1 John 1

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BIBLE STUDY TEXTBOOK

HEREBY WE KNOW

A STUDY OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN by Clinton R. Gill

Paraphrase

By J. B. Rotherham

to Owen L. Crouch Who Introduced Me To I John and to The Wednesday Night Bible Study Group at West Liberty, W.Va. Who Were My Guinea Pigs

PREFACE

THE RELEVANCE OF I JOHN

Christian life is a personal encounter with God in the person of Jesus, It was never intended by its Author to become a moralistic ethic or a legalistic religion. Nowhere is this spelled out any more clearly than in the writings of the Apostle John. The touch-stone of the Christian life is the historic fact of the incarnation. In the presence of the incarnate Christ, a man’s life is no longer a matter of ceremonial obedience to an external God. It is no longer an ethic suggested by the ethereal, insubstantial Ultimate Ground of Being which has no anchor and no certain base.

At a time and in a place in human history, man was visited by God on his own home ground, and neither man nor the ground has been quite the same since! To man’s demand, Show us the Father and it sufficeth us, Jesus still answers, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. (See John 14:1-ff)

It is to replace philosophical uncertainty with historic reality that John wrote both his Gospel and the Epistles which bear his name. Whether the cause of confusion be the gnosticism of the first and second centuries or the God-myth battle of twentieth century theology, the oil on troubled waters is always What we saw and our hands handled. (1 John 1:1)

Today’s young adult American is an open minded agnostic. He is an inquirer. He doubts, but he is not necessarily cynical. He raises questions and he wants answers that are real. He will not listen to the pronouncements of pious platitudes which squelched the imaginative thinker of a generation ago. Modern Young America accepts few of the old absolutes as valid. He values personal relationships above abstract or ex officio virtue. He wants frankness more than he wants nicety; honesty more than propriety.

Significantly, such young adults tend to be suspicious of the institutionalized churches with their preconceived and pat answers for life in the complexities of our day. Simultaneously, this new generation of Americans, many of whom belong to church, are acutely interested in the basic meaning of life. It is just here that the greatest challenge comes to today’s Christian minister and adult teacher. No writer in the Bible has supplied us with information more pertinent to this challenge than has John. It was his purpose, in another historical context, to answer the very questions Young America is asking. John too is concerned with relationships. He experienced a personal relationship with the Incarnate Word. That relationship he presents as the revelation that God is light. To walk within the circle of that light is to come into a relationship with God and with the Word and with all other men who also walk in the light. Moral issues are settled for those who walk in the light. It is upon this basis that the sin problem is solved. Social relationships, as well as religious, are illuminated by this light. John says we are not to go on loving with the tongue, but in deed and in truth. In short, a personal relationship to Jesus as the Christ, accompanied by an honest attitude toward our moral weakness, a practical love of our fellow human beings, and a firm conviction that Jesus really is more than a sort of celestial Big Brother,. these things are life indeed and abundant. This little book is sent forth with the prayer that it may help its readers to meet the challenges of our age and give those it teaches and touches a faith to live by.

INTRODUCTION

HELPFUL FEATURES

To make the best use of this book you should be familiar with several features which are designed to help you in your study of the Epistles of John.

First. read the preface carefully. It will help you appreciate how these epistles are as alive today as when they were written. their message just as needed.

Second. study the Words We Must Understand. John’s epistles were written in answer to a specific heresy which was beginning to be felt by the followers of the Way. They were written in koine Greek of the First Century. You will understand the epistles much more easily if these words are a part of your own vocabulary.

Seventh. The Author’s Translation was originally prepared to help him glean, from the epistle, thoughts that might have otherwise been overlooked in depending upon some other English version. It is hoped that it will also help the reader in the same way.

Eighth. Comments on the text are included as a study guide. They are limited and are not intended as an exhaustive commentary. Rather they are designed to stimulate the reader in his own study.

Ninth. At the end of each chapter is a set of review questions. These are intended to help the reader remember what he has read and to furnish pegs upon which to hang his own thoughts and those of the Apostle.

WORDS WE MUST UNDERSTAND IN ORDER TO STUDY I John 1.

Word (logos)

The Greek logos, translated Word in the English version, meant something to the first century readers of I John that the modern English-speaking reader finds hard to grasp.

To the first century Jew, a word was a unit of energy. God said, and it was so. The Word was the master builder of the universe.

ii.

The Greeks were also familiar with this term. To them the Word was the mind and reason upon which the entire creation was built. It was the word which made the fluxating, changing universe stable and dependable.

iii.

Philo, an Alexandrian Jew, a philosopher and a contemporary of Jesus had much to say about the word. He reasoned that the word was God’s instrument of creation. It was the imprint of God’s mind upon matter. The word determined the course of the universe. Perhaps most important from a Christian point of view, Philo saw the word as the priest through whom God communicated with man.

It is into this pre-Christian understanding of the word that John pours the rich elixir of Christian truth. In so doing, he incorporates all that is best in Jewish and Greek thinking on the subject. (See John 1:1-14)

The word was in the beginning, and so was eternal and uncreated.

ii.

The word was with God. John’s grammar (John 1:1) leaves no room for doubt. The word was equal with God.

iii.

The word was God. That is, the word was deity rather than a created being.

iv.

All things were made through Him. The word was what our scientists would refer to as the first cause. He was what the modern liberal theologian, blinded by his inflated evaluation of his own scholarship, refers to as Ultimate Ground of Being.

In Him, (the word), was life. (Demonstrated by the inability of the grave to hold Him.)

vi.

The life, (which was in the word) was the light of men. This light was (and is) constantly coming into the world, and the darkness is unable to extinguish it. It is this light which distinguishes man from the animals.

vii.

The word became flesh and dwelt among us, Jesus was not God and man, or in man. He was God as man.

Incarnation

In his final statement concerning the word, John introduces the idea expressed by our English word incarnation. (John 1:14)

John goes one step beyond the philosophers. The word which they considered an impersonal force or influence, he introduces as a person.

In this statement concerning the word, John also solves the dilemma of modern liberal theology. Jesus is not, as one theologian cynically put it, A divine substance. plunged in flesh and coated with it like chocolate. He did not come into flesh, nor take on flesh. The word became flesh!

Light

The Greek word is phos and means light as the source of illumination as opposed to reflected light. It is the light of the sun rather than the reflected light of the moon.

This light was never kindled, and hence never quenched. It is eternal.

Everyone who has ever studied biology knows that there is a vital relationship between light and life.

As in the physical, so in the spiritual. John says in the word was life, and life was the light of men. The word is the source of human life as the sun is the source of plant life.

In the Graeco-Roman world in which John wrote and in which his readers lived, popular thought visualized two ways of existence: The way of darkness and death and the way of light and life. John makes one’s relationship to the Word the test of one’s position in the struggle between these two ways.

Gnosticism

Gnosticism was the false teaching against whose influence John wrote.

Gnosticism was a mixture of Oriental mysticism, Greek philosophy and Christian thought.

The practical effect of the Gnostic philosophy was to separate all spirit from all matter. The effect of Gnosticism on the Christian faith was two-fold.

It denied the incarnation. The Word which was spirit, and therefore good, could not become flesh which was matter, and therefore evil.

ii.

It denied any personal guilt of sin on the part of the individual. After all, if the spirit of man is distinct from his body, then his spirit can scarcely be held accountable for what his body does.

Know

The gnostic claimed a special knowledge of truth. The word gnostic means one who knows.

John used the word know in a way designed to prove that true knowledge comes from personal experience with Christ.

Truth

The Greek alethia translated truth means reality. The gnostic thought he had exclusive rights to reality.

John uses this word which means reality to describe the truth revealed in Christ.

The word is presented as the ultimate source of all reality.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbott-Smith, G., A Manual Lexicon of The Greek New Testament; T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 1948.

Barclay, Wm., Jesus As They Saw Him; Harper and Row, New York, 1962.

Barclay, Wm., The Letters of John and Jude; Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1960.

Barnes, Albert, Notes On The New Testament; Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1949. (Vol. 10)

Blackwelder, Boyce W., Light From the Greek New Testament; Warner Press, Anderson, Ind., 1958.

Butler, Paul, Gospel of John; College Press, Joplin, Mo., 1961. (Vol. 1)

Eadie, John, Eadie’s Biblical Cyclopaedia; Charles Griffin and Company, London, 1901.

Eiselin, Lewis and Downey, The Abingdon Bible Commentary; Abingdon Press, New York, 1929.

Phillips, J. B., God Our Contemporary; MacMillan Co. New York, 1960.

Pulpit Commentary, The; William Eerdman Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 1950.

Robertson, A. T., A Grammar Of The Greek New Testament In The Light Of Historical Research; Broadman Press, Nashville, 1934.

Robertson, A. T., Word Pictures In The New Testament; Broadman Press, Nashville, 1933. (Vol. 6)

Schaff, Phillip, History of The Christian Church; Wm. B. Eerdman Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 1950. (Vol. 1)

Stevens, Geo. B., The Theology Of The New Testament; Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1950

Tenny, Merrill C., The New Testament (An Historical and Analytical Study); Eerdman Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1953.

Thiesson, Henry C., Introduction To The New Testament; Eerdman Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1950.

Titus, Eric Lane, Essentials Of New Testament Study; The Ronald Press Co., New York, 1958.

Wescott, B. F. The Gospel According To John; Eerdman Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1951.

Wuest, Kenneth, An Expanded Translation, Philippians Through The Revelation; Eerdman Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1959.

1 John 1:1-4

HEREBY WE KNOW PART I

Prologue of I John 1 John 1:1-7

Life is Fellowship with God Who is Light Chapter I

GOD IN A TEST TUBE

The Prologue 1 John 1:1-4

The Text

That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life (2) (and the life was manifest, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was manifested unto us): (3) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us; yea and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ; (4) and these things we write that our joy may be made full.

