe Stone rejected, and rejectedof the builders. This involved
admirable independency of conductand courage ofconviction.

2. The reward of their conduct. "But as many as receivedhim, to them gave
he power," etc.
(1) The closestrelationshipto God. His children: children first, then sons;the
seedfirst, then the ripe fruit.
(2) The highest honour that men canenjoy. Children of God.
(3) This is the gift of Christ. "To them gave he power," etc. This word means
more than power; it means right as well - power first, then right. Men had
neither to sonship, but Christ gave both. The fact is patent - he gave the
power. The title is good- he gave the right.
(4) This is the gift of Christ consequentupon receiving him. "But as many as
receivedhim, to them," etc. And to none else. But to as many as receivedhim
he gave the power. There was not a single failure, not a single exception. They
receivedthe Sonof God, and became themselves the children of God in
consequence.Theywere not disappointed, but had reasons to be more than
satisfiedwith their choice, and more than proud of their unexpected and
Divine fortune. If Jesus were disappointed in his own, those who receivedhim
were not disappointed in Jesus - only on the best side; for "to them gave he
power," etc.
3. The explanation of their conduct. How did. they receive him while the
majority rejectedhim? How came they possessedofsuch a high honour - to
become the children of God? The answeris, "They believed on his Name." It
was by faith. We see:
(1) The discerning powerof faith. Faith has a discerning power; it cansee
through the visible to the invisible, through the immediate present to the
distant future. In this instance, faith saw through the outward the inward;
through the physical it saw the Divine; through the outward humiliation and
poverty it discovereda Divine presence. In "the Man of sorrows"faith saw
the Sonof God, and in "the Despisedand Rejectedofmen" the Saviour of the
world.

(2) The receptive power of faith. Jesus was receivedby faith. Faith saw,
recognized, and consequently received, him as the Messiah. Godspeaks,faith
listens; God offers, faith accepts.
(3) The regenerative and transforming powerof faith. "They became the sons
of God." How? By the given powerof Jesus in connectionwith faith. Christ
gave himself as a Divine Seed;faith received, appropriated, and nursed him so
as to result in a Divine regenerationand birth. Faith transforms its objectinto
its possessor;so that the believer in the Son of God becomes the son of God
himself. This is a Divine process from beginning to end, in which faith - a
Divine gift - plays a prominent part.
(4) Faith in Christ produced the same result in all. "As many as received
him," etc. No matter as to position, education, or character.
CONCLUSIONS.
1. The minority are often right, and the majority wrong. It was so on the plain
of Dura, in Babylon, and so here.
2. The minority, generally, are the first to acceptgreattruths; the majority
rejectthem. Think of scientific, reforming and redemptive truths. The Jewish
nation rejectedthe Saviour; a few receivedhim.
3. It is better to be with the minority when right, than with the majority when
wrong. They have truth and right, and will ultimately win all to their wayof
thinking. The few that receivedJesus are fast gaining ground. The Saviour of
the minority win soonbe the Saviour of all.
4. We should be very thankful to the minority for receiving the Saviour.
Humanly speaking, they savedthe world from eternal disgrace and ruin -
from sharing the fate of those who rejectedhim.
5. We should be infinitely more thankful to the Saviour that he did not leave
the world in disgust and vengeance whenrejectedby his own. But inspired by
infinite love, he turned his face to the world at large, stoodby the minority,
and the minority stoodby him. The river of God's eternal purposes cannot be
ultimately checked. Ifcheckedin one direction, it will take another, and the

result will be more glorious. Christ comes to us every day. Do we receive him?
Our obligations are infinite. - B.T.
Biblical Illustrator
As many as receivedHim, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.
John 1:12-14
St. John's first view of Christ the keyto his Gospel
W. G. Blaikie, D. D.
I. These verses DESCRIBE THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCEOF ST. JOHN.
In this point of view the order of time is different from the order of the
statements. The severalsteps are these —
1. The apprehension of the glory of Jesus,
2. The receiving Him and believing on His name.

3. The effect of the power to become sons of God.This agrees withthe actual
experience of the evangelist.
1. He sees Jesusas pointed out by the Baptist. But where was the glory?
(1)That of "the Lamb of God."
(2)The revelationof grace and truth in him. God's infinite love, holiness,
justice: His own self-sacrifice.
2. He goes home with Jesus and gave himself up to His gracious influences,
believed on His name.
3. What followedwe know. He became a sonof God.
II. THIS EXPERIENCE DETERMINED THE STRUCTURE, SUBSTANCE,
AND SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL.
1. It serves to accountfor the subordinate place which miracles and Christ's
external life generallyhold in it. John's grand purpose, as marked by his own
experience, was to illustrate the self-commending glory of Christ as the Word
and only-begottenof the Father, that those who had never seenHim with the
eye of sense might come to the blessedness ofthose who had not seenand yet
had believed.
2. It serves to accountfor the prominent place which the inner life of Christ
and the manifestation of His Sonship-glory occupies here. The two grand
pivots on which the Gospelturns are Christ the LIGHT, and Christ the LIFE.
Christ the Light, revealing the Fatherand all that concerns the Father; Christ
the Life, communicating by the Spirit a new life to men so as to make them
God's sons. Its twofold purpose is to setforth Christ as the Incarnate Word
and Only Begotten, full of grace and truth; and also the reception of Christ,
the believing on His name as the commencementof the new life of sonship.
Thus it is that so much prominence is given to Christ's relation to the Father
on the one hand, and to the fellowship of Christ with His people on the other.
3. From these considerations we see the groundlessness of the objections
againstthe Johannian authorship of the Gospel. GivenJohn's conversion, as

here shadowedforth, and his warm, fervid nature, his life of Jesus could not
well have been any other than it is.
III. THE MORE GENERALRELATIONS OF THE SUBJECT, as setting
forth the essentialgloryof Christ and the glory communicated to all who, by
receiving Him, become sons of God.
1. What is the connectionbetweenthe two? That there is a connectionis seen
in the difference betweenJohn and his companions and the mass of the Jews.
The one perceived His glory, the other saw it not. To the one He appeared a
miserable pretender, to the other the Eternal Son. Moreoverthey recognized
in Him the Saviour that takethawaythe sins of the world. They received Him,
and then the standing and spirit of sonship became theirs.
2. How is it that this view of Christ's glory is followedby such effects?(1)By
such means we see our emptiness, guilt, and misery.(2) But He invites us to
Him, tells us of His fulness, pardon, grace, asks us to receive Him and let Him
put forth His power.(3)Must we not welcome Him? The blessedchange is
wrought in the very actof seeking it.
(W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)
Receiving Christ and becoming sons
S. Martin.
I. CHRIST WHO HAS COME INTO THE WORLD SEEKS ADMISSION
TO THE HEART as a lawful and everlasting tenant. The Christ in the book,
in the creed, in the church, effects but little for us. Christ in the heart becomes
all our salvationand desire.
II. THE RECEPTIONOF CHRIST IN THE HEART IS FOLLOWED BY
SENSING.
1. There is a natural sonship pertaining to all men; for we are all His
offspring.

2. There is a special, redemptive, restoredsonship bestowedon those who
receive Christ.
3. All that pertains to this sonship is supernatural. Adam was not a son by
blood, nor by the will of the flesh, but by the will of God; and a restoredson is
as marvellous a creationas Adam.
III. THIS SONSHIP INVOLVES A NEW BIRTH AND ELEVATION TO
THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE POSITION. There is nothing higher than being
admitted to sonship with God. What we want is not some new spiritual
dignity, but the recognitionof this exalted condition.
IV. TRUE FAITH IS HERE DESCRIBEDAND EVIDENCED.
1. Faith in receiving. Christ comes into the believer. Christ without does not
save, but Christ within.
2. Faith is evidenced by the opening of the eyes to see the glory of Christ, and
the affiliation to God which follows.
V. GOD HERE RECEIVES ALL THE PRAISE.
1. The power and the will are of God. Ascribe to Him the wisdom and the
glory.
2. The Christ whom we receive is God's "unspeakable gift."
3. Faith and its attendant privileges are by powerbestowedby God.
(S. Martin.)
The connectionbetweenreceiving Christ and becoming sons
C. C. Tittman, D. D.
I. These two things are connectedIN RESPECT OF GOD;it is the will of God
that all should believe in Christ, and He has appointed the mediation of Christ
as the channel through which all should receive salvation, and all that is
necessaryfor its attainment.

II. These things are connectedIN RESPECTOF CHRIST:for, in
consequence ofwhat He has done, all may become the sons of God, and, may
be enriched with all the blessings of His grace.
III. They are connectedIN RESPECTOF MEN:all who would obtain
salvationmust receive Jesus Christ as the only Saviour.
(C. C. Tittman, D. D.)
That act by which we do effectually apply Christ to our ownsouls
I. THE NATURE OF THIS RECEIVING OF CHRIST.
1. No man can do this in the darkness ofnatural ignorance. If we know not
His nature and offices we do not take, we mistake Christ. The receiving act of
faith, then, is guided by knowledge.
2. This receiving of Christ implies the assentof the understanding to the
truths of Christ in the gospel — His Person, offices, incarnation, satisfaction
— which assent, althoughit is not saving faith, is its groundwork. This is more
than conjecture or opinion, it is belief.
3. This also implies hearty approbation, liking, and estimation; yea, the very
acquiescence ofour souls in Christ as the most excellentremedy for wants,
sins, and dangers (1 Peter 2:7). There are two things in Christ which must
gain the approbation of the soul.(1)That it can find nothing unsuitable to it in
Christ as it does find in the best creatures — no weakness, pride, inconstancy,
or passion. He is the altogetherlovely.(2)That it can find nothing wanting in
Christ necessaryordesirable. In Him is the fulness of wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption.
4. It consists in the consentand choice of the will; and this is the opening of
the heart and stretching forth of the soul to receive Him (see Christ's
complaint, John 5:40, and Ephesians 1:19).
5. The respectthat this actof acceptance has unto the terms upon which
Christ is tendered to us in the Gospel. Faith answers the gospeloffer, as the

