1 João 1
John Gill · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 1:8
Gill concludes there is no real work of grace in the case of those who claim to be without sin writing that "it is a plain case the truth of grace is not in such persons, for if there was a real work of God upon their souls, they would know and discern the plague of their own hearts, the impurity of their nature, and the imperfection of their obedience; nor is the word of truth in them, for if that had an entrance into them, and worked effectually in them, they would in the light of it discover much sin and iniquity in them; and indeed there is no principle of truth, no veracity in them; there is no sincerity nor ingenuity in them; they do not speak honestly and uprightly, but contrary to the dictates of their own conscience. Adam Clarke on the truth is not in us "We have no knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus, the whole of which is founded on this most awful truth—all have sinned, all are guilty, all are unholy; and none can redeem himself. Hence it is as necessary that Jesus Christ should become incarnated, and suffer and die to bring men to God. A E Brooke writes that "The statement that we have not sin, shows that those who make it have not “truth” working in them as an inner and effective principle… It is more than the sense of truth, uprightness and honesty of self-examination and self-knowledge… It can be regarded both objectively and subjectively, either as something that can be done (1Jn 1:6), an external standard in accordance with which actions must be shaped, or as an inner principle, working from within and molding a man’s inner life. (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Johannine Epistles) Haas comments that "Truth is used here (and often elsewhere in the Johannine writings) with another shade of meaning than in v. 6, namely, as a reference to God’s own truthfulness. God is truthful in that His acting and speaking cover each other completely. (The United Bible Societies' New Testament Handbook Series) Vine writes that the truth is not in us first of all "is an advance upon 1Jn 1:6, a worse condition than “not doing truth.” The truth is “the body of Christian doctrine,” the revealed counsels and will of God, communicated to our hearts by His Spirit. To claim sinlessness is to be void of that revelation, just as to walk in the darkness is to fail to do those things by which the truth is translated into the life. (Collected writings of W. E. Vine) Haas comments that John is giving a description "of the false teachers, who claim to know God, (but) to be quite the contrary of what they claim." (The United Bible Societies' New Testament Handbook Series - on the Letters of John) Kress describes the serious implications noting that "If we say we have no sin, the truth is not in us. And in verse 10, those who claim sinlessness make God out to be a liar and His Word is not in [them]. This is tantamount to saying, if you’re not a confessor of sin as God defines it, you are not a true Christian (cf. 1 John 2:20–21). John’s point is crystal clear here in 1 John 1:8–10: unlike some who may claim sinlessness, genuine believers are characterized by the confession of sin because of their fellowship with the God who is Light (see Isaiah 6:1–7 for a graphic illustration of this truth). (Notes for the Study and Exposition of 1st John) Truth (225)(aletheia from a = indicates following word has the opposite meaning ~ without + lanthano = to be hidden or concealed, to escape notice, cp our English "latent" from Latin = to lie hidden) has the literal sense of that which contains nothing hidden, that which is not concealed. Aletheia is that which that is seen or expressed as it really is. Aletheia is the manifestation of a hidden reality. For example, when you are a witness in a trial, the court attendant says "Raise your right hand. Do you swear that you will tell the truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?" And you say, "I do" and you sit down. The question the court attendant is asking is "Are you willing to come into this courtroom and manifest something that is hidden to us that only you know so that you will bear evidence to that?" Therefore when you speak the truth, you are manifesting a "hidden reality". Does that make sense? A parallel example in Scripture is the case of the woman in the crowd who had touched Jesus (Read context = Mk 5:24-25, 26-27, 28-29, 30, 31-32), but when she became "aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth " (Mk 5:33) and nothing but the truth. She did not lie. She spoke no falsehoods. In summary, truth then is the correspondence between a reality and a declaration which professes to set forth or describe the reality. To say it another way, words spoken or written are true when they correspond with objective reality. Persons and things are true when they correspond with their profession (which we describe with words like integrity, sincerity, non-hypocritical, etc). In short, truth is true to the old adage "what you see is what you get!" Peter
1 João 1:9
Gill writes that we are to confess our sins "Not to one other; for though it is our duty to confess our faults to our fellow creatures and fellow Christians which are committed against them, yet are under no obligation to confess such as are more immediately against God, and which lie between him and ourselves; or at least it is sufficient to confess and acknowledge in general what sinful creatures we are, without entering into particulars; for confession of sin is to be made to God, against whom it is committed, and who only can pardon: and a man that truly confesses his sin is one that the Spirit of God has convinced of it, and has shown him its exceeding sinfulness, and filled him with a godly sorrow for it, and given him repentance unto salvation, that needeth not to be repented of; and who, under such a sight and sense of sin, and concern for it, comes and acknowledges it before the Lord, humbly imploring, for Christ's sake, his pardoning grace and mercy; and such obtain it (1 John 1:9 Commentary) Kress explains the present tense aspect of confess nothing that "a true Christian is continually acknowledging and dealing with sin—not in a saving sense but in a communal sense. From a human standpoint, our fellowship can be marred by sin. The promise of confession is forgiveness and cleansing. (Notes for the Study and Exposition of 1st John) Comment: Note Kress says "a true Christian" as opposed to one who simply professes to be a believer. It is interesting