First John/Chapter 1:5-10/Commentary

First John Chapter 1:5-10

1John 1:5 “And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” “And this is the message”: John has already spoken of what he had proclaimed (1:3). He now begins to cite specifics in this message, details that exposed the fundamental errors of the Gnostic false teachers. “Which we have heard from Him”: That is from Jesus Christ (1:3). Jesus is the spokesman for the Father during the New Covenant (Heb. 1:1-2; John 16:13-14; Matthew 17:5), therefore what the apostles wrote were the commands of the Lord (1 Cor. 14:37; 2 Peter 3:2). John makes it clear that what he preached originated with God not men. His message was not human speculation or a human philosophy (Galatians 1:12; 2 Peter 1:16).

John has spoken of "fellowship with God" and other Christians, now he gives us a test to determine who does and who does not have such a relationship.

Stott notes, “In 1:6-2:2 three of the spurious claims of the false teachers are exposed and contradicted. Each is introduced by the formula if we say (1:6,8,10). John supplies tests by which to judge one who professes and calls himself a Christian.

Christianity is the only religion that, by emphasizing that God is light, first insists on taking sin seriously and then offers a satisfactory moral solution to the problem of sin. The way to have fellowship with a God who is light is not to deny the facts or effects of sin, but to confess our sins and thankfully appropriate God's provision for our cleansing” (pp. 73-74).

From the language in the text it appears that John is dealing with the following three false doctrines. 1. The denial that sin breaks our fellowship with God. 2. The denial that man sins (or the assertion that the truly spiritual do not have to worry about sin). 3. The claim of spiritual perfection.

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1:5 “That God is Light”: John begins his argument based on the nature of God. This infers that if we are treating sin lightly, then we do not really understand or know God. “Light”: “The statement God is Light has nothing to do with a mysterious or esoteric nature of God. John is merely emphasizing the fact that, in spite of what the Gnostics taught, God had no secret knowledge that was withheld from the entire body of believers, hidden just to a select few. The source of this information was Jesus himself” (Zond. Ency. p. 652). “Intellectually, light is truth and darkness ignorance or error. Morally, light is purity and darkness evil” (Stott p. 71). God not only dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16), but He Himself is "Light", that is holy, pure, and sinless. This means that God has no dark-side. Hence we can depend upon God to always have our best and highest good in mind (James 1:17).

On the practical side, this means that God never puts us in a no-win moral situation (1 Cor. 10:13) and neither does He ever give us a command that is not in our best interest. “To the heathen God is a God of darkness, an unknown Being; a power to be blindly propitiated, not a Person to be known and loved. To the philosopher He is an abstraction, an idea, not directly cognizable by man. To the Christian alone He is revealed as light, free from everything impure, material, obscure, and gloomy” (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 171).

Barclay observed, “It tells us that God is self-revealing. To say that God is light is to say that there is nothing secretive, furtive, and concealed about God. God wishes to be seen and to be known by men. It tells us of the purity and the holiness of God. It tells us of the guidance of God. It is one of the great functions of light to guide and to make the road easy. It is a light that points the way to go. It tells us of the revealing quality in the presence of God (Isaiah 6:5; Luke 5:8). Light is the great revealer. Flaws that are hidden in the shade are obvious in the light. So the imperfections of life are seen in the presence of God (Heb. 4:12-13)” (p. 31).

1:5 “Is no darkness at all”: Darkness is often used metaphorically of ignorance, wickedness, and spiritual and moral depravity. “At all”: “No, not even one tiny particle!” (Woods p. 216). “The Divine Light is subject to no spots, no eclipse, no twilight, no night” (P.P. Comm. p. 4). “According to the Greek order, the rendering is, ‘and darkness there is not in Him, no, not in any way’” (Vincent p. 314). “God is contrasted with the heathen deities the worship of which promoted immorality, ungodliness, and gross sin” (Woods p. 215).

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This bold statement contradicts many human ideas about God. The claim that the Bible contains myth, fable, or scientific inaccuracies. Remember, the term darkness includes ignorance and error, but there is no such ignorance in God or His revelation, rather people who reject God are the ones who are walking in the darkness (John 12:46; 8:12). Barclay notes, “The darkness is characteristically unfruitful (Eph. 5:11).