Try to Discover

Is there scientific proof of the truth of the Christian Gospel?

What does the use of the verbs of hearing, seeing, and handling indicate about the author’s relationship to the incarnation?

What does John say is his two-fold purpose of writing? (1 John 1:3-4)

How does John’s claim to sensory experience with the word of life answer the gnostic problem?

(See Introduction)

What other New Testament writing begins with a similar prologue?

What do we know about the word (logos) from John’s Gospel? (Read John 1:1-14). See also Paul T. Butler, Gospel of John, Vol. I, College Press, 1961., pp. 19-ff.)

How does this writing become part of the fulfillment of John’s Apostolic Commission? (Compare 1 John 1:2-3 and Acts 1:8)

Paraphrase

That which was from the beginning, Which we have heard, Which we have seen with our eyes, Which we ourselves gazed upon, and our hands did handle, Concerning the Word of Life, (2) And the Life was made manifest, and we have seen, and are bearing witness, and announcing unto you, The Age-abiding Life, Which, indeed, was with the Father, and was made manifest unto us. (3) That which we have seen and heard are we announcing even unto you, in order that ye too may have fellowship with us and our own fellowship also may be with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (4) And these things are we writing in order that our joy may be made full.

Comments

Preliminary Remarks

First John is especially relevant in our time. Just as the gnostics of the first century believed they had a corner on knowledge, so the modern who is awed by the phenomenal advance in technical, scientific knowledge often scoffs at the traditional faith of the Christian. Just as did the gnostic, so does the modern agnostic, consider himself and his knowledge of life too sophisticated to accept the fundamental tenets of Bible based belief. The cry of today’s skeptic is, No one can prove there is a God. There is no scientific proof. The same doubter is often eager to accept anything he sees on his television screen as true so long as it is substantiated by the testimony of five New York doctors. The inconsistency of these two attitudes never occurs to him. The demand for scientific evidence is not new. Nearly two thousand years ago when Thomas heard of the resurrection of Jesus, he demanded sound proof. He would not believe until he had thrust his finger into the nail prints, and his hand into the spear scar in the side of the Master. That which Thomas learned and which the present day skeptic must learn is that God placed Himself in a test tube in the incarnation. When the experiment was complete, and the evidence all presented, Thomas voiced the only honest conclusion. My Lord and my God. (John 20:1-31) The incarnation presented to man, at a time and a place in history, a scientific demonstration of the fact that God is! The Gospel of John is a lab report of this experiment. I John is the practical application of the results to life.

The honest seeker after truth, whether he live in the first century or the twentieth, deserves to be confronted with this scientific demonstration. He needs also to understand that his own relationship to this Incarnate God-In-A-Test-Tube, is the test by which he may know whether he himself has life or mere existence. As in the fourth Gospel, the Apostle John begins this epistle also with a prologue. In it he lays the footings of all that will follow. The tests by which we may know we are in fellowship with God and God’s people are not of human origin. They are related to the incarnation experience of the eternal word, (logos). That which He revealed about God is that by which we are to examine our own lives. In so doing, we know we are (or are not) really in the divine fellowship.

Translation and comments

John’s appeal to personal, sensory experience with the incarnate Word. 1 John 1:1

(1 John 1:1) What was from (the) beginning, what we have heard and understood, what we have seen and contemplated with our own eyes, what we looked upon with amazement and our own hands handled, concerning the word of life,

John begins his letter by presenting life as a collective and comprehensive whole. This he does by the use of a neuter pronoun, What. We might have expected him to say who was from the beginning, whom. we have seen and so on. He is not here calling attention to the Word (logos) as a person but to life which is demonstrated and made available by the Word. It was life which was from the beginning. From a study of John’s Gospel we learn that this life is inherent in the person of the Word. (John 1:1-4)

In the original language, the tenses of the verbs in this verse are a kaleidoscope of vivid memory and recurrent recollection. What he has heard so many years ago is still ringing in his ears. He can close his eyes, and the voice of the Galilean still preaches the sermon on the mount. The very ebb and flow of the Master’s voice as He delivered the discourse on the bread of life and a thousand other lessons and sermons is still audible in his retrospection. What he has seen, he still sees in the eyes of his mind. With but the slightest urging, the panorama of Cana and Gethsemane and Calvary and all the other hallowed scenes stream across his vision in vividness undimmed by time and sharpened by understanding. What he examined with his hands. the breast he leaned upon at the last supper, the touch of those shop-calloused fingers on his shoulders as he walked the shores of Galilee in a communion so close it earned him the title that disciple whom Jesus loved. the tender touch of the scars in the hands and side that convinced even the most skeptical. in these remembrances the tips of his fingers still tingle! Such are the permanent results portrayed by the use of the perfect tenses.

The historic fact of these experiences is re-emphasized by the aorists What we looked upon. and our hands felt. Here is the crisp, staccato presentation of John’s credentials. What he is going to write will not be based upon speculative philosophy but upon personal experience. A fact is a thing done; it cannot be undone. The incarnation is not a matter of opinion, it is a fact of history. The entire tenor of these opening verses is designed to remind his readers that he had personal sensory experience with his subject, and is therefore infinitely more qualified to evaluate it than were the gnostics whose incomplete knowledge was at best second hand, and whose understanding was dependent upon divination rather than demonstration. John is establishing himself as an eyewitness of the incarnation, and no amount of speculation, no matter how sophisticated, can change what he heard and saw and touched.

The word translated looked upon (KJV) means to view with amazement. John appreciates the magnitude of his claim that life actually stood before him in visible, tangible, audible human form. The incarnation, even in this day of space travel and polio vaccine, is still the most astounding fact of human history.

Parenthetical statement; the incarnation is a historical fact. 1 John 1:2

(1 John 1:2) (and the life was demonstrated openly, and we have investigated and are testifying and declaring unto you the life, the eternal life. This very life intimately associated with the Father and was openly demonstrated to us.)

Verse two forms a parenthesis. It is not part of the flow of thought contained in the main sentence. This is typical of John’s personal writing style. (See John 1:6-8)

The parenthesis here is inserted for the sake of emphasis and clarity. John intends that his readers not miss the implications of verse one. It was life which was demonstrated in our time and space; set up in such a way that those who participated in the divine experiment had ample opportunity to investigate and know that truth of which they spoke and wrote.

This life was eternal. not created, and it was intimately associated with the Father in eternity before the incarnation. We are at once reminded of this same author’s statement in the fourth Gospel, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. (John 1:1). And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. (John 1:14)

Life is no longer an abstract profundity dealing only with the recondite abstruse. That which was obscure has been revealed. Life, therefore, is not to be determined by philosophic speculation. Life is as real and demonstrable as a carpenter who walked and talked and ate and slept and laughed and cried and whose resurrection proved the claim that He made: I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one cometh unto the Father, but by Me. (John 14:6)

In his epistle, John will give us the tests by which we may be as certain of our relationship with the Father as was He, and thereby know we have life. c.

Primary Purpose of John’s writing. 1 John 1:3

(1 John 1:3) What we have seen and heard we are also declaring to you in order that you may share friendly and familiar communion with us. And the friendly, familiar communion which is ours is also with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

Following the parenthesis of verse two, John resumes the original train of thought begun in verse one. Without the parenthetical interruption, the thought would run something like this: What was from the beginning, what we have heard and understood, what we have seen and examined with our own eyes, what we looked upon with amazement and our own hands felt concerning the word of life we are also declaring to you in order that you may keep on having friendly and familiar communion with us. And the friendly familiar communion which is ours is also with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. The key word to I John is fellowship. The Greek word is koinonia. I have translated it friendly familiar communion, in an attempt to represent its true meaning.

The English word fellowship is probably adequate if it is understood. However, it has fallen into bad company. Too many think of fellowship in terms of bean suppers, class meetings and the like. These things may be properly considered expressions of fellowship, but fellowship itself is a much deeper experience. Fellowship (koinonia), as John uses it, involves a deep and mutual sharing. That which is shared becomes the principle factor in an intimate personal affinity. Paul uses this same word in 1 Corinthians 10:16 to describe the close tie of the members of the body as they share in the Lord’s supper. He uses this communion as the basis of an appeal for unity among the members of the congregation. In 2 Corinthians 6:14, this word is used (translated agreements) from a negative point of view to demonstrate the absurdity of such a close relationship between the temple of God and idols.

Perhaps the idea of fellowship can be illustrated in this way. If a man from a distant planet were to arrive on Earth and establish any kind of rapport with Earth people, he would first of all have to find some common factor in the lives of the two worlds. Friendly and familiar communion could be had then on the basis of that which was shared. So it is with Christian Fellowship. John says that he is declaring what he has seen and heard of the Word of life in order to provide a common ground of meeting with his readers. The present tense of may have (which I have rendered may keep on having) indicates that they were indeed already having this fellowship. John’s passion is that they shall continue in it. This is only possible when they share with him the reality of the Incarnation. It is, moreover, not just fellowship with himself, as a witness of the incarnation which is at stake. It is, more significantly, fellowship with God Himself. To deny that God did indeed. so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, (John 3:16) is to destroy the only foundation upon which any intimate communion between God and man can be based!

Still further, this friendly and familiar communion is with the Incarnate Word, Whom we know as Jesus, God’s Son. The Hebrew writer describes the basis of our fellowship with Jesus in these words: Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily not to angels doth He give help, but He giveth help to the seed of Abraham. Wherefore it behooved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted. (Hebrews 2:14-18)

It was in order to establish this fellowship that the Word became flesh. (John 1:14) To deny the incarnation is to destroy the only basis of any intimate communion with the Word.

