1 John 3:23
His commandment (h entolh autou).
That (ina). Subfinal use of ina in apposition with entolh (commandment) and explanatory of it, as in John 15:12 (entolh ina). See Christ's summary of the commandments (Mark 12:28-31; Matthew 22:34-40). So these two points here (1)
We should believe (pisteuswmen, first aorist active subjunctive according to B K L, though Aleph A C read the present subjunctive pisteuwmen) either in a crisis (aorist) or the continuous tenor (present) of our lives. The "name" of Jesus Christ here stands for all that he is, "a compressed creed " (Westcott) as in I John 1:3. Note dative onomati here with pisteuw as in I John 5:10, though eiv onoma (on the name) in I John 5:13; John 1:12; John 2:23; John 3:18. But (2) we should love one another" (agapwmen allhlouv), as he has already urged (I John 2:7 f.; I John 3:11) and as he will repeat (I John 4:7, I John 4:11 f.; II John 1:5) as Jesus (even as he gave us commandment, that is Christ) had previously done (John 13:34; John 15:12, John 15:17). There are frequent points of contact between this Epistle and the words of Jesus in John 13:17.
