1 João 1
Albert Barnes · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 1:3
Barnes writes that when John says "with us" he means "With us the apostles; with us who actually saw him, and conversed with him. That is, he wished that they might have the same belief, and the same hope, and the same joy which he himself had, arising from the fact that the Son of God had become incarnate, and had appeared among men. To "have fellowship," means to have anything in common with others; to partake of it; to share it with them, Acts 2:42; and the idea here is, that the apostle wished that they might share with him all the peace and happiness which resulted from the fact that the Son of God had appeared in Human form in behalf of men. The object of the apostle in what he wrote was, that they might have the same views of the Saviour which he had, and partake of the same hope and joy. This is the true notion of fellowship in religion. (Notes on the New Testament Explanatory and Practical) Have (echo) means to possess and in the present tense implies a continual state of fellowship (koinonia). Fellowship is the crowning purpose of God's revelation There is nothing higher than this, for man's life finds its complete realisation in union and communion with God. -- W H Griffith-Thomas (see explanation) John's point is that his readers by continuing to adhere to the full truth in Christ could continue to enjoy the full fruit of the revelation (the fruit being fellowship). Remember that false teachers were on the prowl and their lies and falsehoods would have the effect of disturbing the believer's fellowship with one another and with God the Father and Son. John was anxious that his readers would not allow the false teachers to mar or disrupt their mutual fellowship by perverting the truth about Jesus Christ. It should be understood that a believer's fellowship with God is permanent and cannot be lost. While we can sin and experience a loss of intimacy and a sense of communion with God, we are still in fellowship (koinonia) with Him because that is our position in Christ. Personally I had difficulty with this thought which is why I have a longer discussion of the question "Can Fellowship with God be Altered?" THOUGHT - The application for believers today is to "stay close" to the Word of Truth so that you might be able to discern error ("Be a Berean" = Acts 17:11+, Heb 5:14+), for there is error that is pawned off as "spiritual." As an aside, one of the best ways to become a Berean and arm yourself against false teaching which is rampant in our day is to learn and practice the skill of inductive Bible study. Marvin
1 João 1:6
Barnes writes that "John is saying that because God is holy, his people must be committed to holy living. A person who claims to know God but who walks in darkness is lying and not carrying out the truth. He may believe in Jesus as Lord, he may preach and prophesy in his name, he may perform miracles and cast out demons—but if he practises lawlessness he is damned as one whom Christ never knew (Matt. 7:21–23). If we are not slaves of righteousness, we are slaves of sin (Ro 6:15–18). Without holiness (or sanctification), no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). The evangelist may tell the unholy believer that he is safe, but Christ says that he is not (In Mt 7:21-23). (Knowing Where We Stand: The Message of John’s Epistles-Welwyn Commentary Series) Bruce Barton commenting on 1Jn 1:6 says that "Here John was confronting the first of three claims (see also 1:8 and 1:10) of the false teachers: that people can have fellowship with God and still walk in sin. False teachers who thought that the physical body was evil or worthless taught one of two approaches to behavior: either they insisted on denying bodily desires through rigid discipline, or they approved of gratifying every physical lust because the body was going to be destroyed anyway. Here John was stating that no one can claim to be a Christian and still live in evil and immorality. The false teachers claimed to be living in God, but they failed to reflect God’s moral purity. Those who claim to know God must also be living in the light, for darkness and light are incompatible. People cannot live both in the darkness of sin and in the light of fellowship with God, in whom is “no darkness at all” (1:5). John often used “darkness” to refer to sin (1:5, 6; 2:8, 9, 11). Thus, one cannot live a sinful life and simultaneously claim to be a Christian. (See 1, 2, & 3 John - Page 21) Paul Apple summarizes John's teaching (and his warning) in this verse - Walking in Darkness Invalidates Any Assurance of Fellowship - Remember the false teaching of the Gnostics who believed in dualism = separation of body and spirit; they were teaching that spiritual communion with God is independent of physical morality = your walk says nothing about your relationship with God. 1. Failure to Be Real -- Hypocrisy (or Self-Deceit) = "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness" This would be walking in a sphere where the light of God is inoperative. 