Secondary Purpose of John’s writing. 1 John 1:4

(1 John 1:4) We are writing this in order that our joy may continue as it has already been fulfilled.

A great deal of personal satisfaction and spiritual pleasure comes from being instrumental in bringing lost men into the divine fellowship. Jesus claimed this joy in teaching the Apostles the medium in which successful prayer is to be said. In John 15:1-27, He intimates that a personal attachment to Him through His word establishes the communication necessary with God. With this done, they are invited to ask whatever they will for themselves in the accomplishment of the divine purpose of fruit bearing and it shall be theirs. These things I have spoken, He said, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

The joy of Jesus was fulfilled many times over as the first century church turned pagan cities upside down with the Gospel. The joy of the apostles also became full as they watched their witness spread the fellowship from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth. (Cf. Acts 1:8)

Now as John writes, the first century is drawing to a close. He is the last remaining of the twelve, and he is nearly one hundred years old. On the horizon there looms the spectre of a false doctrine which threatens to destroy the fellowship for which Christ died and for which he and the other eleven have given their lives. There is a great deal of personal feeling involved as John pens the words: We are writing this in order that our joy may continue as it has already been fulfilled.

Questions for Review

Why is the gnostic problem answered by John relevant in our time?

What is meant by God In A Test Tube? In what way does the experience of John with the Incarnate Word prove the fact of God’s being? (See John 14:1-9)

What one of the twelve Apostles demanded scientific proof of the resurrection? (See John 20:24-25)

Why does John say What rather than Whom in 1 John 1:1?

Name some specific incidents in the life of Jesus which John could still see in his mind’s eye.

What specific incidents in John’s relationship with Jesus gave him opportunity to actually touch Him?

What are John’s qualifications to write this message?

What is the purpose of the parenthesis in 1 John 1:2?

What difference does the Incarnation make in the means by which we may understand life?

What is the key word of I John?

What is the real meaning of the word fellowship as used by the New Testament writers?

With whom do we have fellowship on the basis of the Apostolic witness to the Incarnation according to 1 John 1:3?

Does John write to bring people into the fellowship or to maintain those who are already in it?

What does the meaning of the word Fellowship teach us about the necessity of the Incarnation? (Cf. Hebrews 2:14-18)

In addition to his concern that his readers remain in the fellowship of the Father and the Son, what is John’s personal reason for this writing?

1 John 1:5

CHAPTER II

THIS IS THE MESSAGE

1 John 1:5

The Text

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.

Try to Discover

Why does John change from the neuter what of the prologue to the masculine him?

What does John mean by light?

What does John mean by darkness?

What are the practical implications of this verse for the Christian life?

Paraphrase

And this is the message which we have heard from him, and are reporting unto you, That God is light, And in him is no darkness at all.

Translation and Comments

1 John 1:5. And the message which we have heard from Him and are declaring to you is this, that God is light and darkness is absolutely not in Him at all.

The summary of the Gospel

In the fifth verse, John states in capsule the ministry of the incarnate life. All that John has seen, all that he has heard, all that he has learned from the tangible nature of the Divine Experiment is included. John conceives of the whole earthly life of Jesus as a message received and which he in turn must deliver. His form of expression here is reminiscent of Jesus-’ own statement … the things which I heard from Him (the Father), these speak I unto the world. (John 8:26)

It is This Which John Declares

The Apostle’s entire thesis is dependent upon the fact that his gospel is not his own. As with Paul, so with John, he neither … received it from man, nor was I (he) taught it, but it came to me (him) through revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:12) The philosophy of the gnostics was borrowed from the human reasonings of Graeco-Roman philosophers and oriental mystics. John’s message was given him directly by the divine revelation of the incarnation.

God is Light

The Old Testament writers were familiar with the metaphor used here: God is Light. One of the earliest manifestations of God to Israel was as light in the Shikina Glory which led them out of Egypt. (Exodus 13:21-22) By day it appeared as a pillar of cloud. By night it appeared as a pillar of fire. In either case it was divine light given to guide God’s people from captivity to freedom, from the ignorance of God’s will to revealing of the covenant.

The psalmist sang, The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear. (Psalms 27:1)

Isaiah wrote of the Messiah as a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. (Isaiah 42:6) Again Isaiah prophesied, I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)In a burst of prophetic illumination, this same prophet penned these words, Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. (Isaiah 60:1)

The pagans also were familiar with the term light applied to deity. The Zoroastrianism of Persia, father of the Oriental mystery cults, taught that the whole universe was the scene of a struggle between light and darkness. In this struggle, a man must choose which side he will be on. The issue of one’s choice was his eternal destiny.

The Greek and Roman mysteries also thought of light and darkness in a way similar to the Persians. They believed there were two ways. One was the way of darkness, and one the way of light. The way of darkness ended in death, while the way of light ended in life. The Greeks particularly identified light with deity. The Dead Sea Scrolls from the community of Qumran contain the statement The origin of truth lies in the fountain of light. In the historical setting of I John, the idea that God is light was particularly relevant. It grew out of the background from which the Gospel came, and was already acceptable to that school of religious thought at which it was aimed. When John says, God is light, he does not disagree with the gnostics whose philosophy was borrowed from these various sources. Rather he says that the affirmative proof that God is light is to be found in the incarnation which they were denying. Therefore, the evidence as to which side of this light-darkeness, life-death struggle a man is on is determined by his personal relationship to Jesus as the incarnate light.

This is precisely John’s own statement in the fourth Gospel, And this is the judgment, that light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light, for their works were evil. (John 3:19)

The tests of life which John gives us in this epistle are three: 1) our attitude toward our own sin, 2) our attitude toward others in the fellowship, and 3) our attitude toward the incarnation itself. These tests are an appeal to the nature of God revealed in Christ. To say God is light brings up immediately the idea of morality. If God is light, He is absolute purity and holiness. As this purity and holiness shines into our lives, it reveals that we are not pure and holy. To have fellowship with Him, we must be willing to accept this truth about ourselves in order that He may correct it*.*

The light of God in Jesus probes into the depths of our souls. Beneath the veneer of social propriety it reveals a vicious selfishness which corrupts and destroys. No amount of excuse making or philosophic sophistication can alter the fact that, when Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are tempted, yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15) His sinlessness condemned everyone who has ever yielded to temptation. The Gnostic denial of the personal guilt of sin is thus put to route by the fact that God Himself met and overcame temptation as a human being. John will say shortly, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

The second test that John will give by which we may know we have eternal life is the test of love. This also answers to the nature of God revealed in Jesus. When John uses the word love he is not referring to a soft sentimentalism. Love is the self-giving which faced the rugged reality of the cross in order to give life to the lost. This test, like the first, takes its meaning from the message, God is light. The life giving qualities of light are perhaps best illustrated by the light of the sun as it brings life to the earth. Ultimately all physical life is produced and sustained by the light of the sun. The fundamental truth of botany is that all animate life on earth is traceable to photosynthesis. This is the process by which green plants transform the nutrients from the soil into food in the presence of sunlight. Light gives physical life by the process of photosynthesis.

Love, rather than photosynthesis, is the process by which God, as light, gives spiritual life. As we test ourselves by the light of the Gospel, we find that those who love give themselves as God gives, in order to sustain life. John will say later, Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. Just as darkness is the absence of light, so hate is the absence of love. Just as plant life cannot survive the absence of light, so the life of man cannot survive the absence of love. If we do not share this life giving love, we do not have eternal life.

The third test which John will give by which we are to determine our possession of eternal life is belief. So far as John is concerned, belief is the acceptance of the historic incarnation as the medium through which light reveals itself. Here again, we must remember that the test grows out of the nature of God as light. God is all knowledge, and the source of all knowledge. To have eternal life we must accept truth as revealed by God Who is light. The revelation was made in Jesus as Christ. If God is indeed light, then no intellectual ignorance can darken His all-embracing knowledge of truth. God is the source of all truth, not just that which we have blindly termed religious truth.

There is an area of truth which man has been able to discover within himself. It is referred to by the term humanities. This truth is expressed in literature, history and the branches of learning concerned with human thought and relations. If God is light, He is the ultimate source of this truth. The light lights every man coming into the world. (John 1:9) The psalmist wrote, O Lord thou hast searched me and known me. such knowledge is too high, I cannot attain unto it. (Psalms 139:1-ff) God knows what is in man. (John 2:24-25)

There is a second area of truth which man discovers by observing and experimenting with his environment. This area of truth is called science. Since God is light, He is also the ultimate source of this truth. Man spends billions to learn a small part of the scientific knowledge possessed by the Architect of the universe. He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names. (Psalms 147:4)

There is an area of truth which man will never discover within himself, and which he will never discover by exploring his time-space environment. We can only know it as it is revealed by God. The humanist may tell what man is as a social animal. The scientist may discover where man is by studying the circumstances of man’s physical existence, Neither will ever discover why man is or where he is going!

The inspired scriptures, with their account of the scheme of redemption, record God’s revelation of spiritual reality in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament, like a rheostat, gradually increased the available light as it prepared the spiritual eyes of men, blinded by ignorance, for the full brilliance of God’s self-revelation in the Christ. The New Testament records the time when the sunburst of God’s very express image, the effulgence of His glory stood before us. (Cf. Hebrews 1:1-4)

To deny the incarnation of Christ is therefore to deny the ultimate truth of the entire universe. Divine revelation alone gives meaning to human and scientific truth. To deny revelation is to live in darkness and have only warped concepts of reality. For this reason, John gives us belief in the Incarnate Word as the final test of eternal life. We know that the Son of God is come. and hath given us understanding, that we know Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 5:20)

Questions for Review

What is the basis of John’s argument in I John?

What statement by John summarizes the entire ministry of Jesus, including both His doings and teachings?

