1 João 1
Matthew Henry · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 1:6
Henry - For the conviction of such professors as have no true fellowship with God: If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. It is known that to walk, in scripture account, is to order and frame the course and actions of the moral life, that is, of the life so far as it is capable of subjection to the divine law. To walk in darkness is to live and act according to such ignorance, error, and erroneous practice, as are contrary to the fundamental dictates of our holy religion. Now there may be those who may pretend to great attainments and enjoyments in religion; they may profess to have communion with God; and yet their lives may be irreligious, immoral, and impure. To such the apostle would not fear to give the lie: They lie, and do not the truth. They belie God; for he holds no heavenly fellowship or intercourse with unholy souls. What communion hath light with darkness? They belie themselves, or lie concerning themselves; for they have no such communications from God nor accesses to him. There is no truth in their profession nor in their practice, or their practice gives their profession and pretences the lie, and demonstrates the folly and falsehood of them. (1 John 1 Commentary) (Bold added) Jack Arnold - John is talking about habitually walking in darkness with no desire to please the Lord in the daily life. If a man says is a profession that one believes in Christ and is participating in the life of Christ. But a person’s verbal profession must be matched with the conduct of his life. These antinomian Gnostics believed that a person may be living in sin and compromising with it, and at the same time have fellowship with God. These mere professors wanted fellowship on easy terms but they made a gap between (1). belief and practice, (2). theology and morals, (3). religion and ethics and (4). words and action. They didn’t practice what they preached! They said, “It doesn’t make much difference how one lives as long as he believes.” This is pure nonsense! “We lie and do not live by the truth:” -- Those who claim to be Christians but live habitually a life in darkness, lie, in that their own lives prove them a liar. Also they do not obey the truth of Christ as laid down in the Word of God. (The Threat of Sin to Fellowship) (Bold added) Bryn MacPhail - Here we learn a vital truth--fellowship with God changes us. While it is true that Christ meets you where you are, He does not leave you where you are. Fellowship with God implies that we no longer "walk in the darkness". Fellowship with God implies that we are now "walking in the Light"--that is, we are walking according to the will of Christ. Does this mean that as a Christian we will no longer sin? No! In fact, John, perhaps fearing that we might conclude this, writes, "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." Walking in the Light does not mean we are free from sin. Rather, walking in the Light means that our fundamental direction has changed. Conversely, if our fundamental direction in life does not change, there is reason to doubt that we have fellowship with God. (ED: See 1Co 1:9 "called into fellowship with His Son" - a believer can never lose his fellowship because he is in Christ. ) (Bold added) Practice reveals profession...Talk is cheap. The gospel, though, is not about talk but about walk. Phil Newton - Practice reveals profession The most common faulty conclusion is to assume relationship to God. It happens when people are around Christians, the church, Christian music, and Christian discussions but have not come to repentance and faith in Christ. It’s all about talk but nothing about walk. “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” It’s the kind of Christianity that one can claim and basically forget until there’s an emergency or a box has to be checked at the hospital before surgery that your religion is “Christian.” But the problem is that of saying one thing—“we have fellowship with God”—and living contrary to that profession—“yet walk in the darkness.” Talk is cheap. The gospel, though, is not about talk but about walk. Life in Christ is about practicing the truth. The word that John uses, “practice,” is literally, doing the truth. The gospel brings us into relationship with Jesus Christ, and that begins the walk in the light. John is declaring that the gospel truly believed is to be lived. To “walk in the darkness” is to conduct your life without regard to the holiness of God and the necessity of the death of Christ at the cross, or with the consciousness that Jesus came to free us from slavery to sin (Rom 6:17–18). That doesn’t mean that we never falter along the journey or fall into some sinful patterns. But if we can continue walking in darkness (present continuous action) without regard to living in holy relationship to Christ, then John concludes, “we lie and do not practice the truth.” Our walk reveals a false profession of Christ. (The Way to Fellowship 1 John 1:5–10) (Bold added) Their life was a lie, for they were not walking in the truth, and their profession that they had fellowship with God was another lie, for God can have no fellowship with falsehood. C H
