THE WORD OF LIFE
Verse 1, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life."
LGT "That which was from (the) beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we scrutinized (or gazed upon) and our hands handled concerning the word of life (the word which is life)"
"That which was from the beginning,"
The first words are relative neuter, not personal. This is concerning the message concerning the Word of Life. The beginning is referring to the complete ministry and message of the Lord Jesus Christ. The beginning here has also a reference to eternity past, for Christ is eternal. It is interesting to note that John begins this epistle teaching doctrine. There is no introduction as we see in the epistles of the apostle Paul. John begins his Gospel in the same manner, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The "beginning" that the apostle John is referring to in his Gospel is eternity past before the world was created, vss. 2 & 3 of chapter one of his Gospel says, "He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." The Gospel of John stresses the Deity of Christ assuming His humanity, while the first epistle of John stresses His humanity assuming His deity. Notice that in the Gospel's first verse the deity of Christ is stressed, "And the Word (Christ) was God." In the first verse of John's epistle Christ's humanity is stressed, "Our eyes have seen, we have looked upon, and our hands handled." The Gnostics were in the church telling lies about the humanity of Christ, that John had only seen a vision of Christ, that it was strictly 'illusory,' John is very emphatic with his descriptions of his human relationship with the Savior. It is important also to note the 'exclusive we' he uses in the first part of the epistle; we will note other uses of the term 'we' later as we come to them. There are two schools of thought regarding this use of the exclusive 'we'; (1) is that John is speaking of himself and the other apostles that were with Christ during His earthly ministry and (2) that John is not only including himself and the other apostles, but also the older members of the churches being addressed that were with Christ at the same time as the apostles and His disciples, as he seems to indicate in verse 13 (a) & 14 (b) of chapter 2, "I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning (of His earthly ministry) .I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning." John speaks of the 'fathers' as the older members of the congregations, just as he continually addresses the members as his little children. John was very old, around 95 or so when he wrote this epistle. John felt very close to all believers in the early church as members of his family, that is, all God's family. Another interesting point I would like to make is that John didn't have to introduce himself as Paul did because he was very well known in the church. Paul had to defend himself as an apostle because these same Gnostic heretics were saying that Paul was a false-prophet and not an eyewitness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he was antinomian (anti = against, nomian = the law).
"Which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands handled, of the Word of life."
John is claiming apostleship in the use of the exclusive 'we' (that is that the "we" here includes the other apostles) in this first verse, for only those who were chosen by Christ and were eyewitnesses of Him could claim apostleship. There were many 'false apostles' as John calls the leaders of Gnosticism.
Robertson says, "Three senses are here appealed to (hearing, sight, touch) as combining to show the reality of Christ's humanity against Docetic Gnostics and the qualification of John by experience to speak. But he is also 'The Word of life' and so God Incarnate. The Docetists claimed John just imagined he saw the risen Christ, 'we have seen with our eyes." (WPNT A.T. Robertson)
John is saying that Jesus had an actual body and not an optical illusion as the Docetist Gnostics claimed. He is also the 'Word of Life' and as such 'God Incarnate' (in the flesh).
"It may seem, however, that the evidence of the senses little availed on the present subject, for the power of Christ could not be perceived by the eyes nor felt by the hands. To this I answer, that the same thing is said here as in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, 'We have seen His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father;' for He was not known as the Son of God by the external form of His body, but because He gave illustrious proofs of His Divine power, so that in Him shone forth the majesty of the Father, as in a living and distinct image. As the words are in the plural number, and the subject equally applies to all the apostles, I am disposed to include them, especially as the authority of testimony is what is treated of." (John Calvin's Comm. On First John)
"Which we looked upon."
"The word 'looked' is from the Greek word "theaomai," from which we get our English word theatre, meaning "to gaze intently upon." The theatre is a place where you sit and look, not just with a passing glance but with a gaze-a steady gaze for a couple of hours. John is saying for three years they gazed upon Jesus." (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)
"And our hands handled."
The apostles not only gazed upon the Lord Jesus, they also handled Him, that is touched Him and felt Him. Two instances of their handelling Him was before the resurrection at the "Last Supper" when John laid his head on Jesus' breast, and after the resurrection when Thomas felt His side the nail prints in His hands. The apostles also traveled with Jesus and it would have been unavoidable not to come into physical contact with the Lord. A pre-requisite to being an apostle was to be an eyewitness of the Lord, and of His resurrection.
