1 John 1

1 our hands have handled. As Westcott points out, there is no specific mention of the Resurrection in this Epistle, yet there is here an obvious reference to the words of the risen Christ (John xx. 27).

of the Word of life. Rather, “concerning the Word of life.” On comparing this introduction with the beginning of John’s Gospel (see John i. 1-5, and notes), we obtain this meaning: We declare unto you concerning “the Word” both His eternal existence “from the beginning,” and also His manifestation as the “Life” to us His apostles, giving to our very senses of hearing, sight, and touch, unquestionable evidence that He became truly man in order to become our “eternal life”; bringing us into fellowship with God and His saints.

2 for (and) the life was manifested. In the person of Christ the Incarnate Word: see John i. 14; 1 Tim. iii. 16.

that eternal life. The emphasis in original is brought out in R.V., “the life, the eternal life.”

3 our fellowship is with the Father, etc. On this communion of the saints with the Father and the Son, and with one another, see John xvii. 20, 21, and note.

4 that your joy may be full (“complete”). Almost the very words of our Lord (John xv. 11). Nestle’s Greek Testament (1920), however, reads “our joy.”

5 of Him. That is, “from Him.”

God is light. See John i. 4, and note.

(the) darkness. “Darkness” signifies the want of truth and purity. To “walk in the darkness” is to live in ignorance, error, or sin; to “walk in the light” is to aim at likeness to God in truth, holiness, and love.

7 if we walk in the light. The condition of what follows.

we have fellowship one with another. That is, Christian with Christian. The communion with God (3) is realised in the communion of saints.

cleanseth us from all sin. Lit., “is cleansing us,” etc.: a process of purification in heart and life. This is wrought through the constant influence of that “blood of Christ,” by which we have been redeemed, and so brought into the light, in which we walk. The atoning power and the continuous efficacy of the Blood are kindred truths of Scripture. In this verse the former is presupposed, the latter is declared. Both are expressed at the end of ver. 9.

9 faithful and just. He is “faithful” to His promise: “just” or righteous, because Christ has paid the price of our redemption (Eph. i. 7).

10 we make Him a liar. “God is made a liar because His entire scheme of redemption assumes the universality of sin, and the same view is set forth in His word” (Prof. A. L. Humphries in Peake’s Commentary).

If, in addition to this Epistle, we had only the Gospel by John, we should at once be struck by the identity both of ideas and expressions. The Gospel and the Epistle both begin by speaking of “the Word.” “The life was the light of men,” says the Gospel (i. 4); “God is light,” says the Epistle (i. 6); “Love one another,” says the Saviour in the Gospel (xiii. 34); “Love one another as He gave us commandment,” says the Epistle (iii. 25). The words of the Epistle, “God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him” (iv. 9), are only a slight variation of Our Lord’s words in the Gospel (iii. 16). These and other similarities in Gospel and Epistle indicate that they were written by the same John, the disciple and beloved friend of Christ.

If, further, we note the references to denials of our Lord’s divinity (ii. 22; iv. 3, 4) on the one hand, and to denials of His humanity on the other (iv. 2, 3; v. 6), we are able approximately to fix the date at which the Epistle was written. These heresies, of the Gnostics, Ebionites and Docetists appeared in the later years of the first century A.D., and on this and other grounds the date of the Epistle may be regarded as A.D. 90 or soon after.

Like the writings of St. Paul, the Epistle blends the practical with the doctrinal, ethics with theology. Thus we have the general call to righteousness of life (i. 6, 7), the exhortation to keep Christ’s commandments (ii. 3), and to follow His example (ii. 6), to love the brethren (ii. 9-11; iii. 16-18; iv. 7, 11) and to keep from idolatry (v. 21).

“God is light” (i. 5) and “God is love” (iv. 7) are the basic truths of all Christian character and conduct.