1 João 1:8
Henry warns all believers that "We must beware of deceiving ourselves in denying or excusing our sins. The more we see them the more we shall esteem and value the remedy (1Jn 1:9)… The Christian religion is the religion of sinners, of such as have sinned, and in whom sin in some measure still dwells. The Christian life is a life of continued repentance, humiliation for and mortification of sin, of continual faith in, thankfulness for, and love to the Redeemer, and hopeful, joyful expectation of a day of glorious redemption, in which the believer shall be fully and finally acquitted, and sin abolished forever. (Hallelujah!) Several "Spurgeonisms" on sin… Our deceitful heart reveals an almost Satanic shrewdness in self-deception… If you say you have no sin you have achieved a fearful success -- you have put out your own eyes, and perverted your own reason!… It does not matter either, in what sense we say it. We may try to beguile ourselves with the idea that we say it in some peculiar gospel sense; but “we deceive ourselves” if we say it in any sense whatsoever, for we have sin, and we do sin… Do not give fair names to foul sins (Ed: This is "self deception!"). Call them what you will, they will smell no sweeter… As soon as I learn that a brother states that he has lived for months without sin, I wonder whether his secret vice is lewd-ness, or theft, or drink, but I feel sure that somewhere or other there is a leak in the ship. John uses planao two other times in his letter… These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. (1Jn 2:26) Comment: What things? In context the "antichrists" who were "liars" (1Jn 2:18-25). Little children, let no one deceive (present imperative with a negative is a command to stop something that is already happening!) you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous (1Jn 3:7) Harris comments: Deceit is constantly associated with Antichrist and with the opponents, and it would seem that in this verse the author is dealing with the potential acceptance of the adversaries’ claims (of no sin in 1Jn 1:8, 10) by some of the readers. While there is a difference of opinion among commentators on whether sin they deny is the innate sin principle (the sin nature we all inherited from Adam which makes us want to commit individual sins) or it is the individual sins, both of these beliefs are deceptive. This "deception" is in modern Christianity in various forms - for example, there are those who believe that sin is determined by outside causes which are beyond our control (biological, hereditary, psychological, social factors, etc), and because this is true, each individual has little or no choice in relation to who they are and what they do. This fallacious reasoning can potentially lead that person to deceive themselves to conclude that they are not responsible for their personal sinful actions, which originate from our sinful nature, a fallen nature which even believers possess (see flesh). A variation on this deception is to re-title the sins to make them more "palatable" or acceptable in their own minds -- E.g., we say an affair instead of adultery, a "little white lie" instead of an overt lie, "my addiction" or "my disease" instead of my sin, etc. James Hastings gives a pagan illustration of self deception "When asked whether he " had made his peace with God," Thoreau quietly replied that "he had never quarreled with him." He was invited by another acquaintance to enter into a religious conversation concerning the next world. " One world at a time," was the prompt retort.' (1 John 1:8,9 Righteous Forgiveness in his excellent work "The Great Texts of the Bible") (See Hastings' Index To The Great Texts of the Bible" - all are available at Archive.org) John MacArthur emphasizes the practical consequence of the claim of no sin - "Not only did the false teachers walk in darkness (i.e., sin; v6) but went so far as to deny totally the existence of a sin nature in their lives. If someone never admits to being a sinner, salvation cannot result (Mt19:16-22 for the account of the young man who refused to recognize his sin). Not only did the false teachers make false claims to fellowship and disregard sin (v6), they are also characterized by deceit regarding sinlessness (Ec 7:20; Ro 3:23). Charles Simeon has some piercing remarks regarding the deception of the "moralist" who says he is without sin… “They deceive themselves” in relation to the extent of their attainments. They do, in fact, say with the Rich Youth, “What lack I yet?” whilst “they lack one thing,” even that very thing which is indispensable to their acceptance with God. Our Lord brought the young man to the test; and, by a command which he gave, tried him, whether God or the world were the higher in his esteem? It was a grief to the young man to renounce all hope of an interest in the Saviour; but he knew not how to part with his possessions; and therefore abandoned the Lord Jesus rather than them. So, if moralists were brought to the test, they would show, and indeed they do continually show, that the love of Christ is not