"The disciples, frightened at the sudden appearance of the Risen One, are bidden: 'handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have.'" (Luke 24:39 F.F. Bruce)
"Of the Word of Life."
This Jesus is God incarnate, that is, God manifest in the flesh, this is eternal life, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36)
"The genitive here (Word of life) is used for an adjective, vivifying, or life giving; for in him, as it is said in the first chapter of John's Gospel, was life. At the same time, this distinction belongs to the Son of God on two accounts, because He has infused life into all creatures, and because he now restores life to us, which had perished, having been extinguished by the sin of Adam. Moreover, the term Word may be explained in two ways, either of Christ, or of the doctrine of the Gospel, for even by this is salvation brought to us. But as its substance is Christ, and as it contains no other thing than that He, who had been always with the Father, was at length manifested to men, the first view appears to me simple and genuine. Moreover, it appears more fully from the Gospel that the wisdom which dwells in God is called the Word." (John Calvin's Comm. On First John)
In actuality, it is impossible to separate the doctrines of Christ from Christ Himself. What Christ is, is who He says He is. God inspires whatever is taught in the Word of God, and God verifies the truth by His inspiration, therefore, His Eternal Essence backs whatever he says. God's Word is God.
Verse 2, "(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us).
LGT "And the (this) life was manifested, and we have seen and we are testifying and are declaring to you the life, the eternal one, who as such, was with the Father and was manifested to us."
This second verse is parenthetical, that is, it explains further what was said in verse one.
"For the life was manifested."
To make known what already exists. What was manifested or made known to us, (apostles) as eyewitnesses, I am reporting these facts back to you, exactly as they were manifested to us. Later on in this epistle John gives an encouraging reason for writing this epistle, that whoever reads and believes his words, will know that they have this 'eternal life.' To know Christ is life. Jesus Christ is eternal life.
"For (or, and) the life was manifested. The copulative for is explanatory, as though he had said, 'We testify of the vivifying (life-giving) Word, as life has been manifested.' The sense may at the same time be twofold that Christ, who is life and the fountain of life, has been manifested, or, that life has been openly offered to us in Christ. The latter, indeed, necessarily follows from the former. Yet as to the meaning, the two things differ, as cause and effect. When he repeats, we show, or announce, eternal life, he speaks, I have no doubt, of the effect, even that he announces that life is obtained for us in Christ." (John Calvin's Comm. On First John)
"And we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life."
John said that the Lord Jesus Christ that he and the other apostles had seen, heard manifested, handled and walked this earth with is the same Lord Jesus Christ that was crucified and rose again the third day, and came back to this earth for forty days and ministered to them, of which they were witnesses and even Thomas handled Him by feeling the wound from the Roman spear to His side, and the nail prints in His hands; this same Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven in their sight, this is eternal life.
"This epistle, then, is justly called 'the epistle of eternal life.' It shows how and in whom that life was uniquely and perfectly manifested; it shows how the presence of that Life in men and women may be recognized. John's own experience of that Life entitles him to speak of it with assurance and communicate his assurances to others: this, he says, we have seen; to this we bear witness; this we make known to you." (The Gospel and Epistles of John F. F. Bruce)
"Which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us."
Here John is teaching the Deity of Christ. Christ was begotten of the Father and born by the instrument of a human virgin woman, Mary. He was truly human and truly divine. The Gnostic Cerinthus came into the church after the apostles left and was teaching the heresy that Christ was not God. Cerinthus was teaching that the Holy Spirit appeared unto Christ at His baptism, and then left Him before He went to the cross. Therefore, according to Cerinthus' teaching Christ did not die spiritually on the cross, and therefore, our sins were not atoned for. If Christ only died humanly, he only died for himself. This was abhorrent to John, and you will be able to see this gentle father become a 'Son of Thunder' when it comes to heresy.
FELLOWSHIP MADE POSSIBLE
Verse 3, "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ."
LGT "That which we have seen and we have heard, we are declaring also to you, in order that you also may be having fellowship with us. Moreover, this fellowship of ours is both with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."
"That which we have seen and heard."
After the parenthesis of verse two he resumes with the repetition of having seen and heard the Word of Life. "Emphasis by repetition is truly a Johannine trait" (A.T. Robertson).