2. Failure to Be True a. In Word = "we lie" b. In Deed = "and do not practice the truth" - cf practical emphasis of Book of James. If we verbalize that we are sharing in God's life but our lifestyle is characterized by the world's attitude of indifference to moral principles, then we are not what we profess to be and are not living according to the Word: no conviction of sin is present / no fear of God, no God-oriented desire to obey and please God, no orientation of life around Biblical absolutes. If we are living a lie, what type of assurance of salvation should we have? (1 John Devotional Commentary) Alan Carr on 1Jn 1:6-7 THE BIRTHMARKS OF THE TRUE BELIEVER - These verses tell us that those who are saved have a desire to "walk in the light". Jesus is the Light, John 8:12. Therefore, those who are saved will want to seek fellowship with Jesus. In other words, when they are converted, their whole life will change. This is a theme that runs through the whole book of First John. He tells us that the second birthmark of the true believer is a spiritual change in their lives. Let's follow this thread through First John and see if we possess this mark of the new birth.) 1 John 1:6-7 - There will be a desire for fellowship with the things of light. The person who is truly saved by grace will gravitate toward those things that have to do with the Lord. Things like the Bible, prayer, the church, the fellowship of the saints, etc, will all be precious and special to the person who has been saved. If you find that you are drawn toward things pertaining to darkness, you might need to check up on where you stand with Jesus. THE IMAGERY OF DARKNESS Darkness has no existence by itself, being definable simply as an absence of light. It is a physical and spiritual reality as well as an apt symbol for some of the profoundest human experiences. With approximately two hundred references, darkness is a major actor in the biblical drama. The book of Job, a vision of calamity and despair, is a small anthology of descriptions of darkness, with three dozen instances. Darkness stands out from virtually all other literary images, which are finally ambivalent (having both good and bad manifestations), because it is uniformly negative in its import. The best way to organize the biblical imagery of darkness is first to note what it represents in itself and then to observe what God does in regard to it. The Cosmic Conflict. The primeval mind envisions life and even the cosmos as a conflict between light and darkness, viewed as combatants struggling for control of the world (see COSMOLOGY). The first biblical references to darkness hint at such a picture. We read that “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep” (Gen 1:2 NRSV). God’s first creative act is to produce light and separate it from darkness, with overtones of light’s conquering darkness (Gen 1:4–5). It took God to set a “boundary between light and darkness” (Job 26:10). The cosmos is kept intact only by the governing power of God, and one way in which the prophets envision a coming apocalyptic judgment is to picture it as a return to the primeval chaos in which the earth is “waste and void” and the heavens have “no light” (Jer 4:23; cf. Is 5:30). Throughout the Bible, darkness is an implied contrast to light, regardless of whether the darkness is physical or symbolic. In fact, sixty verses present light and darkness as a contrasting pair, and being brought out of darkness into light is a major biblical image of redemption. Physical Darkness. Darkness as a physical feature of daily living accounts for a large cluster of biblical passages. At the neutral end of the spectrum, nightly darkness simply signals the end of the working day for humans and the active time for nocturnal animals (Ps 104:20). The palpable quality of darkness in a pre-electrical era is suggested by the way in which the writer to Hebrews lists darkness in a catalog of things “that can be touched” (Heb 12:18). The connotations of this palpable nightly darkness are usually sinister. Darkness is variously associated with groping to find one’s way (Job 5:14; 15:25), inability to progress down a pathway (Job 19:8), a house being broken into (Job 24:16), undesignated *“terrors” (Job 24:17; cf. Gen 15:12), a place “where evildoers may hide themselves” (Job 34:22), the wicked shooting at the innocent from ambush (Ps 11:2), “the haunts of violence” (Ps 74:20), stumbling (Prov 4:19) and gloom (Is 58:10; Joel 2:22). The cloak of darkness makes it the natural time for adulterous adventure: it is “in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness” that the “young man without sense” commits adultery with the wily seductress (Prov 7:7, 9 NRSV). In short, darkness keeps some very bad company, made all the more devious by virtue of the concealment of evil activity from ordinary view. Paul provides an apt summary of this side of darkness when he commands Christians to “take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly” (Eph 5:11–12). Figurative Meanings. Based on its physical properties, darkness becomes a rich source