dominant in their hearts, and that they have never seen him as that “pearl of great price, for which they are ready to part with all.” They deceive themselves also in relation to their state before God. They imagine that they do not deserve, and consequently are not in danger of, his wrath and indignation. Thus it was with the Apostle Paul before his conversion. Hear his own acknowledgment respecting it: “I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died:” that is, before I understood the spirituality of the law, I thought my obedience to it so perfect that I was in no danger of condemnation for my offences against it: but when my eyes were opened to see the extent of its demands and the defects of my obedience, I saw at once that I was deservedly under a sentence of death and condemnation. Thus it is with multitudes who are exemplary in their moral conduct: in the midst of all their confidence they deceive themselves; and whilst they take credit to themselves for being right in the sight of God, they show, that they have never yet received “the truth as it is in Jesus,” and that, consequently, “the truth is not in them.” (1 John 1:8-9 Confession Necessary to Forgiveness) Can Christians deceive themselves? Before we say "This passage does not apply to me", we need to do a self evaluation considering each of the following "bullet points"…Lyman Abbott writes… How many are there in this congregation, I wonder, who would really say to themselves, “We have no sin”? I do not mean, would say it just in that form. Of course not. We are too well educated for that. But practically would say it, and would resent with considerable indignation that anyone else should call them sinners. (1) In the first place, we balance off against our sins certain pseudo virtues. We keep, not very correctly, and certainly not with very good bookkeeping, a debtor and creditor account. Over against the evil in our lives we set certain credit marks. We attend church with regularity — perhaps we say our prayers, as the phrase is; perhaps we read our Bible, if we are not too much driven in the morning with engagements, or too sleepy at night to take it in. And therefore we are virtuous… (Note: for complete exposition see Deceiving Ourselves in the Biblical Illustrator) (2) We assume virtues that are not our own, and think ourselves virtuous because of them… (3) As men take the virtues that do not belong to them, see them and rejoice in them, so they do not take the vices that belong to them. They see the sins of others — not their own. The spendthrift can read you a homily on the vices of the miser, but it never occurs to him that there is any vice in the life he is leading; the miser will read you an eloquent sermon on the vices of the spendthrift, but it never occurs to him that there is no sin in clutching a dollar until it cries. How quick are we to see the vices of our neighbours; how slow to turn our eyes upon our own! (4) We disguise our vices. We give them false names; we dress them up as virtues and call them such, and really think they are. And this young man who never has earned a dollar in his life by solid, honest industry, takes the money that his father has earned by hard industry and throws it freely, hither and yon, among his fellows, and calls it generosity, and thinks it is. He does not know that it is mean to spend in lavish living what another has toiled to acquire. (5) We change the form of our sin, and then think we are done with it. We think that sin consists in the shape it assumes; we do not know that it consists in the evil heart that beats within… (6) And when we can no longer disguise from ourselves that we are doing wrong, we hide behind all manner of excuses. We say: “Yes, I admit this is not quite right, but everybody does it.” Or, “I admit this is not quite according to the Gospel idea], but the Gospel ideals are not practicable in the nineteenth century.” Or, “I could not help it; I was made so.” And so, little by little, we creep up to that excuse so common in our day: “There is no real moral evil, there is no real sin.” What men call sin is only good in the making. It is the greenness of an apple that by and by will be ripe. It is the foolishness of a child who by and by will be wiser. The fall is only a fall upward. Let us not trouble ourselves, therefore, but wait. There is a good God, and by and by He will bring all things right. Think Canada thistles are wheat in the making; think a broken arm is an athlete’s arm in the making; think that diphtheria and scarlet fever are health in the making; but do not think that to be estranged, self-willed, and self-indulgent is holiness and righteousness and goodness in the making. (Deceiving Ourselves in the Biblical Illustrator) The godly Scottish preacher Robert Murray McCheyne (who died at age 30!) said it honestly and well "The seeds of all my sins are in my heart, and perhaps the more dangerous that I do not see them. (Ed: "Amen" or "Oh my!") C Stanford said it this way - Motives that seem to you as white as the light may prove, when seen through His prism, to be many colored. Aims that seem straight as a line may, when tested by the