"He now repeats the third time the words, seen and heard, that nothing might be wanting as to the real certainty of his doctrine. And it ought to be carefully noticed, that the heralds of the Gospel chosen by Christ were those who were fit and faithful witnesses of all those things, which they were to declare. He also testifies of the feeling of their heart, for he says that he was moved by no other reason to write except to invite those to whom he was writing to the participation of an inestimable good. It hence appears how much care he had for their salvation; which served not a little to induce them to believe; for extremely ungrateful we must be, if we refuse to hear Him who wishes to communicate to us part of that happiness which he has obtained.
In short, John declares, that as the apostles were adopted by Christ as brethren, that being gathered into one body, they might together be united to God, so he does the same with other colleagues; though many, they are yet made partakers of this holy and blessed union." (John Calvin's Comm. On First John)
If only the modern day churches could get this as part of their teachings. Organized religion is not 'a church.' A church is called out ones adopted into the family of God. We believers are all part of one holy family with Christ our Elder Brother as our Head. There are no apostles to lead the family today, and there are no apostle successors. There are no authority figures to dictate to the church what doctrine is. The Word of God is the only authority this writer answers to. I know that it is very hard for some so-called pastor teachers; they have a very hard time with this Biblical concept of 'family', because without the authority of a pastor teacher, these men would have to go out and find real jobs and work like the rest of us poor slobs. The Church of Rome had a very hard time accepting the fact that they were not the final authority in spiritual matters. This is how the teaching of apostolic succession had its beginning. The Church in Rome appointed Popes to lead the church as so-called successors of the apostle Peter, who they taught was the first Pope of the Roman Church; only one small difficulty, Peter never taught in the Roman Church.
"Declare we unto you."
This is the second time John uses this term. The word, "declare" in the Greek means to report and explain clearly. This is why John repeats himself, he is saying, "please understand me, it is very important that you get this." The reason for the repetition is because what follows is of great importance.
"That ye also may have fellowship with us."
Fellowship in N.T. Greek is koinonia, which means having in common with or partnership. John is teaching that all believers are part of the one Family, and as such, partners, able to fellowship, not just with one another, but also with Christ and God. And I would like to add, no one believer is above another believer in this 'Church Age or Age of Grace.' I realize a lot of men have set themselves up as authorities, but they will have to give an answer someday for their folly. Let us beware of such who do this, for this is what led the Church of Rome into its great apostasy. Church membership and church growth in a local assembly is what drives most good men into this quest for authority. The bigger the local church, the bigger the salary-'say it isn't so.'
"John tells his fellow-Christians to whom he writes of what his contemporaries had seen and heard, because his readers had not seen and heard it. We must sometimes distinguish between the inclusive 'we' (meaning 'you and I' or 'you and we') and the exclusive 'we' (meaning 'we and not you'); and in I John 1:3 'we' is exclusive: we had this experience, you did not have it, but we are sharing it with you in order that you may share it with us - 'in order that you in your turn may have fellowship with us'. This language is most naturally understood if a surviving member of the first Christian generation is addressing members of a later Christian generation, who could not have heard that unmediated contact with the beginning of the gospel that he himself had. (We should compare the inclusion in the prayer of Jesus Christ for His apostles in John 17:20, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on Me through their word," of the next generation which will believe through the original disciples witness.)
But the implication of their sharing what John had to impart to them were far-reaching than might have expected. They were called to follow the steps of their predecessors who, after the first Christian Pentecost, 'devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship' (Acts 2:42); and they were to learn that perseverance in the apostolic fellowship involved fellowship with more than the apostles and their successors" (The Gospels and Epistles of John F. F. Bruce).
"And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ."
Oh! Fellowship is a very misunderstood term. Most people think of fellowship as getting together and eating a supper and listen to some music, or going to the park for a picnic, or just meeting together in some-ones home to prattle on about their activities of interest. What I have just described is really simply socializing. Webster's Dictionary defines fellowship this way:1: companionship, company 2 a: community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience b: the state of being a fellow or associate 3: accompany of equals or friends: Association 4: the quality or state of being comradely 5: Membership, Partnership 6 a: the position of a fellow (as of a university) b: the stipend (a grant of money) of a fellow c: a foundation for the providing of such a stipend 7: to join in a fellowship especially with a church member 8: to admit to a fellowship (as in a church). All of these definitions are socially accepted, however, they really miss the mark as far as our context here will allow. Fellowship is the Greek word 'koinonia' meaning partnership. This partnership is only made possible through the Lord Jesus Christ. By the atoning work of Christ on the Cross we are joined into fellowship with one another, with the Holy Spirit, with Christ and with the Father. The moment we trust Christ as our Savior, we are immediately joined to this fellowship as family members.