impress on the wax does the engraving on the seal(1 Corinthians 15:11).
There is no receiving Christ but on His own terms.(1) He is offeredsincerely
and really, and is receivedwith a faith unfeigned (1 Timothy 1:5).(2) He is
offered entirely, and is receivedin all His offices as Christ Jesus the Lord
(Acts 16:13).(3)He is offeredexclusively, and the soul singly relies on Him
(Acts 4:2; 1 Corinthians 3:11), and not partly on His righteousness andour
own.(4)He is offered freely as the gift, not the sale of God (John 4:10; Isaiah
55:1.; Revelation22:17). So the believer comes to Him with an empty hand.(5)
He is offeredorderly. First His Person, then His privileges (Romans 8:32), so
the believerdoes not marry His portion first.
II. THIS IS THE JUSTIFYING AND SAVING ACT OF FAITH.
1. The faith which gives the soulright and title to spiritual adoption, with all
the privileges and benefits thereof, is true saving faith.
2. That only is saving faith which is in all true believers, in none but true
believers, and in all true believers at all times.
III. THE EXCELLENCY OF THIS ACT OF FAITH (2 Peter1:7; James 2:5;
John 6:29).
1. Consideredqualitatively it has the same excellencythat all other precious
graces have. It is the fruit of the Spirit. It is singled out to receive Christ. As it
is Christ's glory to be the door of salvation, so it is faith's glory to be the
golden keythat opens that door.(1) It is the bond of our union with Christ
(Ephesians 3:17).(2)It is the instrument of our justification (Romans 5:1).(3)
It is the spring of our spiritual peace and joy (Romans 5:1; 1 Peter1:8, 9).(4)
It is the means of our spiritual livelihood and subsistence. Take awayfaith
and all the others die (Galatians 2:20).(5)It is the greatscope and drift of the
Gospelto getmen to believe. The urgent commands aim at this (1 John 3:23;
Mark 1:14, 15;John 12:36). Hither, also, look the greatpromises and
encouragements (John6:35-37;Mark 16:16). The opposite sin of unbelief is
everywhere threatened (John 16:8, 9; John 3:18, 35).
IV. APPLICATION:

1. Forinformation: If there be life in receiving Christ, there must be death in
rejecting Him.
2. If faith be accepting Christ, then there are fewer believers among
professors than were thought to be, and more believers than dare conclude
themselves such.
3. Those who have the leastdegree ofsaving faith, have cause forever to
admire the bounty of the grace ofGod to them therein (Ephesians 1:3).
4. Forexamination:(1) The antecedents of faith — illumination (Acts 26:18);
conviction (Mark 1:15); self-despair(Acts 2:37); vehement and earnestcries
to God for faith.(2) The concomitants of faith — seriousness(Acts 16:29);
humiliation (Ezekiel16:63;Luke 8:38); a wearycondition (Matthew 11:28); a
longing condition.(3) The consequents of faith — evangelicalmeltings
(Zechariah 12:10); love to Christ, His ways, and His people (Galatians 5:6);
heart purity (Acts 15:9); obedience (Romans 16:26).
5. Forexhortation:(1) What is in Christ whom you are to receive?(2)What is
the offer of Christ by the gospel?(3)Whatis in the rejecting of that offer?
(J. Flavel.)
Receptionof Christ our introduction into sonship
H. Bonar, D. D.
I. THE HONOUR. To become sons of Godnot merely by adoption, but by
generation(Romans 8:16; 1 John 3:1). On our side is sonship, on God's
Fatherhood. Sonship is —
1. Higher;
2. Nearer;
3. More blessed;
4. More glorious than — creaturehood. There is sonship in the angels, in
unfallen man; but this is beyond these. As —

(1)Introducing us into a more intimate intercourse;
(2)Making us partakers of the Divine nature.
II. THE GIVER OF IT. Christ Himself; elsewhere it is the Father. All gifts are
in Christ's hands — living water and bread of life, Himself, sonship. This
right or power of sonship He purchased for us; for those who had no right, or
power, or title.
III. THE WAY OF ATTAINMENT.
1. Receiving Him — doing the reverse of what Israel had done; accepting and
owning Him for all that God announced Him to be.
2. Believing on His name, i.e, Himself.
IV. THE PERSONALCHANGE THROUGH WHICH THIS IS REACHED.
"Born:"
1. Notof natural descent.
2. Notby natural generation.
3. Notby human adoption.
4. But of God (James 1:18).
(H. Bonar, D. D.)
The grace ofChrist to those who receivedHim
A. Beith, D. D.
The grace appears in —
I. HIS PREVAILING WITH MEN TO EMBRACE THE OFFER MADE TO
THEM, and in what is implied in that.
1. Christ offers Himself, and we welcome and receive Him. The first acting of
true faith is to acceptHimself; not merely the specialbenefit He brings.

2. We exercise implicit confidence in Him. We have a right knowledge ofHim;
rejoice in His character;acceptand hide Him in our hearts.
3. In the form in which Jesus is proclaimed in the Gospel, His saved ones
receive and believe in Him. "So we preach; so ye believed." There is a
correspondence betweenthe Gospeland faith of the same kind as that
betweenthe sealand the wax.
(1)Christ is offered sincerely, and He must be acceptedwith a faith unfeigned.
(2)He is offered exclusively, and must be acceptedas the sole basis of our
hope.
(3)He is offered as a gift; we must not attempt to merit Him.
4. The actual committing of our all to Christ When we receive Him. What is
the saving act of faith?
(1)Notassent, although that must be a part of it.
(2)Notassurance, althoughthat will follow it.
(3)But acceptance ofHim and confidence in Him.
II. THE SPECIAL PRIVILEGE WHICH HE BESTOWSON THOSE WHO
RECEIVE HIM.
1. The saved are by nature the children of wrath; but in His person God is
reconciledtowards them.
2. Having reconciledthem, He makes them sons — co-heirs with Himself.
3. Of Him also is the comfortand dignities of sonship.
III. THE CHANGE WROUGHT IN THEM WHO RECEIVE HIM, to which
their accepting Him is ascribed.
1. A new form of existence — a new birth; all things have become new.
2. This change is
(1)not by natural inheritance;

(2)nor by the operation of the natural will;
(3)nor the fruit of superior endowment or acquisition;
(4)but of God, by the office and operation of the Spirit.
(A. Beith, D. D.)
Man's part in the advent
Bishop Huntington.
I. THE RECEPTION.A true receptionof Christ for every man alike is of
three parts.
1. Beliefthat He is what He says He is. For any messengerthe first condition
of acceptanceis that He be found to be what He claims to be — much more
the Saviourof mankind.
2. Sympathy. A plenipotentiary, an agent, a purely mental operator does not
need this. But the moment you include a moral purpose, spiritual influence,
there must be common feeling and assimilation. Interests must be felt to be
identical. Loyalty must bind the subject to his king. Enthusiasm must mount
at the leader's name. If Christ's purpose was to fill human hearts with love,
we cannot be His without loving Him.
3. Service:not compulsory, but that which love disdains to call service. In the
hungry, sick, ignorant, etc., the Lord makes new advent to your heart every
week;and Christ will not be receivedtill everybody within our reachis made,
somehow, betterby our faith in Him.
II. THE BLESSING. Servants and creatures we were before, and, in a sense
— but not the full and glorious sense — children of God. Now sons of God, a
royal line, conquerors, sufferers rejoicing in the midst of temptation. Born
now, their immortal seedremained in them.
III. THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST'S NAME WILL SEEKTO
RECEIVE HIM.

1. By giving up the dearestpreference that hurts the simplicity and humility
of their faith.
2. In the New Testament, Christianinstruction, prayer, doing God's will; and
counting faith, not doubt, the glory, and power, and joy of man.
3. In the communion of His body and blood.
(Bishop Huntington.)
A new year's guest
C. H. Spurgeon.
The text in connectionwith Matthew 25:35. Suggestedby the motto on a new
year's card.
I. A STRANGER TAKEN IN. House-room is a largergift than refreshment at
the dour. We must not be satisfiedwith benefactions to His representatives.
Notice three strange things.
1. That He was in the world and the Makerofit, and yet a stranger.(1)When
born in the Bethlehem of His father David, there was no room for Him in the
inn.(2) Soonthere was no room in the village itself, whence He had to flee into
Egypt, a strangerin a strange land.(3) On His return, there was no room
among the mass of the people. Jew and Gentile proved how truly He was a
stranger. All this a sadly singular thing; and yet we need not wonder, for how
should a wickedand selfish world know Jesus or receive Him.
2. That we should be able to receive the Lord Jesus as a stranger. He has gone
to glory, but we can yet receive Him.(1) By owning Him when and where
believers are few and despised.(2)By showing brotherly kindness to a poor
saint.(3) By holding fast His faithful Word when its doctrines are in ill-
repute.(4) By taking up our cross where Christ's precepts are disregarded, His
day forgotten, and His worship neglected.(5)Byreceiving the gift of spiritual
life. Professionis abundant, but the secretlife is rare.