What was the Shakina Glory? (Read Exodus 24:17; Exodus 40:34 and 1 Kings 8:11)

What did the oriental mystery cults teach about light and darkness?

What did the Greek and Roman religions teach about light and darkness?

What do the Dead Sea Scrolls teach about the origin of truth?

When John says God is light, does He agree or disagree with the pagan religions of the day? Explain.

What three tests of life constitute the frame work of I John?

What does the light of God reveal about personal sin?

What is love in John’s writings? What does love give and why?

How does John know God is light?

How does the truth revealed by Jesus differ from truth in other areas of investigation? How is it similar?

What gives meaning to truth discovered by man in the areas of science and the humanities?

1 John 1:6-7

CHAPTER III

IF WE WALK IN THE LIGHT

1 John 1:6-7

The Text

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; 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.

Try to Discover

How is it possible for sinful men to walk in the light as He is in the light?

Why does John say … we are not doing the truth, instead of saying. we are not telling the truth?

Why does John change from … have fellowship with Him. in 1 John 1:6 to … have fellowship one with another. in 1 John 1:7?

Paraphrase

If we say We have fellowship with Him and in darkness are walking we are dealing falsely and not doing the truth; 7) whereas if in the light we are walking, as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son is cleansing us from all sin.

D. Comments

Preliminary Remarks

In the two verses before us, John makes the individual’s attitude toward the incarnation the test of eternal life considered as (a) fellowship and (b) cleansing from sin. In the prologue, he has established the incarnation experience of Jesus as that which made life known to men. In verse five, he has said that the meaning of that experience is God is light.

The light of God came into the world in the person of Jesus. It became and ever shall remain, the acid test of life. Whoever comes to and remains in the light of God, shall not know condemnation, no matter how sinful he is. He who refuses to come into that light does so because his deeds are evil, and consequently he is already condemned. (Read John 3:16-21) So far as John is concerned, the Christless life is lived in darkness, is stained by sin, and ends in death.

Translation and comments

The negative. 1 John 1:6

(1 John 1:6) If we should say that we are having friendly, familiar communion with Him and we are walking in the darkness, we are lying, and we are not doing that which is real.

The saying of a lie and the doing of a lie are the same. Whoever says he is having fellowship with God while he is walking in darkness (i.e. while denying the incarnation) is not doing the truth. For John there is no middle ground. Truth is that which Jesus began both to do and to teach. (Acts 1:1) To deny it is to deny ultimate reality.

John has said (1 John 1:3) that the reason he is writing the message, which he both saw Jesus do and heard Jesus speak, is in order that his readers may go on having fellowship with God, and with His Son Jesus Christ. In chapter two, 1 John 2:23, he will say whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. There is no fellowship with God aside from Jesus as the incarnate light of God.

Jesus made this same claim for Himself when He said, No one cometh unto the Father but by me. (John 14:6) To claim otherwise is to both speak and act contrary to that which is real.

To walk in the light is to walk with Christ, to order one’s life according to that which He did as an example and taught as rules of conduct. This does not imply moral perfection! On the contrary, it involves the recognition to ourselves before God that we are guilty of sin. (1 John 1:8)

However, truth as it is revealed in Christ is never just intellectual. It is always moral. It is not concerned so much with abstract accuracy as with concrete living. It is not just something to think about as the philosophers. It is something to do. A man who walks in the light as He is in the light will spend his whole time in the awareness of an obligation to make his deeds match his words. He will recognize his need of divine cleansing, and never think that sin does not matter. The nearer one comes to the understanding of God, the more terrible sin seems, as God’s light reveals its evil nature. The whole universe has a moral base.

The positive. 1 John 1:7

(1 John 1:7) If we go on walking in the light as He is in the light, we are continuing to have friendly familiar communion with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son goes on cleansing us from all sins.

In verse seven, we have the positive side of the negative statement made in verse six. When our lives are lived in the light of God made available in Jesus, two things happen.

First, we have fellowship with one another. Notice that the phrase, have fellowship with Him of verse six changes here to have fellowship one with another. The phrases are virtually synonymous. Just as men at war with God are at war with one another, so men reconciled to God are reconciled to one another.

We may illustrate like this: Suppose a group of people are confined in a strange room which is cast in pitch darkness. They do not know the shape of the room. They do not know where the furnishings are or what their purpose is. As these people begin to grope about in the darkness they stumble over the furniture. They hurt themselves against what they cannot see. In their frustration and discomfort they bump into one another. They strike out at one another in anger and animosity. Suppose now that someone turns on the light. Each occupant of the room sees the others not as strange beings contributing to his discomfort, but as human beings, pretty much like himself. He sees the shape of the room as it was designed for human tenancy. He sees the furnishings not as obstacles over which to stumble, but as items created for his own use. So he sits down and begins to share with his fellows the blessings which the light has brought to all. So it is with the fellowship of the redeemed. When we were outside of Christ we did not understand the moral laws of the world in which we lived. We banged ourselves against the spiritual realities which were created for our benefit, and in our bafflement we struck out at each other. But in Christ, when we walk in the light as He brings it, we realize that the world in which we live was ordered for our occupancy to the glory to God. We understand that the moral laws of God are not designed to make us miserable and filled with guilt complexes, but are rather for our spiritual benefit. By the light of Christ we see that all men are created in the image of God, that all are lost in and victims of the same darkness, that aside from God’s light there is no hope for any, but that in it there is hope for all. (See 2 Corinthians 5:14-21) In these realizations we become reconciled to one another and begin to share the blessings which Christ has revealed.

The person who walks in darkness, and especially one who leaves the light and returns to the darkness, cannot have fellowship with those who remain in the light. (2 Corinthians 6:14-16) So, to be outside the proper relationship with those who are in the light is evidence that one is also cut off from God. Truth begets fellowship with both God and man.

The second result of walking in the light is that the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, continues to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. From this, it is apparent that walking in the light as He is in the light does not indicate a state of moral perfection equal to that of God. On the contrary, the first thing the life of Jesus says to us is that we are sinners, and personally responsible for the guilt of our own sin. By His sinlessness, He reveals our sin.

The reason no child of God has any right to a guilt complex is that, just as surely as the light reveals our guilt, so does the blood of Jesus cleanse us from it, so long as we remain in the light! One of the greatest blessings of the Christian life is realized forgiveness. (Romans 8:1)

We fail often in our attempt to follow the example of Jesus-’ sinless life, but it is not the following of His example that removes the guilt of sin. It is His blood! Cleansing is not affected by having the right attitude toward sin. However, when one comes, in the light of God, to have the correct attitude toward sin, he is then within the scope of the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus.

Nothing could be more diametrically opposed to the Gnostic than this statement about the blood of Jesus. It is the most anti-Gnostic terminology possible. It is also repugnant to today’s liberal theologian. The summary statement of these two verses is intended by John to set the tenor of the remainder of the epistle. From this point on he begins to demonstrate precisely how we may know we are remaining in God’s fellowship by the application of God’s light to our personal lives. Hereby we know we have life.

The affirmation of these verses is very relevant to the religious atmosphere of our day. There are those who would say that fellowship with God is determined solely by God’s love. There are those to whom the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man are completely divorced from the identity of Jesus as God’s only begotten son. These assumptions, according to John’s factual declaration here, are not made in accordance with the reality brought to light in the incarnation. Men are at war with men because they are at war with God, and the only Prince of Peace is the Word Who became flesh. Similarly, there are those modern theologians who tell us that the blood belongs to a primitive slaughterhouse religion and has no place in the socially adept Christianity of modern man. The person who thinks thus of the blood walks in the darkness. As in the first century, so today, the person who says he is a Christian while denying the truth of the Word lies and does not think or live according to that which is real.

Questions for Review

What are the two practical results of walking in the light as He is in the light?

How does the Light of God come into our lives?

Why do men refuse to walk in this light? (John 3:16-21)

Verse six and verse seven represent the _______________________ and the ________________ side of the same truth.

Does walking in the light imply moral perfection equal to that of God? Explain.

How is the truth of 1 John 1:6 related to that of Joh 14:6?

To walk in the light as He is in the light is to _________________.

Reality as it is revealed in Christ is never just ___________________ but always _______________.

What does God’s light in Christ reveal about personal guilt?

Men are at war with men because _____________________________.

In what practical way does God’s revelation of the nature of sin bring about fellowship among those who walk in the light?

To leave the fellowship of those who walk in the light results in broken fellowship also with ____________________.

The first thing the Gospel message says to anyone is what?

How does the life of Jesus reveal the guilt of others?

One of the greatest blessings of the Christian life is ____________ forgiveness.

What is meant by the statement, Nothing could be more diametrically opposed to the Gnostic than John’s statement about the blood? How is this the most anti-Gnostic terminology possible? (See Words We Must Understand. Gnosticism)

How is the summary statement of 1 John 1:6-7 relevant to the religious atmosphere of our day?

SPECIAL STUDIES

W. CARL KETCHERSIDE WALKING IN THE LIGHT

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 (1 John 1:7).

No discussion of fellowship can ignore this statement. It is apparent that the fellowship mentioned is conditioned upon walking in the light and doing so to the extent that God is in the light. But what is the light? What is darkness? What is it to walk in the light? An objective analysis of this passage and a proper answer to these questions produces a real surprise to partisan defenders who have merely accepted a traditional explanation without study or investigation.

It is not our present intention to outline at length the background of this epistle. That belongs more appropriately to our forthcoming discussion of 2 John 1:10-11. It will suffice now to say that, at the time of this writing, the last survivor of the apostles was living in Ephesus. Here he came into direct contact with the sect of the Gnostics who had infiltrated and disturbed every congregation in the Greek world. These factionalists pretended to special insights and claimed to have knowledge of the mystical and elemental structure of the universe. They took their title from gnosis, knowledge. They were the knowing ones, those on the inside, as opposed to the uninitiated.