If growing things are despoiled of the light, their growth is stunted and arrested” (p.

33). Life outside of Christ is a life of darkness (John 3:19; Acts 26:18; Romans 13:12; 2 Cor. 6:14; Eph. 5:8; 6:12; Colossians 1:13; 1 Peter 2:9).

The First Error “The repeated statement, if we say would indicate that the apostle was not tilting against men of straw but was combating the errors of his day. He had heard men say these things again and again. Entrance into fellowship with God did not come by denying sin, but by confessing it and being cleansed of it. The cross stands at the heart of any vital experience of a sinful man with the holy God. The blood of Jesus (real blood and not a phantom) is absolutely necessary to the establishment of fellowship between men and God” (Zond. Ency. p. 652).

1John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” 1:6 “If we say”: Carefully note that John said we and not you or they. John included himself in the statement, inferring that John viewed himself just as much under the Law of God as any other man. The Law of Christ is over all men, including those through whom it was revealed. Compare Galatians 1:8. “Say”: Here is something that some were claiming. “We have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness”: The word "walk" means “to walk about, indicating the habitual course of the life” (Vincent p. 314). “Is meant our daily life, our movement and activity in the world; this activity will inevitably express the fellowship in which we live” (P.P. Comm. p. 4).

Even Jesus admitted that from time to time the Christian will sin (Matthew 6:14-15; see also James 5:16), but John makes it clear that the faithful Christian does not live in or engage in sin as a habitual practice.

“A man's verbal profession is not necessarily to be believed. It must be tested both in itself, in its relation to the fundamental truth that God is light. John supplies searching tests by which to judge one who professes and calls himself a Christian” 3

(Stott pp. 72-73). Be impressed that John gives us tests by which we can "judge" the profession of another individual. John does not accept the common argument, “Well, you will just have to take my word for it”, or “You cannot judge me, my faith, or say that I am not a Christian”.

The first error that John deals with is a false doctrine based on the feeling that "sin was of no consequence". Stott observes: “They are the misconceptions of men who want fellowship with God on easy terms. Some of the early Gnostics thought of the body as a mere envelope covering the human spirit and maintained that man's spirit was inviolable; it could not be contaminated by the deeds of the body. Others taught that if a man had become truly spiritual, he had progressed beyond the possibility of any defilement. You could say, they said, be righteous without necessarily doing righteousness. Still today, although Gnostic notions are outmoded, it is not uncommon for people to claim fellowship with God who see no necessity either first to go to the cross of Christ for cleansing and forgiveness or thereafter to lead a consistently holy life” (pp. 73-74).

Barclay notes, “They claimed to have advanced so far along the road of knowledge that for them sin had ceased to matter. It is on record that Napoleon once said that laws were made for ordinary people, but were never meant for the like of him” (p.

34). Gnostic practices are certainly not dead, especially among liberal biblical scholars, men and women who sit in judgment on the Scriptures and tell us what is and what is not the Word of God, and then claim to be "spiritual".

1:6 “We lie”: Note John's boldness. John does not say, “I think they are mistaken”, or, “I think they are wrong”. John does not hesitate to call such people liars (2:4,22; 4:20; 5:10). “And do not the truth: God expects us to practice the truth, “they are false in word and deed”. Concerning the statement do not, “This means that for the Christian truth is never only intellectual truth; truth is always moral truth. Truth is not the discovery of abstract truth; it is concrete living. It is possible to look on Christianity as a series of intellectual problems to be solved, and it is possible to look on the Bible as a book about which illuminating information is to be amassed. But for the Christian, Christianity is something to be followed, and the Bible is a book to be obeyed. It is perfectly possible for intellectual eminence and moral failure to go hand in hand” (Barclay p. 35). If God expects us to practice the truth, then the truth must be understandable, and the same truth must apply to all (James 1:22-27; John 3:21; 2 John 4; 3 John 3; Romans 2:8). Remember, the truth is what the Bible says (John 17:17).