3. That Christ will deign to dwell in our hearts. This is a miracle of grace, yet
the manner is simple enough.(1)A humble, repenting faith opens the door,
and Jesus enters.(2)Love shuts to the door with the hand of penitence, and
holy watchfulness keeps outintruders.(3) Meditation, prayer, praise, and
obedience, keepthe house in order.(4) And then follows the consecrationof
our whole life as His people.
II. THE STRANGER MAKING STRANGERSINTO SONS. The moment
Christ enters the heart, we are no more strangers and foreigners, but of the
household of God.
1. He adopts us and puts us among the children.
2. The designationof sons brings with it a birth, with the actualcondition of
sons.
3. Living, loving, lasting union seals our sonship.
4. This union creates in us a likeness to God. A small window will let in the
greatsun; much more will Jesus let in the life, light, and love of God into our
souls, making us like God.
III. HAVING RECEIVED JESUS AS A STRANGER, WE FEELA
TENDERNESS HENCEFORTHTOWARDSALL STRANGERS;for we see
in their condition some resemblance to our own. When Christ is in us, we
searchout opportunities of bringing prodigals, strangers, and outcasts to the
greatFather's house.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Receivers andsons
I. BELIEVING IS A RECEIVING OF CHRIST.
1. Under what notion should we receive Christ? As our Mediator. (Isaiah
61:3-4).(1)Our Prophet, receiving His doctrine as delivered by Himself
(Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 2:2, 3); by His prophets and apostles (Hebrews 1:1;

Matthew 10:40); by His ministers (2 Corinthians 5:19, 20; Hebrews 4:11,
12).(2)Our Priest(Hebrews 7:23-26);and so we must believe —
(a)His satisfactionfor our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 9:28; 1 John 2:2),
to the justice and law of God (Galatians 3:13);
(b)His intercessionfor our souls (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 9:11, 12, 24).(3)Our
King (Psalm 110:1, 9): so we must —
(a)acknowledgeHis sovereignty(Matthew 28:18);
(b)obey His laws (Luke 6:46; John 14:15);
(c)submit to His penalties (Colossians 3:24, 25).
2. How should we receive Him?
(1)Penitently (Acts 2:36).
(2)Willingly (Psalm 110:3).
(3)Affectionately(Luke 14:26).
(4)Constantly (Revelation2:26).
(5)Only (Acts 4:12).
II. BELIEVERS ARE THE SONS OF GOD.
1. In what sense? Notby generation, but regeneration(John3:31).(1) Man lost
the favour of God (Romans 5:19).(2)The Son undertakes his redemption —
(a)by becoming man;
(b)by dying, whereby He purchases all believers to Himself, to be members of
His body (1 Corinthians 6:20; Titus 2:14);
(c)and so from Himself the dead conveys His own spirit unto them (Titus 3:5,
6).(3) The Spirit regeneratesand makes them new creatures (2 Corinthians
5:17).(4) Being new creatures, they are receivedinto the favour of God
(Romans 8:15), and made His sons (Romans 8:14).

2. With what privileges?(1)Privative. They are freed from the slavery of sin
(Romans 6:14); from., slavish fears (Romans 8:15); from the curse of the law
(Galatians In. 13).(2)Positive.
(a)They have access to God(Galatians 4:6).
(b)They are interestedin God's providence (Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians
6:18).
(c)They rejoice in God (Philippians 4:4).
(d)God rejoices overthem (Zephaniah 3:17).
(e)Their glorious inheritance is assured(Colossians1:12, 18).
(f)This inheritance is witnessedto them here (Romans 8:16, 17), and sealed
(Ephesians 4:30), whereofthey now have the pledge (Ephesians 1:13, 14).
3. How known?
(1)By prayer (Galatians 4:6).
(2)Obedience (1 Peter1:14, 15).
(3)Parity (2 John 3:9).
(4)Conformity to the Divine image (Romans 8:29).
(5)Faith (Song of Solomon3:26).USES.
1. See the honour of believers.
2. Live like the sons of God.
(1)By despising the world.
(2)By patiently enduring all chastisements (Hebrews 12:6-9.
(3)By longing to come to your inheritance in heaven (Psalm42:1, 2).
(Bishop Beveridge.)

Faith and its attendant privileges
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. FAITH MAKES THE GRANDESTOF DISTINCTIONS AMONG MEN.
"He came to His own, and His own receivedHim not" — that is one company;
"but as many as receivedHim" — that is another.
1. There are many distinctions among men — rich and poor, governors and
governed, teachers and taught. But these will pass away. The grand
distinction, which will out-lastall time, is that of faith or the want of faith.
2. This distinguishing faith is —(1) A receptive faith; one which accepts Christ
by confiding, trusting, and depending on Him.(2) Faith in His name, as —
(a)The Word: receiving His messages fromthe Father.
(b)The Life: receiving His vitality in spirit.
(c)The Light: seeing all things in the light of Christ..
3. This distinction is one which obliterates all others. If a chimney-sweep
receives Christ, he is a child of God; so is an emperor — but not the one more
than the other.
II. FAITH OBTAINS THE GRANDESTOF ALL ENDOWMENTS."Sons of
God."
1. There is a distinction here betweenson and servant. The believerceasesto
be a slave, and becomes a child; and yet he becomes a servant. Christ was first
His Father's Son, and then His servant; so we, being sons, have the joy of
serving our Father.
2. We are also sons by likeness — miniatures, and sometimes caricatures, yet
resemblances.
3. We are sons, in having the privilege of free accessto our Father.
III. FAITH IS THE EVIDENCE OF THE GRANDEST EXPERIENCE.
Every believer is a regenerate man. It is of no use to attempt to mend the old
nature. A man brought his gun to be repaired. The gunsmith told him it

wanted a new stock, lock,and barrel. That lookedlike making a new one. You
must begin de novo. Baptism cannotregenerate;nor blood, the natural way of
birth; nor man's carnal will, nor his bestwill; but God, who, as the Creator,
newcreatesthe soul.
IV. FAITH RAISES THE BELIEVER TO THE NOBLEST CONCEIVABLE
CONDITION. He is fitted to be a child of God.
1. Notice the inconceivable honour. All others pale before it.
2. The safety.
3. The happiness.
4. The duties. There is an old French proverb which says, "nobility obliges."
There is an obligationon nobles. If you are a sonof God, you must actlike
one.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Faith is receiving
C. H. Spurgeon.
It is the empty cup placed under the flowing stream; the penniless hand held
out for the heavenly alms.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Sonship more than adoption
J. Calross, D. D.
The sonship is not effectedin virtue of a mere act of adoption on the part of
God. A child may be takenout of the family to which he originally belonged,
and be planted in another; he may geta new name; he may be trained to
forgetthat he had other birth; he may be made heir to greatestates;he may
be as dearly loved and as tenderly cared for as if he were own child to those

who have adopted him: but the fact remains that he is really the child of
another, and nature may prove too strong for the new bonds, and he may pine
for his native home, and at length go back to it. The "sons of God," however,
are sons by birth, for such is the significance ofthe word here used, having not
only a new name and position, but also a new life. It is not simply that they are
calledsons;they are sons, partakers ofthe Divine nature, with a filial
relationship, and a filial resemblance to the eternalGod. The sonship is
already establishedin fact and in principle, though it awaits its full
manifestation hereafter(1 John 3:1, 2).
(J. Calross, D. D.)
Comfort for the dying
R. Besser, D. D.
When Philip Melanchthonwas dying, he said aloud and distinctly to his
surrounding friends, "I have those words of John concerning the Son of God,
my Lord Jesus Christ, before me continually: 'The world receivedHim not;
but as many as received Him, to them gave He powerto become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on His name.'"
(R. Besser, D. D.)
Receiving the light
J. Edmond, D. D.
Suppose you were in a dark room in the morning, the shutters closedand
fastened, and only as much light coming through the chinks as made you
aware it was day outside. And suppose you could say to a companion with
you, "Let us open the windows, and let in the light." What would you think if
he replied, "No, no; you must first put the darkness out, or the light will not
enter"? You would laugh at his absurdity. Just so we cannot put sin out of our

hearts to prepare for Christ's entering; we must open and take Him in, and
sin will flee; fling the window open at once, and let Christ shine in.
(J. Edmond, D. D.)
The honour of adoption
C. H. Spurgeon.
I have heard of some fine gentleman in London, dressedin all his best,
walking out in the park. He had a poor old father who lived in the country,
add who came up dressedin his rustic raiment to see his son. As the sonwas
not at home when the father reachedthe house, he went into the park to find
him. Now the fine gentlemandid not absolutelydisown his father, but he went
out of the park at a pretty sharp trot, for fear anybody should say, "Who is
that country fellow you were talking with?" He did not like to own his father,
because he was a labourer. We could not thus wonder if the glorious Lord
refused to own us. There is such a come-downfrom the loftiness of His
holiness to the depth of our faultiness. But yet He has suchlove, such a
manner of love, that He bestows upon as this honour, that we should be
openly calledthe sons of God.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The treasure unreceived
Sunday SchoolChronicle.
A nobleman once gave a celebratedactressa Bible, telling her at the same
time that there was a treasure in it. She, thinking he meant religion, laid the
Bible aside. She died, and all she had was sold. The person who bought the
Bible, on turning over its leaves, found a £500 note in it. Poorcreature!had
she read the book, she might not only have found the note, but the "pearl of
greatprice."
(Sunday SchoolChronicle.)

Christ must be received
H. W. Beecher.
There is dew in one flower and not in another, because one opens its cup and
takes it in, while the other closes itself, and the drops run off. God rains His
goodness andmercy as wide-spreadas the dew, and if we lack them, it is
because we will not open our hearts to receive them.
(H. W. Beecher.)
Believing is receiving Christ
J. H. Wilson.
He comes to your door. He wants to getin. He knocks. He waits. Is not that
wonderful? I was lately visiting that part of the country where our beloved
Queen stays when she comes to Scotland. She visits among the poor. I saw
some of the cottagesto which she is in the habit of going. In the house of one of
her servants I saw her own likeness, andthe likenesses ofseveralofher family
— all gifts from themselves. You say, What kindness!what condescension!
And so it is: But what would you think if I told you — what I am glad I cannot
tell you, for it would not be true — that when they saw the Queen coming,
they lockedtheir doors and pretended to be out, and kept her standing
knocking at the door, refusing to let her in, though she came to speak kindly
to them and to do them good? You would say, Surely the people must not be
in their right mind. And yet that is just what King Jesus does — Queen
Vietoria's King. He comes to your door to bless you, to save you. He says,
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock."Mostpeople keepHim out, and will
not have anything to do with Him. They say, "Depart from us, for we desire
not the knowledge ofThy ways." Opening the door to Him, saying, "Come in,
Lord Jesus, come in" — taking Him to our heart, and only fearing lestHe
should evergo awayagain — is believing. The believing heart is the heart that
has let in Jesus, and in which he dwells (Ephesians 3:17).