"Now fellowship for the believer means that we meet and share the things of Christ. (Every time we open the Word of God and study we are fellowshipping with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.) We talk together about the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. That is the kind of fellowship that John is speaking of when he says, "That ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." (J. Vernon McGee T.T.B.)
"There is nothing vague or merely sentimental about this fellowship: it involves obedience to the commandments of Christ (Which are 'to love God, love the brotherhood, and study the Word) and faithfulness to His teaching communicated through His apostles. Those who abandon the apostolic teaching and fellowship (As did Cerinthus and the Gnostics) severed themselves from fellowship with the Father and the Son.
Nothing is said here of the part played by the Spirit in this fellowship; but elsewhere in the epistle it is made plain that those to whom the Spirit of Christ has been given know by that fact that they dwell in Christ and He in them (I John 3:24; 4:13). For Christian fellowship, in Paul's language, is the 'fellowship of the Spirit' (II Cor. 13:14; Phil. 2:1); it is the fellowship into which believers are introduced and in which they are maintained by the indwelling Spirit of Christ." (The Gospels and Epistles of John F.F.Bruce)
Verse 4, "And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full."
LGT "And these things we are writing in order that our joy might be filled full (and remaining full)."
The first reason John is writing this epistle is stated in verse three 'that you might have fellowship with us and the Godhead.' The second reason is that 'your' or 'our' joy might be 'filled full.' We have already learned that having fellowship with one another and also with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is made possible only through the shed blood of Christ. And we also know that fellowship is not socializing, but is realized only as we concentrate on the Word of God, and as we gather together, whether only two of us or a hundred of us, as we speak of the things of Christ. I believe the apostle Paul described fellowship this way, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death." (Phil. 3:10) The word fellowship means that we are partners with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. This means that we cannot have fellowship with any person outside the family of God. This is really a hard pill for some of us to swallow, however, if you can show me in the Word that says its o.k. To hang out with the world, I still think I would be inclined to stick with Christ's church. The main reason I like members of the family over the members of this world's social society is I have much more in common with Christ's family, although, there are plenty of family members I steer clear of, because of definite personality differences. I don't believe love for the family requires to necessarily liking all the members of the family. I am not advocating mistreating a family member; I only think its necessary to treat every family member as a joint-heir with our Lord and Savior. Sometimes this is difficult, and may even seem at times impossible, but as we study this wonderful epistle we will learn it is most essential to treat all believers as equal members of God's family. I like to evaluate my treatment of others this way; I treat other believers based on their relationship with Christ, and how I treat each family member, I am in turn treating the Savior, and I should treat an unbeliever based on my relationship with the Savior, based on the imputed righteousness he has bestowed on me. This is some pretty heavy material, and I suggest unless your ready to examine yourself as the Lord sees you, you should stop now and maybe read something out of Star-Wars or some other piece of trash. The second reason John states for writing this epistle is right here in the fourth verse, 'That our joy may be full.'
The Greek word for 'joy' is 'chara' which means 'an occasion for rejoicing.' One of the reasons that give an occasion of rejoicing is to learn some new truth in the Word, as Paul stated, 'that I might know Him.' Another is to share this newfound truth with a family member. Seeing God work things out in our lives that seemed impossible at one point causes joy. The Word is Eternal and the joy that accompanies the Word is also eternal, unlike the mundane things of this world that sometime take the form of joy, such as a new car, or boat, or home, or clothes, etc., etc., etc. All these things are temporary forms of happiness that fade all too soon. The world and its pleasure can never find 'joy fulfillment.' An important truth we must know is that all believers seek happiness, which can only be found in the righteousness of God. All unbelievers are in no way seeking happiness and joy that comes from our heavenly Father. The unbeliever is looking for those things, which can only satisfy the flesh and their carnality. As long as an unbeliever seeks the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, they will only find mundane and carnal satisfaction. This is why they are estranged from God and will never find true happiness, till they seek it from the Author of joy. Satan is the father of all lies and he cannot provide anything but misery and ruin.