of metaphor for spiritual realities. If light symbolizes understanding, darkness represents ignorance (Ps 82:5), folly (Eccles 2:13–14), a silencing of prophetic revelation (Mic 3:6), the state of the human mind unilluminated by God’s revelation (2 Pet 1:19), falsehood (1 Jn 1:6) and the loss of walking in God’s truth “because the darkness has brought on blindness” (1 Jn 2:11 NRSV). If light symbolizes good, darkness is the corresponding image for evil people “who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness” (Prov 2:13 NRSV; cf. Prov 4:19). In Jesus’ mysterious picture of the eye as “the lamp of the body,” physical blindness becomes a metaphor for the lost state (Mt 6:22–23; Lk 11:34–36). On the logic of night bringing the day’s activity to its cessation, darkness becomes an image for death or the grave (Job 10:21–22; Ps 88:12). Darkness is the leading image in Job’s poem cursing the day of his birth and expressing his wish for death (Job 3). The cessation that darkness brings to human activity makes it the natural associate of the prison and dungeon (Ps 107:10, 14; Is 42:7; 49:9). Even if a literal prison is not in view, the paralysis that darkness brings to human activity makes it seem prisonlike, and eight biblical verses give us a picture of “sitting” in darkness. Light is the generic biblical image for divine favor and human prosperity, and darkness is accordingly the absence of these (Ps 88:6). Thus Job pictures his erstwhile prosperity as a time when God’s lamp shone over his head and “by his light I walked through darkness,” this being the time “when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent” (Job 29:3–4 NRSV). Correspondingly, the fall of the wicked from prosperity is pictured as a time when “the light is dark in their tent” and when the wicked “are thrust from light into darkness” (Job 18:6, 18 NRSV). Similarly when the psalmist prays for misfortune to befall his enemies, he asks that “their way be dark and slippery” (Ps 35:6 NRSV). Amos declares the sobering message that the complacent people who speak glibly of the coming day of the Lord will find that “it is darkness, not light” (Amos 5:18, 20 NRSV). Darkness as a Spiritual Force. The power of darkness in the NT is so vivid that it is more than a symbol, becoming nothing less than a spiritual reality. Jesus himself spoke of “the power of darkness” (Lk 22:53), and Paul spoke of how Christians do not battle against physical enemies but against “the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12 NRSV). The context into which darkness is here placed is the cosmic spiritual battle between good and evil, God and Satan. “What partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness?” Paul asks. “Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Beliar?” (2 Cor 6:14–15 NRSV). The world itself is divided into “children of light” and children “of the night or of darkness” (1 Thess 5:5). The ultimate power of darkness was manifested with the temporary triumph of evil as Christ hung dying on the cross-a triumph of evil that took the form of a three-hour darkness that left people awestruck (Mt 27:45; Mk 15:33; Lk 23:44). Summary. Considered in itself darkness it thus a strongly negative image in human experience. It is physically oppressive; it is the natural environment for a host of evil happenings; and it is associated with death, imprisonment and ultimate evil. Darkness is in principle associated with evil, opposed to God’s purposes of order and goodness in the universe and in human society. The question then becomes what God does with regard to darkness, and whether, in fact, he is lord over it. God’s Power Over Darkness. It is important to dissociate the biblical imagery of darkness and light from any conception of dualism, as in the religion of Zoroaster. Darkness in the Bible is not equal in power to light. The occasional impression that it is equal is a result of the realism of the Bible about the power of evil in the world. However darkness exists only within God’s control. God knows “the place of darkness,” even though people do not (Job 38:19). He also “knows what is in the darkness” (Dan 2:22). People who think that the Lord does not see what they do in the dark are mistaken (Ezek 8:12); indeed, “there is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves” (Job 34:22). The speaker in Psalm 139 admits defeat in his imaginary escape from God into darkness with the acknowledgement that “even the darkness is not dark to you [i.e., God]; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you” (Ps 139:12 NRSV). In fact God is even pictured as the creator of darkness: “I form light and create darkness” (Is 45:7 NRSV). God’s power over darkness is evident in the fact that he uses it to achieve his purposes. He uses darkness to cover himself from human view, for example. In OT theophanies the concealing or covering quality of darkness makes it part of the means of God’s appearance. When God performs the ritual of “cutting the covenant” with Abraham, for example, “when the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch” (images