(J. H. Wilson.)
Privileges of adoption
By adoption, God gives us —
1. A new name (Numbers 6:27; Revelation3:12).
2. A new nature (2 Peter 1:4). Whom God adopts He anoints; whom He makes
sons, He makes saints.
3. A new inheritance (Romans 8:17). When the Danishmissionaries in India
were translating a catechism, with some of the convettednatives by their side,
and when they came to a part where it was saidof Christians that they were
the sons of God, one of the natives, startled at so bold a saying, as he thought
it, said, "It is too much; let us rather translate it: 'They shall be permitted to
kiss His feet.'"
Adoption and justification
Dr. Guyse.
Justificationis the actof God as a Judge, adoption as a Father. By the former
we are dischargedfrom condemnation, and acceptedas righteous;by the
latter, we are made the children of God and joint-heirs with Christ. By the
one, we are taken into God's favour; by the other, into His family. Adoption
may be lookedupon as an appendage to justification, for it is by our being
justified that we come to a right to all the honours and privileges of adoption.
(Dr. Guyse.)
Which were born
Three great negations
J. Vaughan, M. A.

The children of God are born —
I. NOT OF BLOOD. Grace does not run on the lines of nature. Many
beautiful and gracefulthings do come by gentle and noble blood, but not this.
It needs a very narrow field of observationto convince us that no parent,
howeverpious, can command the conversionof his children. Else why should
there be in this world that bitterest spectacleofa pious parent's heart being
broken by a wickedchild!
II. NOT OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH. The expressionrelates to any
desire which, ruling in a man's mind, might be supposedto lead him to some
act whereby he should become a child of God, and the idea is utterly repelled.
Every one who is a subject of the grace ofGod is so first passively, that
afterwards he may be so actively. He is first actedupon by a will and power
without him, and then he acts out that will and manifests that power.
III. Not of the will of man. Observe the steps. Notof parents, not of self, nor of
any creature whatsoever. One man, indeed, may will the conversionof
another; and if he clothe that will with prayer, if he offer that will with faith,
and if he does all in his power to forward that will, God may give him that
man's soul. But God never promises He will do this. A soul passes into the
family of God and becomes an heir in the registerof sons when he receives
Christ, and only then.
(J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The three negations illustrated
G. Cornish.
When it pleasedGod to bring Abraham and his family into covenantwith
Him, that family consistedofthree classes ofpersons;first of all, there were
his ownchildren; secondly, there were those who were born of his men-
servants and maid-servants; thirdly, there were those slaves, whom he
purchased and adopted. All these three classeswere admitted into covenant
with God, by reasonof their relation to Abraham. "Abraham took Ishmael

his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his
money, and circumcisedthem" (Genesis 17:23). Ofthese classes, Ishmaelwas
born of blood, as being his own flesh and blood, as we say; those born of the
flesh were the other children born in his house, not his own; and those born of
the will of man were those who, having no right to his protection, being yet
bought of his free will, acquired a right by purchase and adoption. To these
three classeswere the benefits of the first covenantconfined.... The truth,
which St. John here announces, is that to all who receivedthe messageofthe
Lord Jesus, allwho believed on His Name and submitted to His ordinances, to
all those He gave the same power, even to become sons of God (Genesis 3:16,
17; Romans 5:13).
(G. Cornish.)
The being born of blood and of God considered
Lange.
I. In their ANTAGONISM.
II. In their essentialDISTINCTION.
III. In their congenialCONNECTION.
IV. In the MEDIATOR OF THEIR UNION.
(Lange.)
The new
P. Schaff, D. D.
I. The aristocracyofBIRTH.
II. The aristocracyofMONEY.
III. The aristocracyofMERIT.

IV. The aristocracyofFAME.
(P. Schaff, D. D.)
Not of blood
Tholuck.
The blood through which the chyle is distributed to the different parts of the
body is the seatof life, hence the connectionbetweenchild and parents is
calledblood relationship; and in classic usagealso we have the expression"to
spring from the blood" — that is, from the seedof any one (Acts 17:26).
(Tholuck.)
Not of the will of man
J. Vaughan, M. A.
According to the teaching of some men, how is it? "I am a minister of God —
I am a man — as a man I may will to take a child and baptize it, and I may
will to baptize it by a certain hour of the clock;and just as I am going to
baptize it, I may will to put it off till to.morrow;and when to-morrow comes, I
may will that I will not baptize that child at all — for if baptized, the child
may die. And so, according to the caprice of my will, the child is baptized at
this hour, or at that, to-day, or to-morrow, or it is not baptized at all; and
therefore, following the caprice of my will, and just according to my will, the
child is inevit ably a child of God at this time of the clock, orat that time of
the clock — to-day, or to-morrow, or the next day, or never at all." What, I
ask, is this but to be "born of the will of man"?
(J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The simultaneity of faith and regeneration

Bishop Ryle.
We must be careful that we do not interpet the words "which were born" as if
the new birth was a change which takes place in a man after he has believed in
Christ, and is the next stepafter faith. Saving faith and regenerationare
inseparable. The moment that a man really believes in Christ, howeverfeebly,
he is born of God. The weaknessofhis faith may make him unconscious of the
change, just as a new-born infant knows little or nothing about itself. Bat
where there is faith there is always new birth, and where there is no faith
there is no regeneration.
(Bishop Ryle.)
The spirituality of religion
J. Parker, D. D.
This verse is most emphatically in the style of John. Never can he lose sight of
the perfectspirituality of Jesus Christ's work. John shows the very
religiousness ofreligion. Christianity is to him more than a history, more than
an argument, more than a theology— it is a spiritual revelation to the
spiritual nature of man. On the part of man it is to be not an attitude, but a
life — the very mystery of his spirit, too subtle for analysis, too strong for
repression, too divine to be tolerant of corruption.
(J. Parker, D. D.)
The higher generation
H. W. Watkins, D. D.
The result of receiving Him remains to be explained. How could they become
"sons of God"? The word which has been used (ver. 12)excludes the idea of
adoption, and asserts the natural relation of child to father. The nation
claimed this through its descentfrom Abraham. But they are Abraham's
children who are of Abraham's faith. There is a higher generation, which is

spiritual, while they thought only of the lower, which is physical. The
condition is the submissive receptivity of the human spirit. The origin of life is
"not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
(H. W. Watkins, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(12) Yet the light ever shineth, and the better things lie hidden.
As many as receivedhim.—The words are less wide and yet more wide than
“His own.” The nation as such rejectedHim; individuals in it acceptedHim;
but not individuals of that nation only. All who according to their light and
means acceptHim, receive from Him an authority and in Him a moral power,
which constitutes them members of the true none to which He came, and the
true children of God. They receive in acceptancethe right which others lost in
rejection. (Comp. Romans 9-11)The word rendered “received” is not quite
the same as the word so rendered in John 1:11. The latter is the welcome
which may be expectedas due from His ownhome. This is the receptiongiven
without a claim.
To them that believe on his name repeats the width of the condition, and at
the same time explains what receiving Him means. It seems natural to
understand the “name” of the only name which meets us in this context, that
is, of the Logos orWord, the representationof the will, character, nature of
God. (See on John 1:18.) To “believe on” is one of St. John’s characteristic
words of fuller meaning. To believe is to acceptas true; “devils believe and
tremble” (James 2:19). To believe in is to trust in, confide in. To believe on,
has the idea of motion to and rest upon: it is here the going forth of the soul
upon, and its rest upon, the firm basis of the eternal love of the eternal Spirit
revealedin the Word. (Comp. PearsonOn the Creed, Art. 1, p. 16.)

BensonCommentary
John 1:12-13. But as many as receivedhim — As the true Messiah, and
according to the various offices and characters whichhe sustains:learning of
him, as a teacher, the infinitely important lessons ofhis grace;relying on him
with penitent and believing hearts, as a mediator, that is, on his sacrifice and
intercession, foracceptancewith God; applying to him, in faith and prayer, as
a Redeemerand Saviour, for the redemption and salvationwhich he has to
bestow;as many as are subject to him as their King and Governor, and
prepare to meet him as their Judge: to them — Whether Jews orGentiles;
gave he power — Or privilege, as εξουσιανimplies; to become the sons of God
— To stand related to him, not merely as subjects to their king, or servants to
their master, but as children to their father; being takenunder his peculiar
protection, direction, and care;being favoured with liberty of accessto him,
and intercourse with him, and constituted his heirs, and joint heirs with
Christ of the heavenly inheritance: even to them that believe on his name —
With their hearts unto righteousness,orwith a faith working by love. Nor are
they constituted his children merely by adoption, but they are made such also
and especiallyby regeneration, being born, not of blood — Not by descent
from Abraham; nor by the will of the flesh — By natural generation, orby the
powerof corrupt nature; nor by the will of man — Circumcising or baptizing
them; but of God — By his Spirit creating them anew.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
1:6-14 John the Baptist came to bear witness concerning Jesus. Nothing more
fully shows the darkness ofmen's minds, than that when the Light had
appeared, there needed a witness to call attention to it. Christ was the true
Light; that greatLight which deserves to be calledso. By his Spirit and grace
he enlightens all that are enlightened to salvation;and those that are not
enlightened by him, perish in darkness. Christwas in the world when he took
our nature upon him, and dwelt among us. The Son of the Highest was here in
this lowerworld. He was in the world, but not of it. He came to save a lost
world, because it was a world of his own making. Yet the world knew him not.

When he comes as a Judge, the world shall know him. Many saythat they are
Christ's own, yet do not receive him, because they will not part with their sins,
nor have him to reign over them. All the children of God are born again. This
new birth is through the word of God as the means, 1Pe 1:23, and by the
Spirit of Godas the Author. By his Divine presence Christ always was in the
world. But now that the fulness of time was come, he was, afteranother
manner, God manifestedin the flesh. But observe the beams of his Divine
glory, which darted through this veil of flesh. Men discovertheir weaknesses
to those most familiar with them, but it was not so with Christ; those most
intimate with him saw most of his glory. Although he was in the form of a
servant, as to outward circumstances, yet, in respectof graces,his form was
like the Son of God His Divine glory appearedin the holiness of his doctrine,
and in his miracles. He was full of grace, fully acceptable to his Father,
therefore qualified to plead for us; and full of truth, fully aware ofthe things
he was to reveal.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
To as many as receivedhim - The greatmass;the people; the scribes and
Pharisees rejectedhim. A few in his lifetime receivedhim, and many more
after his death. "To receive him," here, means to "believe" on him. This is
expressedat the end of the verse.
Gave he power- This is more appropriately rendered in the margin by the
word "right" or "privilege." Compare Acts 1:7; Acts 5:4; Romans 9:21; 1
Corinthians 7:37; 1 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Corinthians 9:4-5.
Sons of God - Children of Godby adoption. See the notes at Matthew 1:1.
Christians are called sons of God:
1. Becausethey are "adopted" by Him, 1 John 3:1.
2. Becausethey are "like Him;" they resemble Him and have His spirit.
3. They are united to the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, are regarded by Him as
his brethren Matthew 25:40, and are therefore regardedas the children of the
MostHigh.