The next thing about this 'joy' is that it may be full. The meaning of the word 'full' is that one is completely occupied with or is completely consumed with. That means that we have this as our objective to live in the complete fullness of His joy provided. In order for this to be our measure we must be 'occupied with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.' If we love to fellowship with the Father it only stands to reason that we would desire to fellowship with His family, more on this later.
GOD IS LIGHT
Verse 5, "This, then, is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all."
LGT "And this is the message (report) which we have heard from Him and we are announcing (reporting back) to you, that God is (of the essence of) light, and darkness is not in Him, not even a speck."
"This then is the message which we have heard from Him."
John is referring to his gospel where Christ spoke to His disciples and said, "I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12) Christ is of the same essence as the Father and therefore can say 'I am the light.'
"No darkness at all."
This is perfection; there is no darkness in Him, not even a speck. "Men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." Paul says we are saved out of darkness, "For ye were [once] darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things, which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light; for whatever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore, he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." (Eph. 5:8-14)
Verse 6, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth."
LGT "If we might say that fellowship we are having with Him, and in the darkness we may be walking around, we will be lying, and will not be doing the truth."
The first thing to note in verse 6 is the use of the word 'we' in that it is used in a different way as John has used it thus far. He is no longer using an 'exclusive we' meaning himself and the other eyewitness apostles and disciples, but he is now using the 'inclusive we' meaning himself and all the Christian readers and hearers of his epistle. John uses this 'inclusive we' through verse 10.
Now John is beginning to get down to brass tacks. He is beginning to speak to us one on one, as J.Vernon McGee often says, "Where the rubber meets the road." One part of the Gnostic heresy was that they claimed that sin was strictly a fleshly pursuit, and that our fellowship was a spiritual position, and that the flesh is far removed from the spirit. So what they did in the flesh was not considered to their account because in their minds they removed the flesh from the spirit and was not accountable for the flesh. They were teaching the believers in the several churches that they could sin and still have fellowship with God. John is correcting this heresy by saying "They are liars." Some people might cringe at what John says of anyone who thinks they can walk in darkness and fellowship with God at the same time.
J. Vernon McGee describes it this way:
"Do you understand what John says in this verse? He is rather blunt, don't you think so, and He says that we lie. It is not a nice thing to call another man a liar. John says that if you say that you have fellowship with God and walk in darkness - that is, in sin - you are lying. I didn't say that. I am too polite to say that, but John said it. We always think of John as being that little lady-like apostle who carried a handkerchief in his sleeve. I don't know how the rumor got started that John was that kind of a man, unless it began during the Middle Ages when an artist painted him with curls! I suppose the artist got the idea from the fact that John is called the apostle of love. But our Lord never called him that - He called him the son of thunder! If John and that artist meet on the corner of Glory Avenue and Hallelujah Boulevard in heaven, I tell you, that artist is going to know what thunder and lightning both are, because I think John is going to level with him, "What is the big idea of giving the world the impression that I was a sissy-type individual?" John was a great big two-fisted, rugged fisherman, and he is the one who says, "If you say you are having fellowship with God, and walk in darkness, you lie, because God is light; God is holy". (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)
Verse 7, "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin."
LGT "But if in the light we may be walking around, as He is in the light, we will be having fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son, will be cleansing us from all (every) sin."
"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light."
Walking in the light is walking, as the Lord would have us walk. We already have learned that the Lord has given us two commandments, 1) To love God with all our hearts, minds, and Spirits, and 2) To love our brothers and sisters in Christ as we love ourselves. If you think about it, if we keep these two commands our discipleship will sort of be taken care of. We are to walk within the parameters of God's divine perspective, which is His Word. Everything we need to know about God is found in His precious Word. We are not to wait for some extra-Biblical revelation such as a dream or vision, because it's not going to happen. God does not speak to His family in this grace age outside of His inspired Word. Anyone who claims God speaks to them in any other way than in the Word of God is a liar. God does not speak to some of His children one way and to a special chosen few another. God has chosen to use His divinely inspired Word to communicate to His chosen family all they need to know. Don't get suckered in by the T.V. so-called 'evangelists' who claim to hear from God directly, as the Old Testament saints did. These imposters are only out to make a financial gain on the Word of God.
"And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin."
The blood of Christ shed on the cross not only secured our salvation for eternity, it also keeps on cleansing us daily as we get out of the light, or as we get out of fellowship with the Father. The only thing that can remove us from fellowship is sin. Thank God He had me in mind when He made this wonderful provision of the on going cleansing of the blood of Christ.