Although there were various schools of gnostic thought, all were basically agreed upon the idea underlying their synthetic philosophy, that all matter is essentially evil. On this basis they concluded that God could not have personally created the world because he could have no contact with or relationship to evil. By the same token they concluded that Jesus was either a phantom, or that he was born of Joseph and Mary and elevated to Sonship with God at his baptism by John. Under the leadership of Cerinthus and other advocates of that day, this philosophy wormed its way into every congregation in Asia Minor. Wherever it went it destroyed the faith of many in the fact that Jesus had come in the flesh. Prevalent in the theory was the idea that there could be no possible union between the human and the divine. The former was material and, therefore, evil; and the possibility of fellowship between them was regarded as absurd and ridiculous. God was so far above the universe which had been created by a demi-urge, one of a series of emanations which had gone out from the divine essence, that he was wholly unconcerned about anything on earth and completely without interest in mankind. There could be no bridging of the chasm between deity and humanity, and from this stemmed two conclusions. Jesus was not deity manifested in a body of flesh and there was no such thing as a stage of fellowship between God and man.

John counters this theory with his gospel record. This will account for the difference between it and the synoptics. This term is applied to Matthew, Mark and Luke, because their contents can be charted in parallel columns and synchronized. A synopsis can be made which will be true of all three. The gospel according to John does not lend itself to such treatment. It was written for a distinctive purpose and to meet a wholly different need. The first two epistles of John were written for a distinctive purpose and to meet a wholly different need. The first two epistles of John were written for the same purpose. Both specifically deal with the treatment to be accorded those who deny that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 2:22), that is, that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (2 John 1:7).

An analysis of 1 John in the light of its background and the circumstances which called it forth, is one of the most rewarding experiences which can come to the dedicated Bible student. John begins by affirming that eternal life, which was with God from the beginning, was manifested and made visible unto men, and that he was one of the selected witnesses who beheld that life embodied in a person, and could testify to it. We have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life. Since eternal life was with the Father from the beginning, and was not merely extension of time, but possessed the quality of personality, the pre-existence of the Word of life was thus asserted.

Nature of the Testimony

The fact that prior to the manifestation, the Word was in a different state, does not argue against existence. It serves only to demonstrate that the incarnation revealed to human eyes what previously had been hidden from them. Once accepted, this would deal a death blow to elemental gnosticism. But there was a group of gnostics called the Docetics, from dokeo, to appear, to seem. These alleged that Jesus possessed no reality, that he was immaterial, and a phantom (or phantasy). For their benefit the apostle shows that the Word not only became flesh, but was actually subject to examination by the senses.

He argues against the possibility of the witnesses being deceived or deluded upon the basis of their intimate personal association with the embodied Word. From the standpoint of time, proximity and conscious interest, they had ample opportunity to examine the validity of his claims. They were with him long enough and were associated with him closely enough that they could not be misled. Their own careers and very lives were staked upon his veracity. They had left all and followed after him. Their examination was audible, visual and manual. We have heard, we have seen with our eyes, we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. The best proof is visual, and this is stressed. Not only did they see Jesus with their eyes, but they looked upon him. This has to do with studied investigation or prolonged scrutiny. Theirs was no mere passing glance. They did not simply look at Jesus as he passed by, but they looked upon him. The apostles were qualified witnesses. Their testimony met all of the requirements essential to proving a point of fact.

Their experience with the manifested Word made possible a fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. Eternal life became incarnate with them. This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life (1 John 5:11-12). When the Word of life became embodied, that Word was designated the Son of God. When eternal life dwells in us we are also called sons of God. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God (1 John 3:1).

The declaration of what the apostolic witnesses had seen and heard was to make possible the extension of the divine-human fellowship unto their hearers, and thus provide for them fulness of joy. The essence of the message which had been conveyed unto them by God and which they, in turn, conveyed to others, was summed up in the words, God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Since the declaration was to assure fellowship of the human with the divine, and since it consisted of the statement that God is light in the absolute, it is obvious that nothing can be of greater importance than identification of the light. Fellowship is conditioned upon walking in that light.

Fellowship is not by word but by walk. It is not the testimony of the lips but of the life. The word walk means more than merely making progress in a given direction, or placing each foot alternately before the other. It involves experience and sharing of thought and life. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not (found); for God took him (Genesis 5:24). Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9). Inasmuch as God is light, to say that one is in fellowship with God, while walking in darkness, is to lie and do not the truth. Darkness is the opposite to light.

*Identifying the Light

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.*

What is the light? In this context the light is what God is, for God is light. The word light is used as a symbol for various qualities or things in the inspired scriptures. Sometimes it is used for divine revelation, and the unrevealed is darkness. Sometimes it is used for reverence of the living God, and idolatry is darkness. More frequently it is used for knowledge and ignorance is darkness. Only by studying the frame of reference in which the term is employed can one be certain of its meaning. In this connection, we can eliminate from consideration anything which it is not possible for man to possess in the same degree as God, that is, in an absolute or perfect degree. God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we walk in the light as he is in the light. This immediately excludes knowledge of God’s will from consideration. It is obvious that none of us can have the same degree of mental perception as God. The finite mind cannot embrace the scope of the infinite. To walk in the light cannot mean either to perfectly understand God’s will or to perfectly do it. This would require something we do not have in the flesh.

Fortunately, we can determine from this brief epistle what light is, as John uses the word. Light is love. It is not, however, affection, sentiment or passion. This love of which John speaks is agape, the love which God had for us which prompted him to send Jesus to die for us. It is that active and energetic good will which stops at nothing to achieve passive, It is apprehended in its demonstration which is always out-reaching and outgoing. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because the good of the beloved object. It must be expressed. It can never be he laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16). It is this in which we must walk.

Light is love and since the opposite of light is darkness, the darkness must be hate, Once this is grasped every sentence in the epistle falls into place like the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle and a beautiful picture results. Let us proceed with the proof of our assertion. To abide in the light is to love the brethren. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him (1 John 2:10). If this is correct, hatred for the brethren will be darkness. He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now (1 John 2:9). This last is the equivalent of saying, If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie (1 John 1:6). If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar (1 John 4:20).

It may be urged that the completing phrase of 1 John 1:6 is do not the truth. This is correct for if we walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth. But it is by brotherly love that we know we are of the truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him (1 John 3:19). To the Greeks, truth was the reality which was at the basis of all appearance. It was the ideal which was behind every semblance. It was the genuine. John is saying that those who are in the truth are obligated to walk according to it, and the reality behind God’s whole purpose is love. If we say that we share in the divine nature (have fellowship with God), and walk in darkness (hate our brethren), we lie and do not the truth (miss the reality underlying the whole Christian structure).

Personification of Love

On what premise can we conclude that John introduces the theme of love in conjunction with his affirmation that the Word of life was personalized? The answer is simply that it was the love of God which made eternal life manifest unto us. Because he loved us thus, we ought also to love one another. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him (1 John 4:9). Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16). Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another (1 John 4:11).

The Son of God was God manifest in the flesh, reconciling the world unto himself. But that which was manifested was the Word of life which was with God in the beginning, and which was also God. But that light which was manifested was eternal life (1 John 1:2). It was this Word of life personalized which constituted the basis of the apostolic message. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. Eternal life is not extension of time but expression of love! Read the following carefully. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light (1 John 1:5). For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another (1 John 3:11). This is the message. God is light. This is the message. that we should love. There are not two messages. There is simply the message. It defines the nature of God and outlines the expression of that nature in those who are his sons.

And if it be true that light is love, it must follow that, if God is light, God is love. On this the record is positive. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16). He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love (1 John 4:8). To the serious student nothing else should be necessary to identify the light. When a writer says, God is light, and in the very same connection twice explains what he means by saying, God is love, it should require little intellectual ability to determine that in the context of that writer, *light is love!

Perfection of Love*

We come now to the chief intellectual hurdle and the greatest challenge to the scholarly mind. If light is love, does this not imply that we must possess love in the absolute, that is, in perfection? Whatever light is we must experience it, that is, walk in it to the same degree as it is manifested in God. If we walk in the light as he is in the light. That this is absolute is proven by the statement that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we walk in the light as he is in the light there can be none of the opposite effect in us. We have already eliminated knowledge from consideration because all of us are ignorant in some degree, of the will of God. No one knows as much as God. To assume that light is knowledge of God’s will and darkness is ignorance of it, is simply to make us liars. We would then have to read, if we say that we have fellowship with him and are ignorant of any part of the divine will, we lie and do not the truth. But if our knowledge is absolute and perfect, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. No sane reasoner would want to hinge his hope of being cleansed from sin upon knowing as much as God does. But do we not face the same problem if we regard light as being love? Can we love as God? Can we walk in this light as God is in the light? I unhesitantly affirm that we can. This was the very purpose of John’s epistle. It was written to tell us why and how we must do so. The thing that disturbs many is that they regard love as something to be achieved rather than something to be experienced. But no one achieves light. It is a creation of God, a blessing to be bestowed and enjoyed. And that love which is equivalent to light is not something to be attained by human striving. It is a gift of God. It is a commitment unto us of the divine nature. Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God (1 John 4:7).

When the love of God was personalized in Jesus, God revealed the possibility of incarnating the divine nature. That nature had always existed but was never expressed before as it was in Christ. In him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9). In him the world could see love manifested. The nature possessed by God could now be incorporate in man, for true love was now available. A new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth (1 John 2:8): The true love was now reality in flesh.

The love that God requires he supplies. It is a fruit of the Spirit. It is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us of God (Romans 5:5). It did not originate with man but with God. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us (1 John 4:10). We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). When God dwells in us his love is perfected in us (1 John 4:12). And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love: and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:16-17). As he is, so are weand in this world!

