He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Ver. 4. He that saith, I know him] Here he disputeth against Verbalists and Solifidians. SeeJames 2:14. See Trapp on " Jam 2:14 "
Is a liar] i.e. A hypocrite; his spot is not the spot of God's children, Deuteronomy 32:5, for they are children that will not lie, Isaiah 63:8. They all deserve that title of honour that was given of old to Arrianus the historian, viz. φιλαληθης, A lover of truth. They know that the God whom they serve, desireth "truth in the inward parts," Psalms 51:6, and that dicta factis deficientibus erubescant (as Tertullian hath it), words without deeds will not bear a man out in the end. It is a question whether the desire of being, or dislike of seeming, sincere, be greater in the good heart. Not so every loose and ungirt Christian, every profligate professor, that denieth that in deed what he affirmeth in word.