of God’s appearance) passes between the divided carcasses (Gen 15:17 NRSV). In other words God himself is cloaked from human view by the veil of darkness. When God appears on Mt. Sinai, he is shrouded in awe-inspiring darkness (Ex 20:21; Deut 4:11; 5:22–23). When he appears as a storm God, darkness is prominent in the appearance (2 Sam 22:10, 12; Ps 18:9, 11; 97:2). God is even said to “dwell in thick darkness” (1 Kings 8:12; 2 Chron 6:1), a transcendent spiritual being veiled from human view. On the premise that a mortal cannot see God and live (Ex 33:20), God’s veiling of himself in darkness is an act of mercy toward the human race. God also uses darkness to bring judgment upon evildoers. At the time of the exodus, the ninth plague was a three-day darkness so intense that the darkness could be “felt” (Ex 10:21–23). When the Egyptians pursued the fleeing Israelites, God not only drowned the Egyptians but also used darkness to barricade them from the Israelites (Josh 24:7). In the apocalyptic vision of coming judgment, God is portrayed as sending darkness on the earth as a form of punishment (Is 13:10; 60:2; Ezek 32:7–8; Joel 2:2, 31; Amos 8:9; Zeph 1:15; Rev 16:10). When God predicts that he will “execute acts of judgment,” the imagery is that of the day being dark (Ezek 30:18–19) and of his pursuing “his enemies into darkness” (Nahum 1:8). Darkness even becomes a designation for hell itself (Mt 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; 2 Pet 2:4, 17; Jude 6, 13). In each of these passages, God is emphatically the one who sends disobedient creatures into the darkness of hell. Deliverance From Darkness. The greatest of God’s acts in regard to darkness, though, is his spiritual rescue of people from darkness through the work of Christ. God himself “is light and in him there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5). Christ is a light that “shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (Jn 1:5). Whoever follows Jesus “will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). Jesus came “as light into the world,” so that everyone who believes in him “should not remain in the darkness” (Jn 12:46). In a similar vein Paul writes that believers in Christ once “were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light” (Eph 5:8 NRSV). Whether as a symbol or as a spiritual principle, darkness is the thing from which God in Christ delivers people. It thus figures in some of the great images of redemption that we find in the Bible. With the coming of Jesus “the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned” (Mt 4:16 NRSV; cf. Lk 1:70). To escape the lost state requires nothing less than a divine rescue mission: Christ “has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col 1:13 NRSV). Those who believe in Christ as savior are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, … called out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9 NRSV). For people who are God’s children, “the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining” (1 Jn 2:8 NRSV). See also BLACK; BLINDNESS; CHAOS; LAMP; LIGHT; NIGHT. BIBLIOGRAPHY. E. R. Achtemeier, “Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, Interpretation: The Biblical Understanding of Light and Darkness,” Interpretation 17 (1962) 439–49. Source: Dictionary of Biblical Imagery online Vance Havner - "We Have Fellowship" Precious indeed is the fellowship of those whose citizenship is in heaven. We have fellowship with the Saviour: "God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship (koinonia) of his Son Jesus Christ" (1Co 1:9). We have the fellowship (koinonia) of the Spirit (Php 2:1, 2Co 13:14). There is the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil. 3:10). We enjoy the fellowship (koinonia) of the Saints (1 John 1:7; Acts 2:42). There is the fellowship (koinonia) of service: "the fellowship of ministering to the saints" (2 Cor. 8:4). But there is also a fellowship of Satan: "Have no fellowship with (sugkoinoneo) the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5:11). "If we say we have fellowship (koinonia) with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth" (1 John 1:6). "What fellowship (koinonia) hath righteousness with unrighteousness?" (2 Cor. 6:14). We cannot have a heavenly fellowship if we allow a hindering fellowship. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21). Charles Haddon Spurgeon on fellowship in 1John… When we were united by faith to Christ, we were brought into such complete fellowship with Him, that we were made one with Him, and His interests and ours became mutual and identical. (Ed comment: Notice that Spurgeon associates faith in Christ which brings us into oneness as synonymous with fellowship with Christ. There must be this initial experience of fellowship, but this leads to an ongoing daily, sharing of His love, His desires, His sufferings, His joys.) We have fellowship with Christ in His love. What He loves we love. He loves the saints-so do we. He loves sinners-so do we. He loves the poor perishing race of man, and pants to see earth's deserts transformed into the garden of the Lord-so do we. We have fellowship with Him in His desires. He desires the glory of God-we also labor for the same. He desires that the saints may be with Him where He is-we desire to be with Him there too. He desires to drive out sin-behold we fight under His banner. He desires that his Father's Name may be loved and adored by all His creatures-we pray daily, "Let thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven." We have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings. We are not nailed to the cross, nor do we die a cruel death, but when He is reproached, we are reproached; and a very sweet thing it is to be blamed for His sake, to be despised for following the Master, to have the world against us. The disciple should not be above his Lord. In our measure we commune with him in His labors, ministering to men by the Word of Truth and by deeds of love. Our meat and our drink, like His, is to do the will of Him Who hath sent us and to finish His work. We have also fellowship with Christ in His joys. We are happy in His happiness, we rejoice in His exaltation. Have you ever tasted that joy, believer? There is no purer or more thrilling delight to be known this side heaven than that of having Christ's joy fulfilled in us, that our joy may be full. His glory awaits us to complete our fellowship, for His Church shall sit with Him upon His throne, as His well-beloved bride and queen. John
1 João 1:6-7
Barnes writes that… John is saying that because God is holy, his people must be committed to holy living. A person who claims to know God but who walks in darkness is lying and not carrying out the truth. He may believe in Jesus as Lord, he may preach and prophesy in his name, he may perform miracles and cast out demons—but if he practises lawlessness he is damned as one whom Christ never knew (Matt. 7:21–23). If we are not slaves of righteousness, we are slaves of sin (Ro 6:15–18). Without holiness (or sanctification), no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). The evangelist may tell the unholy believer that he is safe, but Christ says that he is not (In Mt 7:21-23). (Barnes, Peter, Knowing Where We Stand: The Message of John’s Epistles-Welwyn Commentary Series) Paul Apple summarizes John's teaching (and his warning) in this verse… Walking in Darkness Invalidates Any Assurance of Fellowship - Remember the false teaching of the Gnostics who believed in dualism = separation of body and spirit; they were teaching that spiritual communion with God is independent of physical morality = your walk says nothing about your relationship with God 1. Failure to Be Real -- Hypocrisy (or Self-Deceit) = "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness" This would be walking in a sphere where the light of God is inoperative 2. Failure to Be True a. In Word = "we lie" b. In Deed = "and do not practice the truth" - cf practical emphasis of Book of James If we verbalize that we are sharing in God's life but our lifestyle is characterized by the world's attitude of indifference to moral principles, then we are not what we profess to be and are not living according to the Word: - no conviction of sin is present / no fear of God - no God-oriented desire to obey and please God - no orientation of life around Biblical absolutes If we are living a lie, what type of assurance of salvation should we have? (1John Devotional Commenary) Warren Wiersbe discusses the prototypical human liar, Cain, noting that… Cain was a child of the devil (1Jn 3:12), which means he was a murderer and a liar (Jn 8:44). He lied to his brother when he enticed him to the place where he killed him. He lied to himself in thinking that he could do such an evil deed and get away with it. Cain even tried to lie to God and cover up his wicked deeds! (Be Basic) Celebrate the Man - A survey of visitors at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, revealed that many of the park’s guests under the age of 15 didn’t know that Walt Disney was a real person. They thought that “Disney” was just a company name. When corporate officials planned the celebrations commemorating the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney’s birth, they made a special effort to highlight the life and impact of the real man. With Christmas still a few weeks away, it’s not too early to ponder how we can celebrate the Savior’s birth in a way that helps others know that Jesus lived on this earth as a real man. What can we do to communicate that a baby born in Bethlehem was the one and only Son of God who gave His life to save us from sin? The apostle John, a companion of Jesus, taught that to live as a forgiven, transformed person is the best testimony we can give that Jesus was truly the Son of God, a real person. He wrote, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1Jn 1:7). And “He who loves his brother abides in the light” (1Jn 2:10). Putting It Into Practice What does it mean to "walk in the light"? Review these verses for insight: Ephesians 5:8-10; Colossians 3:12-15; James 3:17; 1 Peter 1:15-16. Does your life shed light or cast shadows? 1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (NASB: Lockman) Greek: ean de en to photi peripatomen (1PPAS) os autos estin (3SPAI) en to photi, koinonian echomen (1PPAI) met' allelon kai to aima Iesou tou huiou autou katharizei (3SPAI) hemas apo pases hamartias. Amplified: But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations]. (Amplified Bible - Lockman) ESV: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (ESVBible.org) KJV: 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. NLT: But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. (NLT - Tyndale House)