This does not minimize our responsibility. It does not mean the human factor is eliminated. The provision of love is God’s part; the expression of it is ours. God never forces us to act contrary to our will. It is his will to make love ours, it is ours to will love to others, and to be like him. This is proven by the fact that sometimes love is regarded as light which man cannot create, while at the same time man is commanded to walk in that light, that is, to exercise it in his own life. A man can love his brother or he can hate him. The manifestation of love is contingent upon the will of the individual, but one who is completely surrendered and committed to God will spontaneously and naturally walk in love. The secret is the surrender of the will absolutely to God so that the divine nature is incarnated in us as it was in Jesus. The Word must become flesh in us!

Loving Our Brothers

God is light. God is love. One who walks in love walks in light. One who dwells in God dwells in light. One who dwells in love dwells in God. God dwells in such a person, so he is in the light and the light is in him. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16). It is as we love our brothers that we walk in light and move out of darknessthe darkness of hate and animosity. Let us note the things affirmed of such love.

To love the brethren is to abide in the light (1 John 2:10). The word abide is not the word for a temporary dwelling. It is not used of transients who merely stay overnight. The light is the fixed residence of those who love the brethren. They do not merely pass through the light enroute from one area of darkness to another.
Love for the brethren is one of the two distinctive marks of sonship with God. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God (1 John 3:1). In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother (1 John 3:10).
Love for the brethren is a waymark to identify the area into which we have come as that of life. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren (1 John 3:14). The expression used here has to do with crossing a frontier. It was used of those returning from an alien country to their native land. When one is able to love the brethren unreservedly, because they are brethren, and not upon other conditions, he can know that he has left the territory where death reigns. He no longer breathes the noxious fumes of hate, he is in a purer atmosphere. He does not wade through the murky swamps of animosity. His feet are on solid ground.
Love for the brethren is a criterion by which we can determine we are of the truth. It is useless to contend we are of the truth when we do not love our brethren. We can memorize the scriptures and be able to quote whole Chapter s but this does not demonstrate we are of the truth. And hereby we know we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him (1 John 3:19).
Love manifested toward brethren enables God to dwell in us, that is to be in fellowship with us. As we love, the divine love is perfected in us. We must love as God loved. His love was not conditioned upon our sinlessness, our perfection in knowledge, or our freedom from error. The love of God is different from all other forms of love. Love which is composed of sentiment, affection or emotion, is extended to those who are deemed worthy. The love of God creates the worth in itself. The first loves those who are precious; the others are precious because they are loved.

When we tolerate or endure those who disagree with us and love those who do not, we are no better than the despised and outcast publicans (Matthew 5:46). They loved those who reciprocated in kind. Theirs was the mutual sharing of misery. Our love is to be creative and outgoing. It expends itself because only in so doing can it live. In loving we see God in our own hearts. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us (1 John 4:12).

When we are partners in Brotherly Love, Unlimited, we are freed from all torment or fear. This is not true of those who are restrained and restricted by a legalistic concept of the Way. All who seek to live by law, or love by law, will spend their time on earth bound in shallows and in miseries. Who knows if he has learned all he could learn, done all he could do, or climbed as high as he could by exertion of his own power or ability? There will always be doubt and suspicion, fear and distrust, under such a system. God changed the world by turning love loose. When we do the same we lose all fear of men on earth and judgment after death. The secret to the carefree life is love unbounded. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love (1 John 4:17-18). Notice that it is only perfect love that can cast out fear. Imperfect love is always frightened and fearful.

Hating Our Brothers

In the context love is a positive, active, energetic and energizing force. It is creative. But hate is negative. Because of its nature love must express itself in positive fashion, but hate need not necessarily do so. It can be simply lack of love. Man was made with the ability to love and thus to be like God, who is love. When he fails in this respect he does not cross the frontier. One must do something to leave where he is but he need not do anything to stay where he is. Not to love is to hate! This thesis would be incomplete if we showed the nature of love without studying the nature and results of hate.

Hatred for the brethren (that is, lack of love) leaves one in darkness. Regardless of how one may assert he is in the light, if he does not love, he lies. He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now (1 John 2:9). Darkness is simply absence of light. God did not create darkness. He created light.
Hatred of our brethren blinds us and makes true perception impossible. No man can ever grasp the import of God’s revelation until he loves his brethren as God loves them. To assert that one sees the truth while hating his brothers is like a blind man claiming to view the beauties of nature. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes (1 John 2:11).
Lack of love for the brethren is proof of the fatherhood of Satan in our lives. The realm of hatred is presided over by the prince of the power of the air. Those who operate in the area of hatred and animosity are on the devil’s territory. It is useless to affirm we are sons of God if we do not love God’s other sons. In this the children of God are manifested and the children of the devil (1 John 3:10).
Those who do not love the brethren are still in the domain of death. They dwell like lepers in putrid sepulchers, and like the evil spirits of old abide in the tombs. It is by love that we cross the frontier from death unto life. He who has not learned to love has not learned to live (1 John 3:14).
One who hates his brother is a murderer. Under the regime of Christ, thought and intent may be taken for the act. Jesus pointed out that those in olden times said, Thou shalt not kill but now to be angry against a brother without cause, or to slander or falsely accuse him, might result in losing one’s soul. One who hates lacks only the opportunity to do violence to a brother who is the object of his wrath and spite.
One who does not love does not know God. He may know about God and be able to catalogue the attributes of deity. But there is a difference in the ability to identify a person and in being identified with him, It is one thing to describe another; a wholly different thing to abide in Him. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love (1 John 4:8).

The Fallacy of Orthodoxy

It cannot be denied that the average preacher of The Church of Christ regards the light of which John speaks as his own creedal interpretation of the new covenant scriptures! To walk in the light is to live up to the traditional factional explanation of the party of which he is a member, To walk in darkness is to deviate in some particular, especially that of the special party emphasis, from the unwritten creed. There are some two dozen factions in the non-instrument segment of the disciple brotherhood. Each one thinks that it alone is in the light and all of the others are in darkness. Since fellowship one with another is conditioned upon walking in the light, and since the light is the legalistic code of the faction, fellowship is regarded as ordained of God to be limited to fellow-partisans. It would be a matter of compassion if only the ignorant and unlearned were victims of such philosophy, but it becomes tragic when it is realized that this type of exposition is advocated by editors and journalists who have a reputation in their parties. It is even advanced by college professors responsible for teaching the young. The situation would be regrettable if such teaching was given without intent to unduly influence others; it is even more so when it is done with the deliberate design of maintaining division in the family of God, and keeping apart those who should recognize each other as brethren. When the humbler saints indicate a desire to exhibit love for those on the other side of a partisan wall they are discouraged by misapplication of the statement, If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. Actually the revised factional version should read, If they will walk in our light as we are in that light, we will have fellowship with them.

The apostle John wrote in a time of crisis to stimulate believers in the Word of life and to encourage fellowship in love. His letter is a majestic treatise on brotherly love, unsurpassed in the whole realm of literature. In spite of that, men under the guise of loyalty to Jesus single out a passage and interpet it in such a manner as to make fellowship impossible and to render every claim of the epistle upon our better selves null and void.

I deny that the light in this instance is a written code. God is light but he is not a written code. Not a letter that John wrote was either life or light. If the third epistle was either one, the apostle deliberately withheld life or light from Gaius, for he declared, I had many things to write, but I will not with pen and ink write to thee. If the second epistle was to be life or light, it was imperfect, for John wrote, Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink. That the first letter was not intended to convey life is evident. These things have I written unto you that believe on the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life (1 John 5:13). Eternal life is not having a copy of the Bible, but having the Son of God. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life (1 John 5:12).

Where is the congregation of believers which will brazenly affirm that it is composed only of those who know as much about God’s will and purpose as God himself? If the light in which we must walk to have fellowship, is knowledge of God’s revelation, we must either be as perfect as God or we cannot be in fellowship. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If darkness is ignorance we cannot be ignorant at all. We must know all there is to know, and be as wise as God, or else we walk in darkness. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darknessif we are ignorant about anythingwe lie and do not the truth.

The absurdity of this lies in the fact that we will have to immerse people in the morning and exclude them from our fellowship in the afternoon, for if they do not come to a perfect knowledge as soon as they are immersed they are walking in darkness. If the champions of orthodoxy say that we must allow them time to learn, then we ask how long can they walk in darkness and be accepted? How much of the Bible must one be able to grasp perfectly before he is walking in darkness? How much of it can he misunderstand and still walk in the light?

It is time to quit playing around with such puerile proponents of partisan positions. Where is the preacher who quotes this passage to debar saints and discourage fellowship among brethren, who will dare affirm that he is as wise as God and as good as God? If he dare not say that he is, by his own admission he is not in the fellowship. Like Haman, he is hanged on the fatal gallows which he constructed to destroy others. I consider the traditional orthodox interpretation placed upon 1 John 1:7 as one of the most dangerous ever palmed off on unsuspecting men and women. It is subversive of the Spirit and a scandal to the church of God. It dooms the body to disintegration and can only damn us all to destruction.

Let us recapture the valid meaning of this warped and wrested passage and use it to promote fellowship, not pervert it. God is light. God is love. If we walk in the light we walk in God. If we walk in love we abide in God. If we love our brothers we abide in the light. You cannot separate light and love. Neither can you separate those who love one another. We quit living together when we quit loving each other. The road to togetherness is the path of love. And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also (1 John 4:21). When we heed this command, and only then, can it be said, As he is, so are we, and it can be addedin this world.

