19 [a]They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, [b]they should have continued with us. [c]But this cometh to pass, that it might appear, that they are not all of us.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 John 2:19 A digression against certain offenses and stumbling blocks, whereat that rude age especially might stumble and be shaken. Therefore that they should not be terrified with the soul falling back of certain, first he maketh plain unto them, that although such as fall from God and his religion, had place in the Church, yet they were never of the Church, because the Church is the company of the elect which cannot perish, and therefore cannot fall from Christ.
  2. 1 John 2:19 So then the elect can never fall from grace.
  3. 1 John 2:19 Secondly, he showeth that these things fall out to the profit of the Church, that hypocrites may be plainly known.

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