On his name - This is another way of saying believeth in "him." The "name"
of a person is often put for the personhimself, John 2:23; John 3:18; 1 John
5:13. From this verse we learn:
1. That to be a child of God is a privilege - far more so than to be the child of
any human being, though in the highest degree rich, or learned, or honored.
Christians are therefore more honored than any other persons.
2. God gave them this privilege. It is not by their ownworks or deserts;it is
because Godchose to impart this blessing to them, Ephesians 2:8; John 15:16.
3. This favor is given only to those who believe on him. All others are the
children of the wickedone, and no one who has not "confidence in God" can
be regarded as his child. No parent would acknowledgeone for his child, or
approve of him, who had no confidence in him, who doubted or denied all he
said, and who despisedhis character. Yet the sinner constantlydoes this
toward God, and he cannot, therefore, be calledhis Son.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
12. But as many—individuals, of the "disobedientand gainsaying people."
gave he power—The word signifies both authority and ability, and both are
certainly meant here.
to become—Mark these words:Jesus is the Son of God; He is never said to
have become such.
the sons—ormore simply, "sons of God," in name and in nature.
believe on his name—a phrase never used in Scripture of any mere creature,
to express the credit given to human testimony, even of prophets or apostles,
inasmuch it carries with it the idea of trust proper only towards God. In this
sense ofsupreme faith, as due to Him who "gives those that believe in Himself
powerto become sons of God," it is manifestly used here.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
But as many as receivedhim; though the generalityof those amongstwhom
Christ came receivedhim not in the manner before expressed, yet some did

own him, believed in him and submitted to him; and to as many as thus
receivedhim, not into their houses only, but into their hearts,
to them gave he powerto become the sons of God; he gave a power, or a right,
or privilege, not that they might if they would be, but to be actually, to
become, or be, the sons of Godby adoption; for believers are alreadythe sons
of God, Galatians 3:26, though it doth not yet appearwhat they shall be in the
adoption, mentioned Romans 8:23, which the apostle calls the redemption of
our body, viz. in the resurrection; hence the children of God are calledthe
children of the resurrection, Luke 20:36.
To them that believe on his name; this is the privilege of all that believe in the
name of Christ; by which term he opens the former term of receiving: to
receive Christ, and to believe in his name, are the same thing. To believe in his
name, is either to believe in him, Acts 3:16 or in the revelationof himself in
the promises of the gospel. The proposition of God’s word is the objectof faith
of assent:but the person of the Mediatoris the objectof that faith which
receivethChrist; and those alone have a right to be the sons of God, and to the
privileges peculiar to sons, who believe in Christ as revealedin the promises of
the word of God, and there exhibited to men.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
But as many as receivedhim,.... This is explained, in the latter part of the text,
by believing in his name; for faith is a receiving him as the word, and Son of
God, as the Messiah, Saviour, and Redeemer;a receiving grace outof his
fulness, and every blessing from him, as a justifying righteousness, pardon of
sin, and an inheritance among them that are sanctified; for though the
generality rejectedhim, there were some few that receivedhim:
to them gave he powerto become the sons of God; as such were very early
called, in distinction from the children of men, or of the world; see Genesis
6:2. To be the sons of God is a very specialfavour, a greatblessing, and high
honour: saints indeed are not in so high a sense the sons of Godas Christ is;

nor in so low a sense as angels and men in common are; nor in such sense as
civil magistrates;nor merely by professionof religion; much less by natural
descent;but by adopting grace:and in this, Christ, the word, has a concern,
as all the three divine persons have. The Father predestinatedmen to the
adoption of children, secures this blessing for them in the covenantof his
grace, and puts them among the children, and assigns them a goodly heritage:
the Spirit, and who is therefore calledthe spirit of adoption, discovers and
applies this blessing to them, and witnesses to their spirits that they are the
children of God: and Christ, the word, or Son of God, not only espousedtheir
persons, and in time assumedtheir nature, and by the redemption of them
opened a way for their receptionof the adoption of children; but actually
bestows upon them the "power", as it is here called, of becoming the sons of
God: by which is meant, not a powerof free will to make themselves the sons
of God, if they will make use of it; but it signifies the honour and dignity
conferredon such persons:so Nonnus calls it, "the heavenly honour"; as
indeed, what can be a greater? It is more honourable than to be a son or
daughter of the greatestpotentate on earth: and it is expressive of its being a
privilege; for so it is an undeserved and distinguishing one, and is attended
with many other privileges; for such are of God's householdand family, and
are provided for by him; have liberty of accessunto him; are Christ's free
men, and are heirs to an incorruptible inheritance. This is a privilege that
excels all others, even justification and remissionof sins; and is an everlasting
one: and it also intends the open right which believers have unto this privilege,
and their claim of it: hence it follows,
even to them that believe in his name; that is, in himself, in Christ, the word:
the phrase is explanative of the former part of the verse, and is a descriptive
and manifestative characterof the sons of God; for though the electof God,
by virtue of electing grace, and the covenantof grace, are the children of God
before faith; and were so consideredin the gift of them to Christ, and when he
came into the world to gather them together, and save them; and so,
antecedentto the Spirit of God, being sent down into their hearts, to make this
known to them; yet no man can know his adoption, nor enjoy the comfort of
it, or claim his interest in it, until he believes.
Geneva Study Bible

{6} But as many as receivedhim, to them gave he {s} power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
(6) The Son being shut out by the majority of his people, and acknowledged
but by a few, regenerates those few by his own strength and power, and
receives them into that honour which is common to all the children of God,
that is, to be the sons of God.
(s) He condescendedto give them this power to take them to be his children.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
John 1:12. The mass of the Jews rejectedHim, but still not all of them. Hence,
in this fuller description of the relation of the manifestedLogos to the world,
the refreshing light is now (it is otherwise in John 1:5) joyfully recognisedand
placed overagainstthe shadow.
ἔλαβον] He came, they receivedHim, did not rejectHim. Comp. John 5:43;
Soph. Phil. 667, ἰδών τε καὶ λαβὼν φίλον.
The nominative ὅσοι is emphatic, and continues independent of the
constructionthat follows. See onMatthew 7:24; Matthew 10:14; Matthew
13:12;Matthew 23:16;Acts 7:40.
ἐξονσίαν] neither dignity, nor advantage (Erasmus, Beza, Flacius,
Rosenmüller, Semler, Kuinoel, Schott), nor even possibility (De Wette,
Tholuck), nor capability (Hengstenberg, Brückner), fully comes up to the
force of the word,[86]but He gave them full power(comp. John 5:27, John
17:2). The rejectionof the Logos whenHe came in person, excluded from the
attainment of that sacredcondition of fitness—receivedthrough Him—for
entering into the relationship of children of God, they only who receivedHim
in faith obtained through Him this warrant, this title (ἐπιτροπὴ νόμου, Plato,

Defin. p. 415 B). It is, however, an arrangement in the gracious decree ofGod;
neither a claim of right on man’s part, nor any internal ability (Lücke, who
compares 1 John 5:20; also Lange),—a meaning which is not in the word
itself, nor even in the connection, since the commencementof that filial
relationship, which is the consummation of that highest theocratic ἐξουσία, is
conceivedas a being born, John 1:13, and therefore as passive (againstB.
Crusius).
τέκνα θεοῦ] Christ alone is the Son of God, manifested as such from His birth,
the μονογενής. Believers,from their knowledge ofGod in Christ (John 17:3),
become children of God, by being born of God (comp. John 3:3; 1 John 3:9),
i.e. through the moral transformation and renewalof their entire spiritual
nature by the Holy Ghost;so that now the divine element of life rules in them,
excludes all that is ungodly, and permanently determines the development of
this moral fellowship of nature with God, onwards to its future glorious
consummation (1 John 3:2; John 17:24). See also 1 John 3:9 and 1 Peter1:23.
It is thus that John represents the idea of filial relationship to God, for which
he always uses τέκνα from the point of view of a spiritual genesis;[87]while
Paul apprehends it from the legalside (as adoption, Romans 8:15; Galatians
4:5), regarding the spiritual renewalconnectedtherewith (regeneration), the
καινότης ζωῆς (Romans 6:4), as a new creation(2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians
6:15), a moral resurrection(Romans 6), and the like; while the Synoptics
(comp. also Romans 8:23) make the υἱοθεσία appearas first commencing with
the kingdom of the Messiah(see onMatthew 5:9; Matthew 5:45; Luke 6:35),
as conditioned, however, by the moral character. There is no difference as to
the thing itself, only in the manner of apprehending its various sides and
stages.
τοῖς πιστεύουσιν, κ.τ.λ.]quippe qui credunt, is conceivedas assigning the
reason;for it is as believers that they have fulfilled the subjective condition of
arriving at sonship, not only negatively, since they are no longerunder the
wrath of God and the condemnation of the law (John 3:36; John 3:16-17, John