1 John 1:8-10

HEREBY WE KNOW PART II

1 John 1:8-10; 1 John 2:1-29

God Is Light. To Walk In The Light Is To Have Fellowship With Him Fellowship Is Tested By Our Sharing of God’s Attitude Toward:

Personal Guilt

Our Brothers

His Son

CHAPTER IV

TO WALK IN THE LIGHT IS TO SHARE GOD’S ATTITUDE TOWARD SIN AND OBEDIENCE

(The First Test. The First Time)

1 John 1:8-10; 1 John 2:1-6

The Text

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 2:1) My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (2) and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. (3) And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep His commandments. (4) He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; (5) but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: (6) he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked.

Try to Discover

Is it possible for a child of God to sin?

What should a Christian do if he does sin?

What are the consequences of claiming we do not sin?

What is the relationship of Jesus now to a Christian who does sin?

What does it mean to know God?

Does the claim to know God in any way obligate the one making the claim?

What is the intended end of God’s love to man?

Paraphrase

(1 John 1:8) If we saySin have we none! we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. (9) If we are confessing our sins faithful is he and righteous that he should forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous, (10) If we sayWe have not sinned! false are we making him and his word is not in us. (1 John 2:1) My dear children! these things am I writing unto you in order that ye may not be committing sin, And if anyone should commit sin An Advocate have we with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous; (2) and he is a propitiation concerning our sins, and not concerning our own only but also concerning those of the whole world. (3) And hereby perceive we that we understand him, if his commandments we are keeping. (4) He that saithI understand him! and his commandments is not keeping is false, and in him the truth is not! (5) But whosoever may be keeping his word of a truth in this man the love of God hath been made perfect. Hereby perceive we that in him we are, (6) He that saith that in him he abideth ought just as He walked himself also to be walking.

Comments

Preliminary Remarks

Eternal life is here considered as fellowship with God. To walk in the light as God is in the light is first to share God’s attitude toward sin. This is the initial test of life presented by John after he has established the base (God is light) from which the tests are to be set forth. To share God’s attitude toward sin is to face reality. To deny it is to participate in that which is unreal and therefore to act our as well as speak a lie.

Translation and Comments

Sin denied as guilt. 1 John 1:8

(1 John 1:8) If we should say that we are not having sin we are deceiving ourselves and sincerity is not in us.

Sharing the attitude of God toward sin begins with the realization of personal guilt. If we should claim that we personally have no guilt we are deceiving ourselves.

We cannot deceive God in whom is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5) To deceive man is ultimately pointless. In the vast beyond that is eternity it will not matter that we have been able to hide our guilt from men behind a facade of sophistication, social propriety, or pseudo-intellectual-ism. Fundamentally, it is the deceiver himself who is deceived.

The colossal ignorance which prompts the denial of personal guilt is measured by the fact that it removes the one who denies his guilt from all that is real. The sine qua non of God’s entire approach to man in the person of Jesus is the basic reality of human guilt! This is born out by virtually every writer of divine scripture.

For example, in Genesis 42:21, the brothers of Joseph recognized their guilt in the mistreatment of him. In Numbers 21:7, the people of Israel came before Moses to confess their guilt in that they had spoken against the Lord. In Ezra 9:6, the prophet blushes to lift his face before the Lord because of the guilt of the people. Psalms 40:12, records David’s recognition of his own guilt as being so great he is not able to look up. In Acts 2:37, those who had cried out for the blood of Jesus were cut to their heart by the guilt of what they had done and cried out for some means of deliverance. In Acts 24:25, Felix, the Roman governor, trembled in terror at the awareness of his guilt.

The last word on the matter is recorded by Paul in Romans 3:9-22. The passage begins with a quotation from Psalms 14:1-7 to the effect that none are righteous and ends with … there is no distinction; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Therefore, to deny the personal guilt of sin is to speak that which is contrary to the primary revelation of God. When men have attempted to discover the truth about guilt in their own wisdom, they have called it complexes. They have explained away the guilt of it on the basis of environmental handicaps, and they have tried to treat it by blasting it out of memory with electrotherapy and insulin shock. God’s solution to the problem begins with facing the reality of personal guilt by bringing it into the strong light of revealed truth. b.

Sin confessed as guilt. 1 John 1:9

(1 John 1:9) If we are confessing the sins that are ours, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The recognition of guilt by the Christian results immediately and constantly in the divine therapeutic of forgiveness. It is for just this purpose that Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)

The tense of John’s verb confess indicates that the confessing of sin is not a mechanical ceremony or ritual. Rather, this confessing is a constant attitude toward self before God, which faces the reality of personal guilt in the light of divine revelation.

Homologeo, here translated confess, means literally to speak as one. When our attitude toward ourselves is one of recognition of guilt; we are speaking as one, or agreeing with God about our sin.

The result of this attitude toward guilt is not, in the life of a Christian, a guilt complex or manic-depression, but rather the realization of forgiveness. God, through Isaiah, wrote: Come now, let us reason together. though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)

There is no greater blessing in the Christian life than that of realized forgiveness! It can only come to one who will stop rationalizing and realize his own personal responsibility, his own guilt, for his own misdeeds.

The realization of forgiveness depends upon personal confidence in the incarnate Word. It is through His blood that we have cleansing from sin. Just as we constantly maintain an attitude of personal responsibility for our guilt, so God, by Jesus-’ blood, is constantly cleansing us from all unrighteousness. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

When the fact of this forgiveness is realized, it brings peace that nothing else can give, and a boldness to stand straight and tall as a child of God. c.

Sin denied as fact. 1 John 1:10

(1 John 1:10) If we should say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

From the consideration of sin as guilt, John turns our attention to sin as fact. Again we are to test the honesty of our claim to walk in the light, this time by our attitude toward the fact of sin.

If we deny the fact of sin (expressed here by the Greek aorist tense) we make God a liar! This challenges the imagination. For the creature to dispute the Creator’s knowledge of reality to the extent that he actually makes God out as acting according to that which is not real staggers the faculties of perception! Yet this, says John, is precisely what one does say when he claims to know God and at the same time to deny that he does in fact commit sins. In such an attitude, the word of God simply does not exist. His word is not in us, when we deny the fact that we sin. Whether we take this to mean the written word or the incarnate Word, the end result is the same. The written word is the record of God’s revelation of truth. This revelation reaches its zenity in the person of Jesus, the incarnate Word. Everything God has revealed about man in his present environment indicates that man does not do as God would have him do; that man does what God would not have him do. This is perhaps the primary truth of human experience. To deny this is true in the individual life is to remove from that life the entire revelation of God concerning human behavior.

Sin confessed as fact. 1 John 2:1-2

(1 John 2:1) My little children, I am writing these things in order that you may stop committing sins. But if one should sin, we have one called to our side toward the Father, Jesus as righteous Christ (2) and He is a covering on account of the sins which are ours and not just concerning ours, but also concerning those of the whole world.

It is only in the recognition of sin and the sinfullness of it that there is any hope of eliminating it from ones life. So, says John to those he considers as dear little ones in God’s family, I am writing this to you in order that you may stop committing sins. If we will recognize that there is such a thing as acting contrary to God’s will, and that when we do so act, we are personally guilty, we will have come a long way toward the expelling of sinful activity from our daily lives. This stands out in contrast to the modern popular idea that there is no moral absolute. God has revealed right. The opposite of right is wrong. If we will recognize the cost of our guilt by remembering that only Calvary is equal to it, we will have come close to seeing the tremendous seriousness of the matter. To know that the blood of God’s only Son is required each day to cleanse us from the normal daily guilt of well-adjusted lives, is to realize the phenomenal deadliness of sin. This will go far toward changing the pattern of our behavior and the sinful acts will become less and less frequent. But let us not be so blind as to believe that we will ever reach the point of perfection at which we do not need the blood. If we do sin, we have an Advocate. The English word Advocate is used here to translate the Greek paraklete. Paraklete means literally, one who is called along side. The reason for calling is the primary concern. The idea seems to be one who lends his presence to assist His friends.

The most precious idea of Jesus to be found in the Bible is that He is simply our friend! A great deal is made, in Hebrews chapter two, of the fact that Jesus shared flesh and blood with those he came to save. He has felt the tug of temptation as only a human being can feel it. While He does not approve of sin in the life of any child of God, he does understand the pressures of life which often bring it about.

It is just here that the real meaning of Jesus-’ incarnation experience begins to be seen in the life of a Christian. To the person who has committed his life to God on this ground, who constantly accepts not only the fact of his own sin but also its guilt, there is the blessed comfort of knowing that an understanding Friend intercedes for him before God. There is no need to make excuses. There is no need to deny or explain away sin. One who knows Jesus as a personal. Friend can face up to his guilt in the awareness that … He ever liveth and maketh intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

The word, hilasmos, (propitiation) in verse two is deserving of special attention. This friend who is our advocate or paraklete is also our propitiation for sins.

Hilasmos, (propitiation) has at its root the idea of appeasing and conciliation. The fundamental problem in any religion is that of personal relationship to God. The difficulty is brought about by sin.

To solve this problem of divine-human relationship, the idea of sacrifice is introduced. Every sacrifice ever offered by every human religion has been for the purpose of appeasing the wrath and currying the favor of a god or gods. The idea of restoring divine-human relationships broken by sin is not strange to the Christian Gospel. We have already seen, in I John, chapter one, that the whole purpose of the incarnation is to establish fellowship between man and God, and consequently, between man and man. What makes the Christian sacrifice unique among sacrifices is that God has offered the sacrifice to man! In 2 Corinthians 5:19, we learn that … God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Thus, while we would contradict scripture should we deny the wrath of God is released against sin, we gain in Christ a much deeper insight into both the wrath and the mercy of God. God’s wrath is not appeased by sacrifices of human origin. It is rather conciliated through our acceptance of the sacrifice which He Himself has provided!