"Walking in the light with God makes possible fellowship with one another and is made possible also by the blood of Jesus (real blood and no mere phantom, atoning blood of the sinless Son of God for our sins-as the Gnostics taught). John is not ashamed to use this word. It is not mere 'example' of Jesus that 'cleanses' us from sin. It does cleanse the conscience and life and nothing else does (How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Heb. 9:14)." [A.T.Robertson WPNT]
F.F. Bruce continues:
"Those who walk in the darkness do not know where they are going and cannot co-ordinate their course; they stumble against one another and fall into confusion. On the other hand, those who walk in the light can see one another and avoid such clashes. Where spiritual light is concerned, much more than this can be said: those whose environment is that light in which God dwells are not only preserved from getting in one another's way, but actively and positively they enjoy fellowship one with another because each enjoys fellowship with God Himself. This is the antithesis to the evil conduct and false claim, which John has just exposed (the Gnostic heresy). The children of light are those whose behavior reflects the character of God; they share with one another the fellowship which each enjoys 'with the Father and with the Son Jesus Christ'. By contrast, those who have opted out of this divine fellowship have abandoned the realm of light. Most serious of all the consequences of their apostasy is this: the blood of Jesus, which is constantly accessible for the cleansing of those who remain within the fellowship, is not available for those who show a persistent preference for 'walking in darkness'. (John speaks of these Gnostic heretics that came into the fellowship and attempted get the true believers to abandoned true doctrine. John says, 'if they were of us, they would have remained with us')." [F.F.Bruce John's Gospel and Epistles]
Verse 8, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
LGT "If we might say that we are not having sin, we will be deceiving ourselves, and the truth will not be in us."
The Gnostic false teachers were saying that all matter is evil, and being evil it has no effect on the soul, so that sin was not a thing to be accounted for. John is teaching these same believers the truth regarding sin and its consequences. Sin has no effect on the believer as far as eternity is concerned, however, sin committed by the Christian will separate the believer from fellowship with the Father, and also from other believers. There are those believers today that have deluded themselves to believing that they have reached a place of sinless perfection by misinterpreting the Word of God. Sin does not now nor in the future have dominion over the believer; however, this is concerning our relationship to God. We are sons of God now, and we will be sons for eternity. Nothing we can do, nor anything anyone can do to us, can possibly separate us from the 'Love of God.' God related us to Himself through adoption by the work of Christ on the Cross and we had absolutely nothing to do with this adoption as sons; it is a pure act of God's grace. Fellowship on the other hand is communion with the Father, and this is strictly an individual thing. We do have something to say about whether we want to fellowship or not. We can either walk in the light of God's Word or walk after the dictates of our flesh. It is an option of ours. There are those in the Christian community, such as. 'The experimental predestinarians' that take issue with this line of 'grace logic' but its my privilege to say by the authority of the Word of God, sorry their wrong. Perseverance is not related to eternal salvation, but it is an option for the believer regarding future rewards.
John is saying 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.' If you go out today and meet a believer and tell them you don't sin, I'm 100 % positive they will look at you as if your' joking. You won't deceive others by making such outrageous claims; you will only be deceiving yourself. It is truly a sad thing to hear someone claim 'sinless-perfection.' This should encourage us to know that the Father does know that we will sin, not that He wants us to, but that is exactly why Christ went to the cross, to pay the price for all the sins of the world. The atonement He paid not only secured our eternal salvation, but it also secured our fellowship with Him. John says that if anyone so deceives himself to say that he has no sin he is not only a liar, but he also says the 'truth is not in that one.' This is exactly what fellowship is all about, functioning everyday within the truth of the Word of God. Now we come to the solution to the problem of sin in our lives.
Verse 9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
LGT "If we may be confessing our sins, He will be faithful and just, in order that He might forgive to (for our benefit) us the sins, and might cleanse us from every unrighteousness."
"If we confess our sin."
The use of the word 'if' here is that it is completely volitional, maybe we will, and maybe we wont. The word 'confess; in the Greek is 'homologeo' translated 'homo'= same 'logeo'= to speak. Now we have the truth that John is writing about. If we speak the same words concerning our sins that God says about our sins we understand the meaning of 'confess.' There are a lot of people that use this verse to tell sinners that they must confess their sins in order to be saved. This is a doctrine for believers and believers only. This verse is dealing with fellowship and fellowship alone. The only prayer an unbeliever is able to pray and be heard is 'God be merciful to me a sinner.'