5:45), but also positively, inasmuch as they now possessa capacityand
susceptibility for the operationof the Spirit (John 7:38-39). John does not say
πιστεύσασιν, but πιστεύουσιν, for the faith, the entrance of which brought
about the ἔλαβον, is thenceforth their enduring habitus.
εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ]not essentiallydifferent from εἰς αὐτόν, but
characterizing it more fully; for the entire subject-matterof faith lies in the
name of the person on whom we believe; the uttered name contains the whole
confessionoffaith. Comp. John 2:23, John 3:18, 1 John 3:23; 1 John 5:13. The
name itself, moreover, is no other than that of the historically manifested
Logos
Jesus Christ, as is self-evident to the consciousnessofthe reader. Comp. John
1:17; 1 John 5:1; 1 John 2:22.
[86] Comp. Godet: “il les a mis en position.”
[87] Hilgenfeld, indeed, will have it that those spokenof are already regarded
as originally τέκνα θεοῦ (comp. John 3:6, John 8:44, John 11:52), and
attempts to escape the dilemma into which γενέσθαι brings him, by help of the
interpretation: “the powerby which the man who is born of God realizes this,
and actually becomes whathe is in himself according to his nature!” Thus we
should have here the Gnostic semenarcanum electorumet spiritualium. See
Hilgenfeld, Evangelien, p. 233. The reproachof tautology which he also brings
againstthe ordinary explanation (in his Zeitschr. 1863, p. 110)is quite futile.
The greatconceptionof the τέκνα θεοῦ, which appears here for the first time,
was in John’s eye important enough to be accompaniedby a more detailed
elucidation. Generally, againstthe anthropologicaldualism discoveredin
John by Hilgenfeld (also by Scholten), see Weiss, Lehrbegr. p. 128 ff.; also

Weizsäckerin the Jahrb. f. D. Th. 1862, p. 680 f.; and even Baur, neutest.
Theol. p. 359 ff.
Expositor's Greek Testament
John 1:12. But not all rejectedHim. ὅσοι δὲ ἕλαβον… ὄνομα αὐτοῦ. ὅσοι, as
many as, as if they were a countable number (Holtzmann), or, rather,
suggesting the individuality of exceptionalactionon the part of those who
receivedHim.—ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς, to them (resuming ὅσοι by a common
construction)He gave ἐξουσίαν, not equivalent to δύναμις, the inward
capacity, nor just equivalent to saying that He made them sons of God, but He
gave them title, warrant, or authorisation, carrying with it all needed powers.
Cf. John 5:27, John 10:18, John 19:10, Luke 9:1, Mark 6:7, where ἐξουσία
includes and implies δύναμις.—τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι, to become children of
God. Weiss (Bibl. Theol., § 150)says.:“To those who accept Him by faith
Christ has given not sonship itself, but the powerto become sons ofGod; the
last and highest realisationof this ideal, a realisationfor the present
fathomless, lies only in the future consummation”. Rather, with Stevens, “to
believe and to be begottenof God are two inseparable aspects ofthe same
event or process” (Johan. Theol., p. 251). John uses τέκνα rather than the
Pauline υἱοὺς τ. θ., because Paul’s view of sonship was governedby the
Roman legalprocess ofadopting a son who was not one’s own child: while
John’s view is mystical and physical, the begetting of a child by the
communication of the very life of God (1 John, passim). This distinction
underlies the characteristic use ofυἱός by the one writer and τέκνονby the
other (cf. Westcott, Epistles ofSt. John, p. 123). By the reception of Christ as
the Incarnate Logos we are enabled to recogniseGodas our Fatherand to
come into the closestpossible relationto Him. Those who thus receive Him are
further identified as τοῖς πιστεύουσινεἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, “those who believe
(believers, present participle) in His name”.—πιστεύεινεἴς τινα is the
favourite construction with John, and emphasises the objecton which the
faith rests. Here that objectis τὸ ὅνομα αὐτοῦ, the sum of all characteristic
qualities which attachto the bearerof the name: “quippe qui credant esse
eum id ipsum, quod nomen declarat” (Holtzmann). It is impossible to identify
this “name” with the Logos, becauseJesus neverproclaimed Himself under
this name. Other definite names, such as Son of God or Messiah, canhere only

be proleptic, and it is probably better to leave it indefinite, and understand it
in a generalsense ofthose who believed in the self-manifestationof Christ,
and were characterisedby that belief.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
12. received]Not the same Greek wordas before:this denotes the spontaneous
acceptanceofthe Messiahby individuals, whether Jews orGentiles. He was
not speciallyofferedto any individuals as He was to the Jewishnation.
power] i.e. right, liberty, authority. We are born with a capacity for becoming
sons of God; that we have as men. He gives us a right to become such; that we
receive as Christians. Comp. John 5:27, John 10:18.
to become]Christ is from all eternity the Son of God; men are empoweredto
become sons of God. Comp. Matthew 5:45.
the sons of God] Omit ‘the:’ children of God. Both S. John and S. Paul insist
on the fundamental fact that the relation of believers to God is a filial one. S.
John gives us this fact on the human side; man ‘must be born again’ (John
3:3). S. Paul gives us the Divine side; God by ‘adoption’ makes us sons
(Romans 8:16-17;Romans 8:21; Romans 8:23; Galatians 4:5).
even to them that believe] Explains who are the sons of God. The testof a
child of God is no longerdescentfrom Abraham, but belief in God’s Son.
on his name] The construction‘to believe on’ is characteristic ofS. John: it
occurs about 35 times in the Gospeland 3 times in the First Epistle; elsewhere
in N.T. about 10 times. It expresses the very strongestbelief;motion to and
repose on the object of belief. ‘His Name’is a frequent phrase in Jewish

literature, both O. and N.T. It is not a mere periphrasis. Names were so often
significant, given sometimes by God Himself, that a man’s name told not
merely who he was, but what he was:it was an index of character. So ‘the
Name of the Lord’ is not a mere periphrasis for ‘the Lord;’ it suggests His
attributes and His relations to us as Lord. Perhaps the name of Logos is
speciallymeant here; and the meaning would then be to give one’s entire
adhesionto Him as the Incarnate Son, the expressionof the Will and Nature
of God. Comp. John 3:18, John 20:31.
Bengel's Gnomen
John 1:12. Ὅσοι, as many as) even [including also]such as previously had not
been ἴδιοι, His own.—ἔλαβον)This verb differs from καταλαμβάνειν, John
1:5, and from παραλαμβάνειν, John 1:11. Καταλαμβανω is applied to that
which is close by: παραλαμβάνω, that which is offered: λαμβάνω, of my own
accord. Παραλαμβάνεινwas the part of the Jews, whomthe Truth was
appertaining to [spectabat];λαμβάνεινis the part also of the Gentiles, whom
grace appertaineth to [spectat]. In John 1:12-13 mere external differences are
takenawaymost effectually. Galatians 3:26, etc., “Forye are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”—ἔδωκεν, He gave) This is the Glory of
Christ, the Only-begotten Son. It belongs to the Divine authority to make Sons
OF GOD:as it belongs to the Light, to make sons of light, ch. John 12:36,
“Believe in the Light, that ye may be the children of light.”—ἐξουσίαν, power)
The power[17]does not precede the γένεσιν τέκνων or filiation, as if they were
two distinct things: but the filiation itself is this power, or, in other words,
dignity. A greatfact! John 8:36.[18]—τέκνα Θεοῦ—τοῖς πιστεύουσιν,)sons
OF GOD—to them that believe) Two weighty truths are setbefore us, of
which the former is elucidatedin John 1:13; the secondin John 1:14, where
the manifestationof the Word in the flesh is not so much recorded as it was
accomplished, but rather as it was believed: which view the series ofthings
down from John 1:6 proves.—γἐνεσθαι, to become)whereas Jesus is the Son
of God.—ὄνομα, the name) The name of the Only-begotten. Forto this is to be
referred John 1:14. The connectionis inferred from the kindred term τέκνα,
children [sons].

[17] Potestas, legitimate power, authority; not mere δύναμις, potentia,
might.—E. and T.
[18] If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Comp.
Galatians 4:6.—E. and T.
Pulpit Commentary
Verses 12, 13. - But before the apostle advances to the central statementof the
entire proem, he stops to show that, though the whole world, though man as
an organized mass, though Israel as a favoured and selectedtheocracy, have
refused to know and confess his supreme claims, yet there has always been an
electionof grace. All have not perished in their unbelief. Some have received
him. The twelfth and thirteenth verses do, indeed, in their full meaning, refer
unmistakably to the entire ministry of the living Christ to the end of time; but
surely every word of it applies primarily (though not exclusively) to the whole
previous pleadings of the Light and Life - to the ministry of the pre-existing
and eternalLogos, and to the privileges and possibilities consequent
thereupon. As many as receivedhim. This phrase is subsequently explained as
being identical with "believed in his Name." The simple verb ἔλαβον, is less
definite than are its compounds with κάτα and παρά, used in the previous
verses (5, 11). The acceptanceis a positive idea, is broader, more manifold,
less restrictedas to manner of operation, than the negative rejection which
took sharp and decisive form. The constructionis irregular. We have a
nominativus pendens followedby a clause in the dative; as much as if he had
written, "There are, notwithstanding all the rejections, those who received
him." To these, the evangelistsays, howevermany or few they may be, who
believe in his Name, he - the subject of the previous sentence - gave the
authority and capability of becoming children of God. Believing in his Name is
discriminated from believing him. The construction occurs thirty-five times in
the Gospel, and three times in the First Epistle - and the Name here especially
present to the writer is the Logos, the full revelation of the essence, character,
and activity, of God. John, writing in the close of his life, surveys a glorious
company of individuals who, by realizing as true the sum of all the perfections

of the manifested Word, by believing in his Name, have also receivedas a gift
the sense ofsuch union to the Son of God that they become alive to the fact
that they too are the offspring of God. This realizationof the Divine
fatherhood, which had been so obscure before, is itself the origination within
them of filial feeling. Thus a new life is begottenand supervenes upon the old
life. This new life is a new humanity within the bosom or womb of the old, and
so it corresponds with the Pauline doctrine of new creationand of
resurrection. Ἐξοσία is more than opportunity, and less than (δύναμις)
power; it is rightful claim (which is itself the gift of God) to become whatthey
were not before, seeing that a Divine generationhas begottenthem again.
They are born from above. The Spirit of the Son has passedinto them, and
they cry, "Abba, Father." This Divine begetting is still further explained and
differentiated from ordinary human life. The writer distinctly repudiates the
idea that the condition he speaks ofis a consequence ofsimple birth into this
world. This is done in a very emphatic manner (οἵ here in the masculine, is the
well knownconstructio ad sensum, and refers to τέκνα Θεοῦ). Who were
begottenfrom God, not from (or, of) blood. (The plural word αἱμάτωνhas
been variously rendered by expositors:Augustine regarding it as a reference
to the blending of the blood of both sexes in ordinary generation;Meyer, as
not different from the singular in meaning, giving numerous passagesin the
classicswhere this or an equivalent usage of the plural for the singular occurs.
The suggestionof Moulton is more satisfactory - that it points to pride of race,
common enough in Israel, but not peculiar to Jews.)Johnrepudiates for this
"generation" anyconnectionwith mere hereditary privilege. No twice-born
Brahmin, no dignified race, no descendantof Abraham, canclaim it as such,
and the writer further discriminates it, as though he would leave no loophole
for escape:Nor yet from the will of the flesh, nor even from the will of the
man (ἀνδρὸς not ἀνθρώπου). Some, very erroneously, have supposedthat "the
flesh" here refers to "woman" in contradistinctionto "man," and numerous
efforts have been made to point out the threefold distinction. The simplest and
most obvious interpretation is that "the will of the flesh" here means the
human process ofgenerationon its lowerside, and "the will of the man" the
higher purposes of the nobler side of human nature, which leadto the same
end. Specialdignity is conferredby being the sonof a specialfather; but
howeverhonoured such might be, as in the case ofan Abraham, a David, a