1 João 1:8
Barnes reminds us of the context of John's epistle (context always being critical in arriving at the correct interpretation of a passage)… The heretics in John’s day were apparently claiming to be enjoying fellowship with God, but going on in the ways of the world (1Jn 1:6). They were, in effect, saying that sin does not matter. John’s reply is not that Christians are perfect—not at all. The claim that we have no sin is a delusion (1Jn 1:8). But John is saying that because God is holy, his people must be committed to holy living. A person who claims to know God but who walks in darkness is lying and not carrying out the truth. He may believe in Jesus as Lord, he may preach and prophesy in his name, he may perform miracles and cast out demons—but if he practises lawlessness he is damned as one whom Christ never knew (Mt. 7:21, Mt 7:22, 23). If we are not slaves of righteousness, we are slaves of sin (Ro 6:15-18). Without holiness (or sanctification), no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14). The evangelist may tell the unholy believer that he is safe, but Christ says that he is not. In John’s day the Docetists with Gnostic leanings thought that the body did not come from God. This led to one of two consequences: they could turn to asceticism and torture their bodies and flagellate themselves; or they could engage in immorality and drunkenness, or whatever, and think that their spirits were pure, so it did not matter what their bodies did. It appears that John was especially confronting the latter consequence. The ‘Children of God’ cult in the 1960s taught that people could be won to Christ through sinful means—women were even encouraged to be ‘hookers for Christ’. Roman Catholics may think that they are saved because they are baptized and they attend mass. Professing evangelicals may appeal to a decision for Christ that they have made. But we are not to be deceived (Ed: present imperative with a negative ~ stop letting this happen, implying some of the readers were already being deceived!). Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous people, drunkards, revilers and extortioners will not inherit the kingdom of God (Ed: This is another way of saying they are not genuinely born again) (1Cor 6:9–10). In recent times the American gangster Mickey Cohen was reputedly converted, but later declared that he wanted to be a Christian gangster! If you find yourself habitually practising any of the works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5:19–21, you have no reason to believe that you are a Christian. (Knowing Where We Stand The Message of John's Epistles - recommended resource - well written) EXCURSUS ON JOHN'S USE OF "TRUTH" Marvin Vincent feels that John uses truth in this context to speak of The whole Gospel. All reality is in God. He is the only true God (alethinos is an adjective which describes that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name and thus real, true and genuine not spurious, fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated or pretended. John 17:3; see on John 1:9). This reality is incarnated in Christ, the Word of God, “the very image of His substance,” and in His message to men. This message is the truth, a title not found in the Synoptists, Acts, or the Apocalypse, but in the Catholic Epistles (Jas. 5:19; 1 Pet. 1:22; 2 Pet. 2:2), and in Paul (2 Cor. 13:8; Eph. 1:13, etc.). It is especially characteristic of the Gospel and Epistles of John. The truth is represented by John objectively and subjectively. 1. Objectively. In the person of Christ. He is the Truth, the perfect revelation of God (John 1:18; 14:6). His manhood is true to the absolute law of right, which is the law of love, and is, therefore, our perfect pattern of manhood. Truth, absolutely existing in and identified with God, was also, in some measure, diffused in the world. The Word was in the world, before as after the incarnation (John 1:10. See on John 1:4, 5). Christ often treats the truth as something to which He came to bear witness, and which it was His mission to develop into clearer recognition and expression (John 18:37). This He did through the embodiment of truth in His own person (John 1:14, 17; 14:6), and by His teaching (John 8:40; 17:17); and His work is carried out by the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13), sent by God and by Christ himself (John 14:26; 16:7). Hence the Spirit, even as Christ, is the Truth (1 John 5:6). The whole sum of the knowledge of Christ and of the Spirit, is the Truth (1 John 2:21; 2 John 1). This truth can be recognized, apprehended, and appropriated by man, and can be also rejected by him (John 8:32; 1 John 2:21; John 8:44). 