Also we know that Christ has paid for all of our sins, so the question might be asked, why do we have to confess sin? The answer is, because the confession is not for the Fathers benefit, but for our benefit. If we are to maintain fellowship we must be cleansed. When the prodigal son went to a far country to socialize with the pigs, he saw the error of his ways and returned to his father and the first thing the father did was to welcome him home, and before he put the fellowship robe on him, he had him take a bath. Our cleansing doesn't require soap and water simply name the sin. It is also interesting to note that sorrow for the sin is not even mentioned. I think that if we take the time to confess our sins we must automatically have a sorrow, however, don't make sorrow a requisite to forgiveness. Our forgiveness is never conditioned on our sorrow, or as the early church would require penance. Christ died for our sins, and His death is the only thing that could possibly satisfy a Holy, Righteous God. God is not desirous to see us suffer on account of our personal sin. It is an insult to his justice for us to think we can propitiate our own sins. Don't over-read this account and see something in it that doesn't exist. Name your sins and you will be restored to fellowship. Confession is our bath for cleansing.
"He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."
This is also an answer to those false teachers that were teaching the believers that it was unnecessary for anyone to confess his or her sins.
"Here is the antidote to the second false claim: those who deny their sin will feel no need of recourse to the cleansing power of Christ; those who, conscious of their sins, confess them have in Christ a Savior from whom forgiveness and cleansing from every sinful act may be freely received - not because He is indulgent and easy-going but because He is 'faithful and righteous'. He is faithful in that His promise is sure: those who put their trust in Him will not be let down; those who come to Him will not be cast out. The relevance in this connexion of His being righteous appears clearly in 2:1, where His righteousness is associated with his advocacy." (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F.Bruce)
"Faithful and just."
"Faithful and Just are nearly of the same import, having both a regard to God's promise, only the latter affords a stronger or an additional ground of confidence, inasmuch as the fulfillment of God's gracious promise is set forth as an act of justice. So that the penitent has here two of God's attributes, faithfulness and justice, to encourage and support his faith.
We may, at the same time, consider 'just' as having reference to forgiveness. And 'faithful' to cleansing, according to a very common mode of stating things both in the Old and New Testament, the order in the second clause being reversed. Then 'just' means the same as when Paul says, 'that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus,' Rom. 3:26. Forgiveness is thus an act of justice, then, not to us, but to Christ, who made atonement for sins." (John Calvin's Comm. On First John)
When we sin, we sin against God's righteousness, and it would be against God's justice if He were to forgive us without our recognizing that our forgiveness is on the basis of Christ's shed blood. You see, God was merciful to us in allowing His only begotten Son to die in our stead, to pay the penalty of sin for us, for spiritual death is the result of Adam's sin, and that penalty was passed on to the entire human race. Christ went to the cross and paid the price that God's justice demanded. Christ's blood was a propitiation for all the sins of the world, that is, it satisfied God's just demand for all sin. The perfect Lamb of God took away all the sins of the world. (I John 2:2)
"And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we keep on confessing our sins, He keeps on cleansing from all unrighteousness. It is being tossed about in religious circles that this type of teaching only encourages believers to sin, because forgiveness is so easy. This is very shallow thinking. If a Christian is unconcerned about walking in the light there is something drastically wrong in that believer's life. I believe everybody takes chances with the Lord to see exactly how far he or she can go, but this is a very dangerous pursuit, for 'Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap' (Gal. 6:7). God will not wink at sin, just because He made a way for us to be restored to fellowship. We must keep in mind that the forgiveness that is being offered here is to give us the opportunity to fellowship with God and with one another. Sin separates from God. The unbeliever is separated from God for all eternity having no relationship with God; however, the believer is only separated by sin temporarily, that is, until he or she confesses known sin. As believers we should be concerned with our future rewards, and these can only be certain as we walk in the Light of God's Word. I have had conversations with believers that have told me they are not concerned with a reward that just getting to heaven is enough for them. This type of reasoning, as pious as it may sound, is not pious at all, but downright stupid. As we study the Word of God there should be growth, which is maturity. As we mature we should naturally put away such silly reasoning as a child that it doesn't matter how we go to heaven just as long as we get there, and we should move upward towards walking around in the Light as He is in the Light. To not care about future rewards flies in the face of John's purpose for writing this epistle as well as in the face of the apostle Paul in all of his epistles. To think it is unimportant to work for rewards is really dangerous living. I say to those who think God's Grace of forgiving sin simply upon the confessing them gives occasion for believers to be flippant about sinning and really won't care. I can only answer them with the words of the apostle Paul in Romans, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. (The Greek word for 'forbid' is 'may it never be') How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer in it? Know ye not that, as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ (Spirit baptism at the moment we believed-not water symbolic baptism) were baptized into His death? Therefore, we are buried with Him by Spirit baptism into death, which as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk around in newness of life." (Rom. 6:1-4)
To the critics who say that Paul was antinomian, and that he preached another gospel than did the apostle John, they really must not have read Paul's letter to the Romans. The only way that Paul was against the 'law' is in the respect that by keeping the 'law' one could get saved and forgiven; Paul taught that man is saved in faith alone in Christ alone, which was contrary to the false doctrine of the Gnostic sect that John and Paul combated in their letters.