Zacharias, suchpaternity has nothing to do with the sonship of which the
evangelistis thinking. Doubtless this triumphant new beginning of humanity
can only be found in the full revelationof the name of the incarnate Logos;
but surely the primary application of the passage is to the fact that,
notwithstanding the stiff-neckedrejectionof the Logos by the peculiar
possessionandpeople of his love, there were, from Abraham to Malachiand
to John the Baptist, those who did recognize the Light and live in the love of
God. The author of Psalm 16, 17, 23, 25, 103, 119, anda multitude beyond
calculation, discernedand receivedhim, walkedin the light of the Lord, were
kept in perfect peace, found in the Lord their most exceeding joy. "Like as a
father pitieth his chihlren, so the Lord pitied them." He nourished and
brought up children, and to the extent to which they appreciatedhis holy
Name they therein receivedas a gift the capability and claim to call him their
Father. This was not a question of human fatherhood or hereditary privilege
at all, but of gracious exchangesofaffectionbetweenthese children of his love
and the Eternal, who had fashionedthem in his image and regeneratedthem
by his Holy Spirit. To restrict any element of this passageto conscious faithin
the Christ is to repudiate the activity of the Logos and Spirit before the
Incarnation, and almostcompels a Sabellianinterpretation of the Godhead.
Even now the grandeur of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity - a doctrine
which treats these relations as eternal and universal - compels us to believe
that wheneveramong the sons of men there is a soul which receives the Logos
in this light, i.e. apart from the specialrevelationof the Logos in the flesh, to
such a one he gives the capacityand claim of sonship. John certainly could not
mean to imply that there had never been a regeneratedsouluntil he and his
fellow disciples acceptedtheir Lord. Up to this point in his argument he has
been disclosing the universal and the specialoperations ofthe Logos who in
the beginning was with God and was God, the Source of all life, the Giver of
all light, the veritable Light which shines upon every man, which does more
even than that - which made a long continued series ofapproaches to his own
speciallyinstructed and prepared people. Prophecyall through the ages has
had a wondrous function to bear witness to the reality of this Light, that all
might believe in it, that all might become sons by faith; but, alas darkness,
prejudice, depravity, corruption - "darkness"did not apprehend the nature,
name, or mystery, of love. And so he proceeds to describe the greatest, the

most surprising, supreme energyof the Eternal Logos - that which illustrates,
confirms, brings into the most forcible relief, the nature of his personality, and
the extent of the obligationunder which he has placed the human race;and
proves in the most irresistible way, not only the characterand nature of God,
but the actual condition of humanity. The greatextent of the literature and
the imposing controversies whichhave accumulatedover the entirely unique
sentence that here fellows render any treatment of it difficult. A volume
rather than a page or two is required to exhibit the significance of a verse
which is probably the most important collocationofwords ever made.
Vincent's Word Studies
As many as (ὅσοι)
Denoting individuals, as οἱ ἴδιοι (John 1:11) signified the nation at large.
Received(ἔλαβον)
The simple verb of the compound παρέλαβονin John 1:11. The meaning of the
two verbs is substantially the same (so Alford, De Wette, and apparently
Meyer), though some recognize a difference, as Milligan and Moulton, who
render παρέλαβονaccepted, and ἔλαβονreceived, and saythat "the former
lays emphasis upon the will that consented(or refused) to receive, while the
latter brings before us the possessiongained:so that the full meaning is, As
many as by accepting Him, receivedHim." For the use of the simple verb, see
John 5:43; John 13:20; John 19:6.
Power(ἐξουσίαν)
Rev., the right. Six words are used for powerin the:New Testament: βία,
force, often oppressive, exhibiting itself in violence (Acts 5:26; Acts 27:41.
Compare the kindred verb βιάζεται, Matthew 11:12;"the kingdom of heaven
is takenby violence): δύναμις, natural ability (see on 2 Peter 2:11): ἐνέργεια,
energy, power in exercise;only of superhuman power, goodor evil. Used by
Paul only, and chiefly in the Epistles of the Imprisonment (Ephesians 1:19;
Ephesians 3:7; Colossians2:12. Compare the kindred verb ἐνεργέω, to put
forth power, and see on Mark 6:14; see on James 5:16): ἰσχύς, strength (see on
2 Peter2:11. Compare the kindred verb ἰσχύω, to be strong, and see on Luke

14:30;see on Luke 16:3): κράτος, might, only of God, relative and manifested
power, dominion (Ephesians 1:19; Ephesians 6:10;1 Timothy 6:16; 1 Peter
4:11. Compare the kindred verb κρατέω, to have power, to be masterof, and
see on Mark 7:3; see on Acts 3:11): ἐξουσία, liberty of action(ἔξεστι, it is
lawful), authority, delegatedor arbitrary (John 5:27; John 10:18;John 17:2;
John 19:10, John 19:11. See on Mark 2:10; see onLuke 20:20). Here,
therefore, ἐξουσία is not merely possibility or ability, but legitimate right
derived from a competent source - the Word.
To become (γενέσθαι)
As those who are born (John 1:13. Compare John 3:3, and Matthew 5:45).
Sons (τέκνα)
Rev., more correctly, children. Son is υἱός. Τέκνον, child (τίκτω, to bring
forth), denotes a relation basedon community of nature, while υἱός, Son, may
indicate only adoption and heirship. See Galatians 4:7. Except in Revelation
21:7, which is a quotation, John never uses υἱός to describe the relation of
Christians to God, since he regards their position not as a result of adoption,
but of a new life. Paul, on the other hand, regards the relation from the legal
standpoint, as adoption, imparting a new dignity and relation(Romans 8:15;
Galatians 4:5, Galatians 4:6). See also James 1:18;1 Peter1:3, 1 Peter1:23,
where the point of view is John's rather than Paul's. Τέκνον, indicating the
relationship of man to God, occurs in John 1:12; John 11:52; 1 John 3:1, 1
John 3:2, 1 John 3:10; 1 John 5:2, and always in the plural.
Believe on (πιστευούσιν εἰς)
The present participle, believing, indicates the present and continuous activity
of faith. The word is used by John, sometimes with the dative case simply
meaning to believe a person or thing; i.e., to believe that they are true or
speak the truth. Thus, to believe the Scripture (John 2:22); believe me (John
4:21); believe Moses,his writings, my words (John 4:46). At other times with a
preposition, εἰς, into, which is rendered believe in, or believe on. So here, John
6:29; John 8:30; 1 John 5:10. See the two contrastedin John 6:29, John 6:30;
John 8:30, John 8:31; 1 John 5:10. To believe in, or on, is more than mere

acceptanceofa statement. It is so to accepta statement or a person as to rest
upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one's selfof all
that is offered to him in them. Hence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not
merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts,
but to acceptHim as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul
upon Him for presentand future salvation, and to acceptand adopt His
precepts and example as binding upon the life.
Name (ὄνομα)
See on Matthew 28:19. Expressing the sum of the qualities which mark the
nature or characterofa person. To believe in the name of Jesus Christ the
Son of God, is to acceptas true the revelation containedin that title. Compare
John 20:31.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
John 1:12 Commentary
John 1 Resources
Updated: Wed, 01/30/2019 - 15:02 By admin
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John 1:12 But as many as receivedHim, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, even to those who believe in His name: hosos de elabon
(3PAAI) autonexousiantekna theou genesthai(AMI), tois pistemomsin
(MPDPAP)eis to onoma autou (NASB:Lockman)
received:Mt 10:40 Mt 18:5 Col 2:6
to them: Isa 56:5 Jer 3:19 Ho 1:10 Ro 8:14 2Co 6:17,18 Gal3:26 Gal 4:6 2Pe
1:4 1Jn3:1

even to: John 2:23 Jn 3:18 Jn 20:31 Mt 12:21 Acts 3:16 1Jn 3:23 1Jn5:12
John 1 Resources- Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
John 1:12 Multiple Older Commentaries on this verse
Barclay- To all those who did receive him, to those who believe in his name,
he gave the right to become the children of God.
KJV John 1:12 But as many as receivedhim, to them gave he powerto
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
NET John 1:12 But to all who have receivedhim– those who believe in his
name– he has given the right to become God's children
ASV John 1:12 But as many as receivedhim, to them gave he the right to
become children of God, even to them that believe on his name:
BBE John 1:12 To all those who did so take him, however, he gave the right of
becoming children of God -- that is, to those who had faith in his name:
CJB John 1:12 But to as many as did receive him, to those who put their trust
in his personand power, he gave the right to become children of God,
CSB John 1:12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be
children of God, to those who believe in His name,
DBY John 1:12 but as many as receivedhim, to them gave he the right to be
children of God, to those that believe on his name;
ESV John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God,
NAS John 1:12 But as many as receivedHim, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
NIV John 1:12 Yet to all who receivedhim, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God--
NLT John 1:12 But to all who believed him and acceptedhim, he gave the
right to become children of God.

