“And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.”
King James Version (KJV)
5:19 We know that we are children of God - By the witness and the fruit of his Spirit, #1John 3:24|. But the whole world - All who have not his Spirit, not only is touched by him, but by idolatry, fraud, violence lasciviousness, impiety, all manner of wickedness. Lieth in the wicked one - Void of life, void of sense. In this short expression the horrible state of the world is painted in the most lively colours; a comment on which we have in the actions, conversations, contracts, quarrels, and friendships of worldly men.
1Jo 5:19 We know that we are of God. The church is God's temple in which he dwells, and around it the world of wickedness.