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1John 1:7 “but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin” “But if”: Man always has a choice. We can walk in darkness and lie or we can walk in the light. “Walk in the light”: “Present active subjective—‘keep on walking in the light’” (Robertson p. 207). Our salvation remains conditioned upon continuing in the light. “As He is in the light”: We may walk in darkness, but God remains in the light for He does not change. “We have fellowship one with another”: “Each other, one another, mutually” (Arndt p. 39). The phrase one another is often used of mutual relationships between brethren (3:11,23; 4:7,11,12).

The question has been does one another mean God or other brethren? In the long run you cannot have one without the other, that is if you do not have fellowship with God then you cannot have fellowship with His people (Matthew 18:15-17; 1 John 4:20). It seems to me that fellowship with God is found in the second half of the verse, in the expression “the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin”. John is saying, “the reason I have written is so that you can have fellowship with us (1:3), and our fellowship is with the Father and the Son, but in order to have and maintain such a relationship with us, you must walk in the light, we can only have fellowship if you and I are both walking in the light, that is doing the truth”.

1:7 “And the blood of Jesus His Son”: This is another statement which contradicts the fundamental beliefs of the Gnostics. Jesus had a real physical body. The Son of God actually suffered and died for our sins. The person who died on the Cross was the Son of God and not merely just a man or a mere human Jesus. “Cleanseth”: “It is not the mere example of Christ's dying that accomplishes our salvation it is not simply the contemplation of His death which delivers us from the guilt of sin.

Moreover, it cleanses from sin, not merely or solely the conscience, but sin” (Woods p. 217). The word "cleanseth" is in the present tense. As long as we are walking in the light (which includes humility, confession (1:9), prayer, and the ever willingness to repent), forgiveness is available. Carefully note, there is no forgiveness if we are walking in the darkness. This cleansing is conditional and neither is it automatic. In order to be forgiven we must stop walking in the darkness. “From all sin”: The above verse can never be interpreted to mean that God will forgive us of sins of which we refuse to repent. Note: Such cleansing is conditioned upon walking in the

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light, being in subjection to the will of God, which includes the acknowledgement of sin (James 5:16; Acts 8:20-22; Luke 17:3-4).

Always having an avenue to forgiveness is not the same as automatic and unconditional forgiveness. The context says, “If we confess our sins” (1:9). Matthew 18:15 has no meaning if the sins of the Christian are automatically forgiven when they are committed. In fact, such would be the Calvinistic idea of once saved, always saved. The above verse admits Christians will sin from time to time (2:1; 1:8), but forgiveness, which will keep us in the light, is always within our reach and we are told how to apply the remedy when we do sin (1:9).

Some have tried to apply the above passage to sins of ignorance, that is the idea that God automatically and unconditionally forgives us when we sin inadvertently.

Yet I see the following problems with such an application. How much ignorance will God forgive? I also find God condemning the ignorant (Luke 12:47-48; 2 Thess. 1:8).

Such an argument reflects negatively upon the Will of God, which is a light and a lamp (Psalm 19:7ff; 119:99ff). In fact, what is written is written to keep us from sin (1 John 2:1). To say that God will automatically cleanse sins of ignorance (without the requirement of repentance), infers that God's will is not sufficiently clear. I fail to find such a verse teaching such an unconditional forgiveness. Repentance is always placed as a condition for forgiveness, both for the non-Christian (Acts 2:38) and the Christian (Matthew 18:15-16; 1 John 1:9). Finally verses 7 and 9 includes all sin.

1John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” “If we say”: Here John appears to answer another objection or argument. “We have no sin”: “If we claim to be sinless” (NEB) The present tense seems to infer that the sin under consideration is sin committed after one becomes a Christian. One would never become a Christian, if one had argued that they had never sinnedperiod.

Some might have been claiming that they had achieved a state of sinless perfection (Phil. 3:12). Barclay notes, “There is, first the man who says that he has no sin. That may mean either of two things. It may describe the man who says that he has no responsibility for his sin. We may blame our sins on our heredity, on our environment, on our temperament, on our physical condition. Or this may describe 6

the man who claims that sin has no effect upon him; who says that he can sin and take no harm; who insists that he can take his pleasures, and, if need be, make his mistakes and emerge none the worse for them” (pp. 38-39). In like manner many people today claim that they can engage in certain sinful practices--but it does not make them a "bad" person.