GWN John 1:12 However, he gave the right to become God's children to
everyone who believed in him.
NAB John 1:12 But to those who did accept him he gave power to become
children of God, to those who believe in his name,
NJB John 1:12 But to those who did accepthim he gave power to become
children of God, to those who believed in his name
NKJ John 1:12 But as many as receivedHim, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
NRS John 1:12 But to all who receivedhim, who believed in his name, he gave
powerto become children of God,
RSV John 1:12 But to all who receivedhim, who believed in his name, he gave
powerto become children of God;
TNT John 1:12 But as meny as receavedhim to them he gave power to be the
sonnes of God in that they beleved on his name:
WEB John 1:12 But as many as receivedhim, to them he gave powerto
become the sons of God, {even} to them that believe on his name:
YLT John 1:12 but as many as did receive him to them he gave authority to
become sons of God -- to those believing in his name,
TRUE LIGHT REVEALED
AND RECEIVED BY SOME
Compiled by Bruce Hurt
But - Wheneveryou encounter this term of contrast, ask what is the author
contrasting? In this case it is unbelief by His own with belief by the many. I
love John Phillips comment on this contrast - "Oh, those revealing buts of the
Bible. They are small hinges on which greattruths and destinies swing."
Always pause to ponder whenever you encounter one of these little "hinges."
You never know what greattruth your Teacherthe Holy Spirit might illumine
as you read the text in context!In this context, we are grateful that John 1:11

was not the end of the story! Revelationdid bring rejection, but praise God
that through His Spirit it also wrought reception!And so while the majority of
Jews rejectedtheir Messiah, there was (as there had always been throughout
the Old Testament)a Remnant, a small group who entered through the small
gate and trod the narrow way (Mt 7:14-note), by grace through faith, into the
Kingdom of God and eternal life with their King! And as discussedbelow the
phase "as many as" opened the "small gate" so that the Gentiles might enter
the Kingdom by belief in Messiah's Name!This truth of salvation for both
Jews and Gentiles causedPaulto pause one of the most beautiful doxologies in
Scripture...
For just as you (Gentile believers) once were disobedient to God, but now
have been shown mercy because oftheir (Israel's)disobedience, so these also
now have been disobedient, in order that because ofthe mercy shown to you
(Gentiles)they (the believing JewishRemnant) also may now be shownmercy.
For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all.
(Jews and Gentiles)Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge ofGod! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable
His ways!For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO
BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? OrWHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM
THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? Forfrom Him and
through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
(Romans 11:30-36-note)
Spurgeon- This is a blessed“But.” Though Christ’s own nation, the Jews, as a
whole “receivedhim not,” there was “a remnant according to the electionof
grace,” there were some who receivedhim. “But”
MacArthur expresses itthis way "The conjunction de (but) is a small fulcrum
that marks a dramatic shift. The world’s hatred of God and rejection of
Christ in no way overrules or frustrates God’s plan, for He makes even the
wrath of men praise Him (Ps 76:10). There will be some who receive Him.
Those whom God willed for salvationbefore the foundation of the world (Eph
1:4; 2Ti1:9) will in faith embrace Christ. As He declared in John 6:37, “All
that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will
certainly not castout." (John 1-11 MacArthur New TestamentCommentary)

Jon Courson- Praise Godfor the word "but." How many greattruths swing
on this small hinge!
Note the three verbs - received...become...believed. Now placing them in the
order of their occurrence we have received...believed...become.
As many as - This phrase is equivalent to the pronouns whoever(Webster=
"Any one without exception;any person whatever")or whosoever(Any one;
any personwhatever) which fling open the door of salvationto both Jews and
Gentiles. Sadly this was a truth the Jews had a difficult time accepting in the
early church (cf Acts 11:11-3, 15:1, 21:20-23, Gal2:12-14)for they felt that
they had specialbenefits based on their physical (ethnic) lineage (Abraham,
Moses,circumcision, etc). This open invitation (so to speak)is similar to Paul's
declaration(quoting the OT prophet Joel2:32) that "Whoeverwill call upon
the Name of the LORD (Jehovah) will be saved(cf will be "born of...God" =
Jn 1:13)." (Ro 10:13-note). It follows that calling upon His Name is one aspect
of receiving (and believing in) Yeshua the Messiah. Itshould be noted that
throughout Scripture until the very end of His revelation, this "as many as"
attitude reflects the Father's heart toward His rebellious creatures, John
recording
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hearethsay, Come.
And let him that is athirst come. And whosoeverwill, let him take the waterof
life freely." (Rev 22:17KJV-note)
Pink writes “as many as,” no matter whether they be Jews orGentiles, rich or
poor, illiterate or learned, receive Christ as their own personalSavior, to them
is given the poweror right to become the sons (better “children”) of God."
MacArthur on receivedHim...believe in His Name - The secondphrase
describes the first. To receive Him who is the Word of God means to
acknowledge His claims, place one’s faith in Him, and thereby yield allegiance
to Him. ((MacArthur Study Bible).)
Utley on as many as receivedHim - This shows humanity’s part in salvation
(cf. v. 16). Humans must respond to God’s offer of grace in Christ (cf. Jn 3:16;
Ro 10:9–13;Eph. 2:8–9).

Receivedis aorist tense (at a moment in time, the moment we believed in
Jesus)and active voice which implies that this receiving is a volitional choice,
a choice of one's will to believe.
Steven Cole - These verses state the purpose for which this Gospelwas written
and thus form an inclusio (like “bookends”)with Jn 20:30-31. Theyalso strike
the balance betweenhuman responsibility (we must receive Christ by
believing in His name) and divine sovereignty(those who believe in Him were
not born of human decision, but of God). (John 1:6-13 God’s Witness, Your
Verdict)
Westcott- The Jews as a nation did not receive Christ as Him for whose
advent they had been disciplined (trained) (Jn 1:11); but this national
rejectionwas qualified by the personalbelief of some. These (many) however
believed as men, so to say, and not as Jews.....Theprivilege of Israel (Ex. 4:22)
was extended to all the faithful.. (The GospelAccording to St John)
Vincent on received- The simple verb of the compound paralambano in Jn
1:11. The meaning of the two verbs is substantially the same (according to
Alford, De Wette, and apparently Meyer), though some recognize a
difference, as Milligan and Moulton, who render paralambano, accepted, and
lambano, received, and say that “the former lays emphasis upon the will that
consented(or refused) to receive, while the latter brings before us the
possessiongained:so that the full meaning is, As many as by accepting Him,
receivedHim.” For the use of the simple verb, see Jn 5:43; 13:20;19:6.
John Piper says "Receiving Jesus means that when Jesus offers Himself to
you, you welcome Him into your life for what He is.
• If he comes to you as Savior, you welcome his salvation.
• If he comes to you as Leader, you welcome his leadership.
• If he comes to you as Provider, you welcome his provision.
• If he comes to you as Counselor, you welcome his counsel.
• If he comes to you as Protector, you welcome his protection.

• If he comes to you as Authority, you welcome his authority.
• If he comes to you as King, you welcome his rule.
Receiving Jesus means taking Jesus into your life for what He is. It does not
mean a kind of peaceful co-existencewith a Christ Who makes no claims—as
though He can stay in the house as long as he doesn’tplay his music so loud.
As Leon Morris says ""The end of the story is not the tragedyof rejection,
but the grace of acceptance." (Ed:Or one might say the tragedy of rejection
and the triumph of reception)
A W Pink - Salvation comes to the sinner through “receiving” Christ, that is,
by “believing on his name.” There is a slight distinction betweenthese two
things, though in substance they are one. Believing, respects Christ as He is
exhibited by the Gospeltestimony: it is the personal acceptance as truth of
what God has said concerning His Son. Receiving, views Christ as presented
to us as God’s Gift, presentedto us for our acceptance.
As Spurgeon puts it "Faithis describedas 'receiving' Jesus. It is the empty
cup placedunder the flowing stream; the penniless hand held out for heavenly
alms."
Received(2983)(lambano-seewordstudy) speaks ofa literal taking hold of,
obtaining or grasping. John often uses the terms accept/receive (lambano)in a
theologicalsense - (1) Of receiving Jesus, negatively(Jn 3:11, 3:32); positively
(Jn 1:12; 3:33; 5:43; 13:20). (2) Of receiving the Spirit, negatively(Jn 14:17),
positively (Jn 7:39). (3) Of receiving Jesus’words, negatively(Jn 12:48),
positively (Jn 17:8)
As MacArthur says "To receive Christ involves more than mere intellectual
acknowledgmentof His claims." (John 1-11 MacArthur New Testament
Commentary)
ESV Study Bible says received"implies not merely intellectual agreement
with some facts about Jesus but also welcoming and submitting to him in a
personalrelationship."

John Piper makes an excellentobservationon receivedthe right to become
children of God - We need to be born. We need to have spiritual life. That is
what God does according to John 1:13 without any help from us—“not of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.” We are born of Godby
a free actof sovereigngrace. He choosesus before we choose him. But when
God does that, what we now have is a newborn sinner. The spiritual life is
present, but so is sin, and a whole history of sin! In this condition we would
have no right to take our place in the house of God—no authority, no
empowerment. Except for one thing. God not only provided the regeneration
by which we are born again, but also the authorization by which we canlay
claim to our inheritance as children, even though we are sinners. And that is
preciselywhere Jesus comes in. The moment you believe in Jesus, the moment
you receive him for who he really is, in that moment he gives you not new
birth, but the right and authority, as a sinner, to lay claim to your inheritance
as a child of God—to become legally, as it were (with due authority), what you
are by virtue of new birth—because you were “born of God.” (How to Become
a Child of God- Desiring God)
Life is uncertain,
Deathis sure;
Sin the cause,
Christ the cure.
—Anon.
Vine on John's selectionoflambano insteadof paralambano (as used in John
1:11) - lambano, a simple but spontaneous acceptancefrom individuals,
whether Jews orGentiles, and so a simpler verb than that used before of the
Jewishnation.
BELIEVERS ARE
RECEIVERS
Believers are receivers ofthe greatestgiftever offered, the gift of a "second
chance," a new birth, a new life, a new destiny, now and forevermore! How

Jesus was able to make us children of god

Jesus was able to make us children of god

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