right standard, prove indirect and tortuous. We shall find at last that, in many cases, what we have thought devotion was indevout; what we have thought love was struck through with the taint of selfishness; what we have thought faith was utterly vitiated with the poison of unbelief. AND THE TRUTH IS NOT IN US: kai e aletheia ouk estin (3SPAI) en hemin: the truth: 1Jn 2:4 1Ti 6:5 2Jn 1:2 3Jn 1:3 1 John 1 Resources DEVOID OF THE TRUTH! And the truth - "God's truth, objective." (Alford). "The whole Gospel." (Vincent). See more discussion below on the meaning of "the truth" in this passage. The truth is (present tense) not (ou =strong, absolute negation) in us - This clause can be paraphrased as "the truth is continually, absolutely not in us" which parallels their claim to continually have no sin! The verb is (estin) is present tense and denotes continual action indicating that the truth is continually not in these individuals. Henry Alford on not in us - "That truth respecting God’s holiness and our own sinfulness, which is the very first spark of light within, has no place in us at all." The UBS Handbook adds that "The clause means to say: the truth is not in us and this will remain so. Thus the situation of the false teachers (Ed: or anyone else who believes this lie), who claim to know God, is shown to be quite the contrary of what they claim… The phrase “to be in” serves John to express a very close and intimate relationship of Christ with God or God with Christ (John 17:21), of men with God or God with men (1 John 2:5; 5:20; and 4:4), of an aspect of God’s being (as represented by Christ) with men (here), or of the devil with the world (4:4). Cp. also “to abide in” (2:6), which emphasizes the continuity of the relationship. Some renderings used are, ‘to live in,’ ‘to be one with,’ ‘to belong to,’ ‘to be before,’ ‘to be in the presence of,’ ‘to be in the innermost of’ (that is, to agree with, to act according to the will of, The Bible Translator, 20.79f, 1969). In the present case it is often preferable to change the structure of the clause, taking “we” as the subject. This leads to such renderings as, ‘we are not familiar with the truth (of God),’ ‘we do not have the truth (of God) in our heart,’ ‘we have not the true One/God in our heart.’ It is interesting that in the Old Testament David (in the context of confession of sin) describes "the antithesis" of truth not in someone writing… Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. (Psalm 51:6) Spurgeon's Comment on this passage is relevant to 1Jn 1:8: Behold. Here is the great matter for consideration. God desires not merely outward virtue, but inward purity, and the penitent's sense of sin is greatly deepened as with astonishment he discovers this truth, and how far he is from satisfying the divine demand. The second "Behold" is fitly set over against the first; how great the gulf which yawns between them! Thou desirest truth in the inward parts. Reality, sincerity, true holiness, heart fidelity, these are the demands of God. He cares not for the pretence of purity, he looks to the mind, heart, and soul. Always has the Holy One of Israel estimated men by their inner nature, and not by their outward professions; to him the inward is as visible as the outward, and he rightly judges that the essential character of an action lies in the motive of him who works it. : TRUTH IN JOHN'S EPISTLES What is "the truth" which is (essentially) never in these individuals! One of the best ways to interpret Scripture is to compare parallel or related Scriptures (See discussion of comparing Scripture with Scripture). In the case of "the truth" we are fortunate for this is one of John's favorite terms. Therefore, it behooves us to study John's uses (in context) to see if they provide a clue about his intended meaning of "the truth." Alternatively we could "save time" and look at how the commentaries interpret "the truth", but how would we know whether the Interpretation of that commentator was correct or was merely their opinion or their "best guess"? Truth is used 20 times by John in his three epistles (20/109 NT uses ~18%, compared to 23 uses in John's Gospel-see Excursus on John's use of truth), and thus is a key word which clearly identifies "truth" as one of John's main themes (a major topic or subject of his epistles and his Gospel)… 1Jn 1:6, 8; 2:4, 21 (twice); 1Jn 3:18, 19; 4:6; 5:6; 2Jn 1:1(twice), 2Jn 1:2, 3, 4; 3Jn 1:1, 3 (twice), 3Jn 1:4, 8, 12 1 John 2:4-5 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but (contrast) whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him Comment: What do we observe about "truth" in these two verses? What is John contrasting? In verse 4 notice that John again calls attention to the pattern of "saying" and "doing", of what one says with their lips versus how one lives. There is an old secular saying that "Talk is cheap." One of John's overarching purposes in this letter is to help believers know that they are not just professors but possessors of a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ (cp 1Jn 5:13). He has repeated declared that one's actions speak louder than their words. In