The world is filled with many people who basically argue, “I have no sin”: They blame all their failures upon someone or something else, and they are always victims. People who only think of "sin" in terms of committing some horrible crime, such as murder, yet fail to realize that sin happens when we simply do not comply with God's law, including His laws on how we are supposed to treat others (Matthew 7:12). Others think that all the "good" they are doing completely and automatically erases whatever moral problems in which they find themselves entangled.

1:8 “We deceive ourselves”: We are leading ourselves astray. Actually, since most people see our moral flaws, we are the only one who is deceived concerning our sins. Notice the emphasis upon "ourselves". God does allow people to believe what is false (2 Thess. 2:10-12), and the only thing that will keep us from ending up in selfdeception is a love for the truth (John 7:17). Therefore, such a claim to sinlessness, is simply another “sin” we are committing. “The truth is not in us”: Compare with verse 10 “His word is not in us’. The declaration of sinlessness for ourselves (in all it's various forms and theories), is proof positive that some have not accepted what God has said on this subject. The truth, the Word of God, has not impressed us (John 8:37). A person who truly believes what the Bible says would never make such a claim.

1John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” “If”: Again, we have the final choice in the matter. We can be honest or dishonest.

We can face up to reality or try to hide from it. “Confess our sins”: If we are good at seeing, pointing out and gossiping about the sins of others, we need to work on confessing our own sins. “Confess”: “Present active subjective, ‘if we keep on confession’” (Robertson p. 208). The only continuous cleansing in this context is linked with continuous confession. Sin is only forgiven as long as it is confessed.

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The word confess means, “To speak the same thing. To assent, accord, agree with” (Vine p. 224). Thus in confessing our sins we are really only agreeing with what God has already said about such actions. Hence, confession is the audible expression of our honesty in facing up to the truth. I think most would agree that linked inseparably to confession is the concept of repentance, because it is useless to confess we are wrong if we are unwilling to depart from it. In such a case our actions are speaking louder than our words. If one really believed something was wrong, one would stop it. In fact, we really have not confessed that a sin is wrong, until we determine to cease the practice (Acts 8:18-24).

1:9 “He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins”: Even though man often acts in an unrighteous and faithless manner (we sin), God always stands ready to forgive the repentant sinner. We need to be grateful that God is reliable, dependable, consistent, and righteous. God does not keep on changing the ground-rules for our relationship with Him, neither does He hold a grudge even after one has repented. People need to be thankful that God does not change, because the same faithfulness and righteousness that consistently condemns sin is the same quality in God that consistently forgives the humble sinner. There are no blessings found in trying to conceal one’s sins (Psalm 32:1-5; Proverbs 28:13). God requires something that everyone can give, that is honesty with ourselves and with His Word. Notice, nothing in this context mentions confession to a priest, in order to have forgiveness. Clearly, the confession is expressed to God (Heb. 7:25; 10:19,20; 1 Tim. 2:5). “And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”: This is simply another way of saying, forgive us our sins, for sin is unrighteousness (1 John 5:17).

1John 1:10 “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” “We have not sinned”: “If we deny that we have sinned” (Wey). “We may concede in theory that sin would break our fellowship with God if we did sin and yet deny that we have in practice sinned, the heretics maintained that their superior enlightenment rendered them incapable of sinning”(Stott pp. 78-79). “We make Him a liar”: Such a claim contradicts that God has said we have sinned (Romans 3:23). In fact the very existence of the gospel message infers that man has sinned.

“His word is not in us”: One cannot deny what the Bible says and yet at the same time affirm that we love God. When we reject the teaching of Scripture we are inherently claiming that God is wrong, that God is lying to us. In view of the above 8

statement, many people in our world today are accusing God of being a liar. The Word of God often notes the universality of sin (1 Kings 8:46; Psalm 14:3; Ecc. 7:20; Isaiah 53:6). We are respecting God, and His Word is only in us, when we are believing and obeying what He has said.

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