Just because God made a provision for us to confess our sins and be cleansed of unrighteousness, does not make us want to go out and sin more, so we can experience more grace. Forgiveness is only one facet of God's grace. The ultimate Grace experience will be to hear the "well done" at the judgment seat of Christ, and believe me this will not happen if we spend our lives challenging God, because we know He will forgive anything we do, and He will forgive anything any believer ever does, past, present, and future. I know this makes a certain crowd uneasy, but it is a fact, God does forgive 'all unrighteousness' of His children. To say that because God forgives sin that believers will sin is very illogical, for it actually has the opposite effect when rightly understood. We don't serve God out of fear, but out of love, 'not that we love Him, but that he loves us.' When love is rightly understood, it does constrain believers to walk in the light. Remember divine love is not an emotional experience, but recognizing our relationship with the Father as sons and daughters, and then loving one another recognizing the mutual relationship with God and with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ or because of Christ, this is true love.
Verse 10, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."
LGT "If we might say that we have not sinned, (a) liar we will be making Him, and His word will not be (working) in us."
"If we say that we have not sinned."
This statement 'have not sinned' is different from verse eight. In verse eight the principle of sin is denied, while here in verse ten the personal act of sin is denied. Verse eight is a denial of the Gnostic heresy that sin doesn't matter therefore, it doesn't need confessing, and while here in verse ten the very act of sin is denied.
"The third false claim is similar to the second but not identical with it. To assert that one has never sinned is to contradict the consistent witness of divine revelation and human experience. God makes provision for men as sinners; the acknowledgement of honest men confronted with the holiness of God takes the form, 'I have sinned'." (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F.Bruce)
"We make Him a liar."
I had a problem with this when I first looked at it. How could one make God a liar? 'Let God be true and everything else a lie'. Compared to God everything created that has been marred by sin is truly false. My wife and I were talking about all the beautiful things we have seen, and then upon close examination we could see the marks of sin. One could take the 'National Geographic' viewpoint and only see the beauty of things, or one could see things from the divine perspective, that no matter how beautiful the serene picture of a mountain stream, or the sunset over Catalina Island, or the Grand Canyon, etc., upon close inspection we can easily see the marks that sin put on this earth. If we take the divine viewpoint of sin, it would be impossible to say we have not sinned. By comparison if we did make this outlandish statement that 'we have not sinned', as the Gnostic taught, we are calling God a liar. The Greek word for make is 'poieo' meaning, in this context, to declare. This really cleared the context up for me. As John is using the inclusive we in this verse, he is saying, if we are so foolish as to say that 'we have not sinned' we are in effect 'declaring God to have lied', based on the teaching in the earlier verses that we certainly do sin, and will sin again.
"And His word is not in us."
This statement is that ignorance of the Word of God is the only way we could possibly make such a stupid statement, as 'we have not sinned'. The study of God's Word is the only sure way to guard against falling into a state of rebellion that would encourage us to make such a statement. We cannot separate God from His Word, and this means that His Word is the indwelling presence of the Godhead in our lives. His Word is 'A lamp unto our path'. To study the Word, and to believe what we study in the Word it becomes a part, the most important part, of our lives. To think about how we can sin and get away with it, instead of how we can walk in the light and please the Father is immature to say the least.
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