In brief, we are brought back into fellowship with God, not because we desire it to the point of offering sacrifices, but because He desires it to the point of sending His only Son as the propitiation, the covering for our guilt. It is, therefore, impossible to even discuss, much less to comprehend the love of God apart from the fact of sin and His sacrifice of Jesus for it. (John 3:16)

John further adds that this sacrifice is not only a sin covering for us, but for the whole world also. Hebrews 2:9 tells us Christ tasted death for every man. The Gnostic fancied himself to be part of an exclusive few in whom God took special interest. This interest included endowment with special knowledge, and the knowledge revealed in Jesus was the choicest of it all. Not so, says John! Jesus is not the means whereby a few are brought into a special relationship with God; He is the propitiation of the entire world.

This ought not be construed as supporting universalism, or the doctrine that all men are automatically saved by Christ, and that, therefore, none will be lost. The tests being presented by John are evidence that those who do not meet the tests do not have life, much less fellowship with God. e.

Hereby we know we know Him. 1 John 1:3

(1 John 1:3) And in this we are knowing that we come to know and still do know Him, if we are keeping His commandments.

Know is the favorite word of the gnostic. John here turns their own word on them, and will do so many times throughout the remainder of the epistle. Hereby we know!

There is a play on the tenses in verse three which is not apparent in the English versions. John, quite literally, says, In this we are knowing that we got to know, and still do know, Him; that we are keeping His commandments. Here is a challenge to the claim of special knowledge by an appeal to experimental knowledge. The person, who really got acquainted with God and to whom knowing Him is the way of life, has the habit of keeping God’s commandments. Not my will, thine be done is more than poetry, it is the touch stone of practical Christian life.

James says, … faith apart from works is barren. (James 2:20) John here makes virtually the same claim for knowledge. Knowledge apart from obedience is no knowledge at all! Perhaps a timely application of the truth can be made by saying that a knowledge of God’s word is meaningless in the life of one who does not practice obeying it. Such a person may really know the Bible, and not know the God of the Bible at all!

What commandments does John have in mind? The moral precepts of the ten commandments? Perhaps. Certainly, John includes obedience to that which Jesus identifies as the first and second commandments: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Upon these depend all God’s commandments. (Matthew 22:40) He who does not love does not know God, no matter what his claim to special enlightenment.

Safely, we may assume that John’s test includes the willingness, and the effort to obey all things, whatsoever I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:20) When love meets command, the result is obedience.

To say we know God, but not keep His commandments. 1 John 1:4

(4) whoever is saying, I know Him, and is not keeping His commandments, is a liar, and reality is not in him.

Here is a terrible indictment. It is but the negative side of the test presented in verse three. If keeping His commandments proves we do know God, failing to keep His commandments proves we do not know Him.

Perhaps a word should be said just here about the meaning of the word ginosko (know). A synonym is oida, and it is in the contrast between the two that the real meaning becomes apparent. Oida, also translated know, means to know through reflected study, and mental deduction. Ginosko (know) means to know by observation and experience. Ginosko is properly called experimental knowledge.

It is only the constant day by day experience of keeping God’s commandments that gives one this experimental knowledge. The claim to know God aside from this day by day experience is unreal. Consequently, John says whoever makes the claim is lying and the truth (reality) is not in him! If failure to keep His commandments proves we do not know Him, it is also evidence we do not have life. He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)

The intended end of divine love. 1 John 1:5 (a)

(1 John 1:5) But whoever goes on keeping His word, truly in that one the love of God has reached its intended end.

The love of God toward man reaches the completeness of its purpose when an individual habitually keeps God’s word. To keep His word is to obey Him faithfully, not by loud claims contradicted by lives inconsistent with the claim. Rather such obedience becomes more and more habitual in the life of one who lives daily in the awareness that Christ is Lord.

Everyone is familiar with John 3:16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish, but have everlasting life. It was the love of God from the beginning which brought Jesus into the world. The long years of preparation recorded in the Old Testament were overtures of this divine love.

In Luke 24:44-ff, Jesus pointed out to His apostles; it stands written in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms that the Christ must suffer and be slain and be raised again the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached to the whole world in His name. God did not begin to love the world the night Jesus was born. He loved the world when he called Abram and made with him a covenant through which He would bless all the nations of the earth. Everything that went before the birth of Jesus was preparation for the manifestation of His love on Calvary.

One cannot read the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion without being moved by the demonstration of God’s love for a world which was deserving of anything but love. The insults, the shame, the humiliation, the pain of the cross, bespeak a love beyond human comprehension. The controlling factor of this love in God’s people is that Christ died for all. (2 Corinthians 5:14) The aim of this love is that … repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all the nations. (Luke 24:47)

All the plan of God, all the call of the covenant, all the ages of preparation, all the agony of the cross are meaningless until they produce in the individual heart the obedience of faith. (Romans 16:26) So, John writes, … whoever goes on keeping His word, truly in that one the love of God has reached its intended end.

Hereby we know we are in Him. 1 John 1:5 (b)

(1 John 1:5) In this we are knowing from experience that we are in Him:

It is not hereby we know, as though this were the only test necessary. John will present two other tests equally significant in testing eternal life as fellowship with God. Rather, in this we are knowing. (See on 1 John 2:4 concerning know) The habitual keeping of His commandments is an experience had only by those who walk in the light as He is in the light. Thus keeping His commandments becomes to the individual evidence that he is indeed in Him.

Moral obligation and proof of the claim to know God. 1 John 1:6

(1 John 1:6) The one claiming to remain in Him is morally obligated himself to keep on walking just as that one walked.

In His prayer, recorded in John 17:1-26, Jesus identifies eternal life as knowledge of God and His Son, And this is eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Him whom thou didst send, Jesus Christ. (John 17:3)

The word translated know in John 17:3 is the word ginosko (experiential knowledgesee on John 17:4 above) This knowledge which results from experience is here presented as resulting from fulfilling the moral obligation which comes from claiming such knowledge of God. Whoever says he knows God is morally obligated to walk as Jesus walked. It was His commitment to God’s will which substantiated His claim to know the Father! (John 6:38) Here is the practical meaning of walking in the light. (1 John 1:7)

This entire passage (1 John 1:8-10; 1 John 2:1-6) deals in phrases familiar to the ancient world. As is typical of John’s style, he takes well known phrases and pours them full of Christian meaning. The one of these with which we are especially concerned here is knowing God.

The Ancient Greeks of the pre-Christian era were convinced that they could arrive at the knowledge of God by the sheer process of intellectual reasoning, argument, and thought. This concept is reminiscent of the modern liberal theologian who believes he can deduce the nature of God (whom he prefers to call the Ground of Being) through dialogue, counsel, and the sharing of various religious traditions. Obviously, such an academic approach to God has no essential bearing at all on human behaviour. It is not necessarily ethical. A man may know God in this sense, if indeed God can be known in this way at all, and it makes no difference in his life. The later Greeks, who were contemporary with John and Jesus, sought to find God through an emotional experience. They re-enacted the myths of martyred gods in public services in such a way that the worshiper identified himself emotionally with the suffering god. Special lighting effects, sensual music and such were used to bring about this emotional experience. Once the desired emotion was produced, the worshiper believed that he shared the victory and immortality of his slain deity. This practice at once calls to mind many of the devices used by some present day revivalists to produce a Christian experience. The purpose of such revivalism, whether it be practiced in a marble hall in Greece or in a tent on Main Street, U.S.A., is to produce a knowledge of God through emotional experience. The emotional approach to God shares, at its base, the same failure as does the intellectual. It does not carry with it any necessary change in the moral and ethical life of the individual. The Christian experience which proves salvation is obedience! John’s contention here is that the test of validity for the claim to know God is that the one making the claim must necessarily act as Jesus acted. Whether it be based on academic deduction or revivalistic emotion, the failure to produce a new life puts the lie to the claim. There is no knowledge of God that does not issue in obedience to Him! It is by the experience of obedience that we know we know Him, and thereby, we know we have life eternal. for eternal life is to know Him!

Review Questions

What does the claim not to sin reveal about the sincerity of the one making the claim? (1 John 1:8)

What is meant by If we confess our sins? (1 John 1:9)

What is the attitude toward God of one who claims he has not sinned? (1 John 1:10)

Why does John say he is writing these things? (1 John 2:1)

If one should sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Explain. (1 John 2:1)

Jesus is our propitiation for our sin. Explain. (1 John 2:2)

In what sense is Jesus also a propitiation for the sins of the whole world? (1 John 2:2, compare 1 John 2:5)

How does 1 John 2:3 challenge the claim of the gnostic to special knowledge of God?

How is keeping God’s commandments evidence that we know Him? (1 John 2:4)

How does the love of God reach its intended end in the life of the individual believer? (1 John 2:5)

What does it mean to walk as That One walked? (1 John 2:6)

What is the moral obligation of one who claims to know God? (1 John 2:6)

State in your own words, in a single sentence, the first test presented in I John whereby we may assure ourselves that we have eternal life.

Old Green Commentaries

The College Press Bible Study Textbook Series — 59 volumes by 25 authors, published between 1961 and 1992 and affectionately known as the 'old green' commentaries for their green hardback bindings. Each volume is a commentary, workbook and teaching manual in one, written by Restoration Movement …

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Old Testament

GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUT 1SA 2SA 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH EZR NEH EST JOB PSA PRO ECC SOS ISA JER LAM EZK DAN HOS JOL AMO OBA JON MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL

New Testament

MAT MRK LUK JHN ACT ROM 1CO 2CO GAL EPH PHP COL 1TH 2TH 1TI 2TI TIT PHM HEB JAS 1PE 2PE 1JN 2JN 3JN JUD REV

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