and somewhat surprising that Jim Bomkamp does not include "confession of sins" as one of the marks of a believer (34 Marks of a True Christian in 1 John). While confession is not an absolute marker of a genuine Christ follower (because some men confess to other men thinking that is sufficient penitence), but is certainly one indicator. Who but a genuine believer recognizes that His sin is against the Holy God? As Harrison says "sensitiveness to sin is the sign of His illuminating, self-revealing presence. Hence it is that some of the most godly saints, walking daily in a closeness of fellowship with Him, have been characterized by a confessed consciousness of sin beyond their fellows. They were living in the Light that made evident the contrast between themselves and Himself. his experience finds divine interpretation in the spiritual autobiography of the prophet Isaiah. It was when he "saw the LORD" (Isa 6:1-note) in the pure, white light of His holiness that he discovered, and at once decried, a personal uncleanness: "Woe is me; I am undone; I am unclean." (Isa 6:5-note) And that confession brought the full relief of a further revelation of the Lord as the GOD of cleansing." (Isa 6:6,7-note) Guzik makes the point that "Our sins are not forgiven because we confess; if this were the case - if forgiveness for a sin could only come where there was confession - then we would all be damned, because it would be impossible for us to confess every sin we ever commit. We are forgiven because our punishment was put upon Jesus, we are cleansed by His blood. John
1 João 1:10
Gill comments that "Word" is "either Christ the Word of God, or rather the word of God which declares these things (Ed: cp "The Gospel"); no regard is had unto it; it "is not with us"… it is not used and attended to as the rule and standard of truth, but is cast away and despised; at least it has no place in the hearts of such, nor does it work effectually; for, was this the case, they would have other notions of themselves than (to falsely believe) that (they are) sinless creatures. (1 John 1:10 Commentary) McDermott writes that "to assert one’s sinlessness is evidence of one’s failure to grasp and internalize the truth of the Gospel message (Believers Church Bible Commentary) I like the meditations from 365 Days with Spurgeon which relate to the First John chapter one… Three things about the Christian life which the Christian needs to remember at all times:—the fact of sin (1John 1:8, 10), the forgiveness of sin (1John 1:7, 9; 2:1–2) and the fight with sin (1John 2:1). The first should protect us from pride, the second from despair and the third from license. Forget any one of these and you are at risk. (From 365 Days with Spurgeon related to sermon The Sinner’s Advocate) We can claim that we have fellowship with God (1John 1:6), that we have no sin and have not sinned (1John 1:8, 10), that we know God (1John 2:4), that we are in the light (1John 2:9) and that we love God (1John 4:20) without a single word of it being true. Jacob claimed to be Esau (Genesis 27:19, 24), but that could never turn him into Esau. He fooled Isaac, but we can never fool God. (From 365 Days with Spurgeon related to sermon Sincerity and Duplicity) Word (3056)(logos from légō = to speak with words; English = logic, logical) means something said and describes a communication whereby the mind finds expression in words. Although Lógos is most often translated word which Webster defines as "something that is said, a statement, an utterance", the Greek understanding of lógos is somewhat more complex. In the Greek mind and as used by secular and philosophical Greek writers, lógos did not mean merely the name of an object but was an expression of the thought behind that object's name. Guzik sees His Word as a personification writing that "The idea that His word is not in us is related to the idea that Jesus is the Word of life (1John 1:1); if we refuse to see sin in us, we show that Jesus is not in us. (Ed: Compare John 1:1, 1:14) Comment: As discussed above, when this Word is continually, absolutely not in a person, one can hardly say that person is a genuine follower of Christ! What is interesting is that Guzik earlier had Vine feels that "His Word (logos) is the truth in the concrete form of the Scriptures, the inspired utterances of God’s mind. (Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson) Lenski has some insightful thoughts on His Word noting that "This Word is called the truth in 1Jn 1:6 and 1Jn 1:8 (cp John 17:17) and "the light" in 1Jn 1:7. This truth and this light are the contents of His Word, and they come to us in His Word. We do not reduce this Word to a reference to the Gospel, to only the Old Testament, or to those parts of the New Testament that John's readers had. The whole Word of God declares that we are sinners. It says so in a large number of places. From beginning to end it deals with us as with sinners. Its history, its law, its Gospel present sinners, sinners: lost sinners, ransomed sinners, saved sinners, damned sinners, glorified sinners. Westcott writes that His word relates to the truth (1Jn 1:8) noting first that it is "the word of God, 1Jn 2:7, 14. Compare John 8:55; 10:35; 17:6, 14, 17. The phrase is used specially for the Gospel message, which is the crown of all revelation: Luke 5:1; 8:11, 21; 11:28; and habitually in the Acts: 4:31; 6:2, 7; 8:14; 11:1; 12:24; 13:5, 7, 44, 46, etc. The ‘word’ here differs from the ‘truth’ in 1Jn 1:8 as the process differs from the result. The ‘truth’ is the sum considered objectively of that which the ‘word’ expresses. The word as a living power makes the truth real little by little to him who receives it (John 8:31, 32). And further, the ‘word’ is personal: it calls up the thought of the speaker: it is ‘the word of God.’ The truth on the other hand is abstract, though it is embodied in a Person. The word, like the truth, can be regarded both as the moving principle which stirs the man and as the sphere in which the man moves. The ‘word abides in him’ (John 5:38, comp. 8:37), and conversely he ‘abides in the word’ (John 8:31). (1 John 1 Commentary) Marvin Vincent without explaining why says that His Word does not refer to "the personal Word, as John 1:1, but the divine message of the Gospel. See Lk 5:1; 8:11; Acts 4:31; 6:2, 7, etc. Compare “the truth is not in us” (1Jn 1:8). The truth is the substance of the Word. The Word carries the truth. The Word both moves the man (John 8:31, 32) and abides in him (John 5:38; 8:37). The man also abides in the word (John 8:31).(