verse 4 one (note the change from "we say" in chapter one) says "I know Jesus. I've experienced Him." and yet they do not obey His commandments. The disobedience is a clear indicator that they are not born again. Don't misunderstand -- obedience never saved anyone. Faith along saves, but faith that is saving results in a new heart and a new power in one's life so that at least the general direction of their life is toward obedience. John is not saying they will obey perfectly. He is only saying that the general direction of their life is to obey their Lord. John is describing a change of direction in one's life, not an attainment of perfection in this life! John then affirms that one can know for certain that they are "in Him" (born again, in covenant with Christ, in union with Him) be the fact that their behavior has changed. Whereas before they were "in Him", they were continually disobedient, now they are generally obedient to His word. Their general obedience does not save them but it does serve to demonstrate that they are legitimate children of God (1Jn 3:1). It follows that when John states that "the truth is not in us", he is saying the same thing as 1Jn 2:4 which is a description of one who is not born again. In short, John is saying here in 1Jn 1:8 that individuals who continue claim they have no sin are not born again! Storms feels that: Whenever "truth" [aletheia] appears in the Johannine literature with the definite article ["the"] it refers to the body of Christian truth, i.e., the Gospel in its fullness (cf. John 1:17; 3:21; 5:33; 8:32,40,44,45; 14:6,17; 15:26; 16:13; 17:17; 18:37; 1 John 2:4,21; 3:19; 4:6; 5:6; 2 John 1,2; 3 John 4,8,12). (1 John Sermon Comments) John mentions truth in his second and third epistle… THE elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know (ginosko in the perfect tense = having come to know experientially at a point in time and this knowledge persisting) the truth, 2 for the sake of the truth which abides (present tense = is continually "at home") in us and will be with us forever (this description seems to aptly describe the permanent indwelling of the Spirit of Truth in every believer - cp Jn 14:16-17): 3 Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4 I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. (2John 1:1-4) Comment: Here we see that truth is one of the markers of a believer - they know the truth by experience (2Jn 1:1). The truth abides in them forever (2Jn 1:2). Believers walk in truth. For I was very glad when brethren came and bore witness to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. (3Jn 1:3-4) Comment: Walking in truth is tantamount to walking in the light and is used by John to describe a believer. So to say as he does here in 1Jn 1:8 that those who profess to have no sin, do not possess the truth within themselves, is to classify them as unbelievers. Finally note that John uses truth (aletheia) 23x in 20 verses - John 1:14, 17; 3:21; 4:23f; 5:33; 8:32, 40, 44ff; 14:6, 17; 15:26; 16:7, 13; 17:17, 19; 18:37f See Marvin Vincent's discussion: Excursus on John's use of Truth B F Westcott interprets "the truth" in this context as "the whole Gospel as that which meets the requirements of man’s nature. Comp. John 8:32ff.; 18:37. The same conception is found in the other apostolic writings (Read 2Th 2:12; Ro 2:8; 2Cor. 13:8; Gal. 5:7; 1Ti 3:15; 4:3; 6:5; 2Ti 2:15, 2:18; (Titus 1:1); Heb. 10:26; 1Pe 1:22; Jas 3:14; 5:19." (The Epistles of St. John) D Edmond Hiebert comments on the truth is not in us noting that "Self-deception involves refusal to allow the truth a place in one’s inner being. The truth denotes “that specific body of truth, both moral and soteriological (Ed: related to salvation), that God has revealed to His people." As a person commits himself to Christ that truth becomes his inner possession. (1John 1:5-2-6 Exposition) David Smith in The Expositor's Greek Testament feels truth is… the revelation of “the True (alethinos) God” (1Jn 5:20; cp John 17:3 also uses alethinos), which came “through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17), Himself “the Truth” (John 14:6). Nearly equivalent to the logos (1Jn 1:10). The Truth is a splendid ideal, never realized here, else it would cease to be an ideal; always as we pursue it displaying a fuller glory, And thus the nearer we approach it the further off it seems; when we walk in the light we see faults which were hidden in the darkness. Self-abasement is a characteristic of the saints. When Juan de Avila (A.D. 1500–69) was dying the rector of his college approached him and said: “What joy it must be to you to think of meeting the Saviour!” “Ah!” said the saint, “rather do I tremble at the thought of my sins.” (The Expositor's Greek Testament) Alfred Plummer writes that the truth is not in us because "we are in an atmosphere of self-made darkness which shuts the truth out. The truth may be all round us, but we are not in contact with it: it is not in us. One who shuts himself in a dark room has no light, though the sun may be shining brightly. All words about truth, ‘the truth, true, truly,’ are characteristic of John. (1 John 1 Commentary)