1st epistle of John Ch1
A letter of love.
For new readers, it is easy to mix this letter/book with the gospel of John.
1Jn 1 -ASV
1. 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
That rather than He. A being rather than a man. Something not absolutely human. Mankind is not from the beginning. Something more ancient than the beginning of man is portraited here. Our attention is centred on this "That".
If we start from the beginning, there that is the Word of life. It is right that life preceeds living and meaning. And the Word of life that is the creation, essence, control and source of life was there before it in the very beginning.
John is telling something so fundamental and important that he wanted to start from the very beginning.
We might not have not seen it (that which was from the beginning). We certainly have heard of it, just as we have heard the news from near and afar.
We have even seen it with John. The reality that was from the beginning, and we saw and heard of. We beheld it (seen it, heard it and felt it with all our senses and intellect; absolute and complete interaction for our comprehension) although we were not with it from the beginning.
We have even handled with our hands.
We were allowed to do all these because it is concerning the Word of life. Big Deal!
2. (and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us);
We know "the life". It was manifested to us. Christ is "the life"
We will also tell you "the way" in "the truth".
We bear witness for it and to it.
We have eternal life with it.
The life was with the Father.
The Father is not controlled by life or the life. What we worship is beyond just life.
With Him is "the life".
We have the life if we are truly with the Father.
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:
We, together with John, declare to you, no matter who and where you are, this very matter we have full experience of.
This is so important for you would do good having fellowship with us; uniting with us; be one with us.
This oneness is so very precious.
4. and these things we write, that our joy may be made full.
This is what we wrote down here. this is our writing; that you may know the life; and the Word of life.
We would like you, the readers, to be united with the Father and the life as well.
5. 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.
6. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
John already assumed that the disciples know that they must be in the light to fellowship with Him/Christ/God. This is the truth.
We cannot walk in darkness, as He is not of darkness. We are not suppose to stumble in Him who is light. Unlike those in the dark we are supposed to be seeing.
A contradiction would mean that we lie. Somebody who claim to be stumbling in Him is lying. He is not of the truth, telling the truh.
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.
Contrast is drawn out by "but".
We ought to have followed Christ walking in the light, doing what He is doing.
We are in unity/fellowship with one another. For all in the light are alike; just as all in darkness are alike.
Do we have unity in the dark? If so, the light in not in us or amongst us. We are then, not of Him.
We are in unity of light because the blood of Jesus cleansed us from all sin.
Sin is darkness. No sin is no darkness. Light is without darkness. Light is without sin.
We are of the light if we do not sin. This is the following of Christ. Obedience to the Father. This is love. There is no harm in love.
8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Although we do walk with Him, we still have sin.
Christ cleansed us continuously with His blood. We are covered (kaper) constantly in Him.
Our deeds are not accounted as good enough. His providence is good enough in solving our problem of sin. We have light if we relie on Him. This is the will of the Father. This is a matter of love.
We deny love if we deny this providence. We would have denied the truth. Darkness will be our portion.
9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We know that we have sins. Therefore, we are able to confess our sins if we are willing.
Those who do not admit their own wrong as sins, of course, have nothing to [acknowledged to be] sinful to confess. Non-believers are so arrogant as to say they have no sin. They claim they are answerable only to themselves, to their own self-set standards. they are perfect in their sight.
All our unrighteousness against God can be cleansed by God who is faithful and righteous (Ps11v7).
10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
God decreed that we have sinned against Him (eg: in Genesis).
We acknowledging our inferiority, can only answer according to His decree.
Non-believers want to answer to themselves, and reject God and His authority until the day when they are bound to acknowledge His Lordship over all things.
God is no liar. His word tells us that Satan is the liar. All liars are under (in is bondage) Satan, the Devil. And God is not under Satan.
No lie or liar can over-rule the sovereignty of God, who is above all(John1vv1-5).
So righteousness is above all. The faithfullness of God is stronger than lies, and all powers of Satan.
Can infants say they have not sinned? (Rm3v10) No. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
No man can see God face to face alive (Ps11v7). (Rm3v10) All were in darkness.
The righteous shall live by faith (Hab2v4; Rm1v17; Gal3v11; Heb10v38). We walk in the light by faith (Gal3v8; 5v5). No according to our own merit and deeds.
Believers shall be made righteous (Ps11v7; Jn1v12; Rm5v19).
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