2. Subjectively. The truth is lodged in man by the Spirit, and communicated to his spirit (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). It dwells in man (1 John 1:8; 2:4; 2 John 2), as revelation, comfort, guidance, enlightenment, conviction, impulse, inspiration, knowledge. It is the spirit of truth as opposed to the spirit of error (1 John 4:6). It translates itself into act. God’s true children do the truth (John 3:21; 1 John 1:6). It brings sanctification and freedom (John 8:32; 17:17). See on John 14:6, 17. (
1 João 1:9
Barnes writes that "we begin the Christian journey by confessing our sins and believing in Christ for the first time, and (make confession our daily practice) as we continue to battle with ongoing sin in our lives. (The Message of John's Epistles - recommended) Barnes adds that "During the tragedy of Nazi Germany, Dietrich Bonhoeffer headed up a seminary of the German 'Confessing Church' at Finkenwalde. Here Bonhoeffer proclaimed, 'In confession occurs the breakthrough to the Cross.' (Ed: And need we remind ourselves of the fetid fruit of the failure of most professing Christians in Nazi Germany [it was known as a "Christian nation" just as it "post-Christian" America today!] to be genuine confessing Christians!) Steven Cole agrees that life of a true follower of Christ "is marked by continual confession of sins. It begins at salvation, when he acknowledges his sin to God and (receives initial) forgiveness and cleansing. He experiences ongoing forgiveness and cleansing as he continues confessing his sins. (How to Have Fellowship With God 1 John 1:5-10) Forgiveness is not incomplete or dependent in the saving sense on believers’ confessing. John
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Barnes writes that "God sees us all as sinners. In 1775 Augustus Toplady (the author of 'Rock of Ages'), published an article in which he attempted to assess England's guilt as a nation in terms of a national debt. He came to the conclusion that England would never be able to pay her debt, and then calculated that if as individuals we sinned every second of our lives, we would each run up 2,522,880,000 sins by the age of eighty, if we lived that long! Toplady's approach has been roundly criticized but it is far closer to reality than Shirley MacLaine's rhapsodies. If we do not see ourselves as those who are utterly corrupt, if we think we are basically all right, then we are deceiving ourselves and God's truth is not in us. We would be, in reality, standing before the throne of God and calling Him a liar. The person who cannot see that he is in Adam (i.e. fallen and sinful) has no reason to seek to be found in Christ (i.e. renewed and righteous). Only when we see our dreadful state before God will we ask how our sins can be taken away. (Knowing Where We Stand) John Gill sums up their making God a liar for He "declares that the wicked are estranged from the womb, and go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies; that his own people are transgressors from the womb; that all have sinned and come short of his glory; and that there is none that does good, no, not one, but all are under sin, under the power and guilt of it, and become filthy by it, and so obnoxious to the wrath of God (1 John 1 Commentary) The Life Application Commentary writes that John is writing to counter false teachings of those who "denied the reality of sin. John wrote that those who continue in sin do not belong to God. Those who say they have no sin only fool themselves and refuse to accept the truth. Jamieson observes an interesting gradation "1John 1:6, we lie; 1John 1:8, we deceive ourselves; worst of all, we make Him a liar, by denying His word that all men are sinners (compare 1John 5:10). (1 John 1 Commentary) Comment: It is worth noting that to claim to have fellowship with God while walking in darkness makes a person a liar (1Jn 1:6); to claim to be without sin involves lying to oneself (1Jn 1:8) and makes God out to be a liar as well (1Jn 1:10). As Orr quips that when we deny that we sin "our course in deceit is complete; we deny the whole testimony of God’s word, and the need for His redemptive activity." (New International Bible Commentary) Strecker commenting on denial of sin notes that "Such a denial would not only be self-deception (1Jn 1:8) but would also make a liar of God (cf. 1Jn 5:10), that is, say that God’s word is untrue. In other words, those who hesitate to acknowledge their sins are rejecting God’s offer of forgiveness, for this is contained in the “word” of God that was already characterized in 1Jn 1:1 as “word of life” and therefore life-giving and is concretized in the Christ-event (1Jn 1:7). (The Johannine letters : a commentary on 1, 2, and 3 John. Series: Hermeneia; Fortress Press) Brown puts it this way… It is one thing knowingly to tell an untruth or lie; it is worse to deceive oneself to the point where there is no truth; it is still worse to make God a liar… The second clause of each (verse - 1Jn 1:6, 8, 10) concerns the lack of truth (“we do not act in truth”; “the truth is not in us”; “His word is not in us”). The dynamic attitude is apparent in the fact that the first derives from the second— divine truth, like divine life, is a reality that inheres in us and must be active. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and truth will set you free” (Jn 8:31–32). Thus understood, the charge of lying becomes more than a charge of telling an untruth. A lie indicates what one is: a child of darkness rather than a child of light—one whose father is the devil, a liar. (Brown, Raymond E., The Epistles of John: translated, with introduction, notes, and commentary, Yale University Press) Makes (poieo) is in the present tense which indicates these sin denying individuals continually "characterize God as being “a liar” (cf. the words of Jesus in John 8:44.) As Hiebert says "This impugns God’s character and the whole program of redemption." Plummer adds that "this use of the verb ‘make’ in the sense of ‘assert that one is’ is frequent in the Gospel: ‘He made Himself the Son of God’; ‘Every one that makes himself a king’ (Jn 19:7, 12; comp. Jn 5:18, 8:53, 10:33)." (1 John 1 Commentary) R C H Lenski minces no words stating that in saying we have not committed sin "We are doing more than just lying (1Jn 1:6), more than deceiving our own selves by our lying (1Jn 1:8). These two statements are incomplete. The worst that we are doing by our false claim is really blasphemous: we are making God a liar! Some interpreters do not seem to feel the terrific impact of this word. If you and I philosophize or theologize our sins away and think that they do not need the blood of Jesus, God's Son, we are making God himself a liar! No less. Let us face this fact! Let it frighten us away from such claims! (BORROW The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John) Hiebert comments on "make Him a liar" "Such a person brazenly stamps God’s testimony that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Ro 3:23) as a deliberate lie. (Online 1 John 1:5-2-6 Exposition) Barker notes that "Although the assertions made in v. 8 and v. 10 are more alike than unlike, the latter statement is far more blatant and defiant. It makes a mockery of the gospel. It states that the reason God acted in grace and mercy toward us for the sake of our sins is false, that God first deceived us about ourselves and then becomes himself the Deceiver. (Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary 6-Volume New Testament)
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Barnes says His Word is not in us is tantamount to "His truth; that is, we have no true religion. The whole system of Christianity is based on the fact that man is a fallen being, and needs a Saviour; and unless a man admits that, of course he cannot be a Christian. I H Marshall agrees adding that "Paul’s statement that “all have sinned” (Ro 3:23) is no isolated remark; it sums up the teaching of Scripture on the universality of sin. Not only so; the scriptural revelation of God emphasizes his character as a God who forgives sin, and this description would be pointless if men had no sins to be forgiven. Those who deny their sin thus fall into the serious sin of making God out to be a liar. By no stretch of the imagination can they be said to have his word in them. The message of God, mediated through Christian tradition, has not affected their belief or their conduct… John is speaking of hearing and accepting the Christian message. (Marshall, I. H. The Epistles of John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Eerdmans Publishing) Ian Mackervoy in the Easy English commentary states the matter plainly "Those who say that they have not sinned cut themselves off from God. They have not believed the word of God. They do not know the Lord Jesus. They have not believed the truth of the Gospel. They cannot have the new life that the Lord Jesus gives. He gives this life to those who trust in him. (1 John: How can I be Sure?) William Harris agrees concludes that "Once again, the author makes it plain that the situation of the opponents who are claiming this is serious: they do not really have God’s word (the message about eternal life revealed by Jesus Christ, cf. 1Jn 1:1) residing in them, although they claim that they do. (1 John 1:5-22: Exegetical Commentary) Smalley writes that "The “word” (logos) of God may refer to the personal Logos (as in John 1:1-14). Equally, it could refer to the message of the gospel, the proclamation about the Word (see 1Jn 1:1; cf. also 1Jn 2:14; Jn 17:6; Acts 4:31). The meaning in this latter case would be that those, like the heretics, who claim that they have not sinned cut themselves off from all that God has said to man in Christ, and from all that he continues to say through the Christian preaching of the apostles. (Word Biblical Commentary : 1,2,3 John) John