Bible Commentaries
1 John 1

Verses 1-21

1 JOHN

XXVII

FIRST LETTER OF JOHN: AN INTRODUCTION, ANALYSIS, EXPOSITION

1 John 1:1-5:21

We now come to the writings of John, the last surviving apostle, having already considered his gospel in connection with Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The work before us is his three letters and Revelation. The author believes that John wrote nothing before the fall of Jerusalem and the death of all the other New Testament writers. Certainly Peter, Paul, and James, the Lord’s brother, have all suffered martyrdom. Of all the mighty hosts, upon whom the Spirit of God rested in attesting and inspiring power, John stands alone. It is his office to supplement all their inspired writings and to close up forever the Bible canon. For more than fifteen centuries, from Moses to John, men have been moved by the Holy Spirit to speak and write for God. This man’s writings put the final seal to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. As I have said before, new light may indeed break out from that word, but when this man died the word itself receives no more additions. In John the language of Paul is fulfilled; prophecies are done away; tongues have ceased; authoritative knowledge ends. And the words of Daniel are fulfilled, the vision is sealed up, and all that will be needed henceforth until Jesus comes will be the illumination of the Spirit to enable us to understand what is written, no word of which is of private interpretation.

John himself is now an old man. We have considered his New Testament history in the introduction to his gospel. His writings are varied: Gospel, Epistles, and Apocalypse. The variety appears even in the epistles. The first one is general and is an epitome of theology. The second one is addressed to a Christian woman concerning her children, and the third one to a Christian brother concerning missions and the strife in the church between the antimissionary and the missionary.

So this first letter of his is his first New Testament book. Its date is not earlier than A.D. 80, and may possibly be as late as A.D. 85. He writes from Ephesus, the scene of Paul’s labors, the scene of the Gnostic philosophy which originated in the Lycus Valley, in the same Roman province, and not very far from Ephesus, and which is now more developed than when it called forth the later letters of Paul and the second letter of Peter, and Jude.

There has never been a serious question of the authenticity or the canonicity of this first letter. We call a letter authentic when it was written by the one to whom it is attributed, whether the name is given or not; we call it canonical when the evidence shows it to be the word of God. Polycarp, one of his own disciples, Ignatius, Papias, Irenaeus, all living close to the apostolic times, with abundant North African testimony, including Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, and Athanasius, so witness to this book that the historical evidence, apart from its inclusion in manuscripts and versions, it is not worth our while just now to consider the matter further. The subject matter of the letter is all congruous with what we know of the writer, and with all his other writings. Evidently whoever wrote this book wrote the Gospel. So that apart from the historical or external evidence, by the internal evidence alone the question of the authenticity and the canonicity of this letter is settled.

The persons addressed are evidently, from the context, the Christians of Asia Minor. The occasion of the letter is the prevalence and development of the Gnostic philosophy, which now contests both the humanity and dignity of our Lord, and contests all of his offices and all of the New Testament doctrines concerning sin. The letter is a standing witness to the Holy Trinity, the personality of Satan, the nature and origin of sin, and of the conflict between the powers of good and evil for the supremacy over man and over the world.

From the most ancient Christian times, John is called the theologian, and in no other document on earth of the same space is such profound theology as is in this letter. So if the reader does not like deep water, he had better get in his little boat and seek the shore. We strike deep water in this letter of John.

To the integrity of this book, there is only one exception. The integrity of a book is established when it comes to us in the shape it was originally delivered, it has not lost anything out of it, and nothing has been added to it. Now, as to the integrity of this book, there is one exception. In the King James Version, 1 John 5:7-8 reads: "For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one." Now look at 1 John 5:8, two words of the second line, "in earth" – "there are three that bear witness in earth." Let us take out of the King James Version all 1 John 5:7 and the words, "in earth," of 1 John 5:8. They are unquestionably an interpolation. They do not appear in any of the ancient manuscripts, and our Standard Version leaves them out. So our Standard Version reads: "For there are three who bear witness" – it does not say anything about any three in earth or in heaven – "the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood, and the three agree in one."

With the exception of 1 John 5:7 and the words "in earth" of 1 John 5:8 of the common version, which certainly are an interpolation by a much later writer (probably a copyist put them in to fill out his ideas), – they do not show in any reputable authentic text – the book is strictly authentic.

It is somewhat difficult to construct an orderly outline of this letter, but we give this as a substantial analysis:

OUTLINE
1. In 1 John 1:1-3:3, arguing from the nature and offices of the three persons of the Holy Trinity as exhibited in the plan of salvation, the apostle exhorts to a holy life as the purpose of redemption.

2. From 1 John 3:4-9:4 and 1 John 5:15-18 we have a definition of sin – that the devil is its author, and that he opposes the work of the Trinity in the salvation of man, and we are told when gin is unpardonable.

3. In 1 John 3:10-24 and then 1 John 4:7-21 and 1 John 5:12, we have the evidences which distinguish between God’s children and the devil’s children.

4. In 1 John 4:1-6, we have the evidences which discriminate between God’s preachers and the devil’s preachers.

5. In 1 John 5:13-21 we have the purpose of the letter, "that we may know" – in other words, that we may distinguish between the gospel knowledge and the gnosis of the heretics, and between the gospel knowledge and the agnosis of the modern heretics.

That is a very fair analysis of the book. There is, however, another way to analyze this letter, and I will follow this other plan in the exposition of the letter that will not follow the order of its words. So we will commence the analysis of 1 John according to my second analysis, which will reveal itself as it progresses.

EXPOSITION
1. The first item of this second analysis is a view of a lost world. Let us see what that view is. In 1 John 5:19, we have this picture: "We know . . . that the whole world lieth in the evil one." We commence on theology right there, that the whole of this world lieth in the evil one. In some way he has pushed aside the man God made, the ordained ruler of this world, and has usurped the dominion which God originally bestowed upon man. That takes a leap back to Genesis, and when we go to preach it, we must not exempt any part of this world that is under the dominion of Satan.

The world under Satan’s dominion is in spiritual darkness and death. Over and over again in this letter we have these words: "darkness and death." Of course it means spiritual darkness; it means that there is a privation of spiritual light; that its inhabitants are blinded; it means that they are in a state of spiritual death or privation of any part of the true life. They are dead, and they are in darkness. Let us recall in connection with this thought the commission of Paul: "I send you to the Gentiles to turn them from darkness into light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive an inheritance, among them that are sanctified by faith in me." The whole letter of John is based upon this deplorable view of the condition of the lost world as being under the power of Satan.

Let us consider 1 John 2:16: "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." That gives us the spirit which is rampant in the world: everything that may be summed up under animal appetite – the lust of the flesh, and flesh means much more than that in the Scriptures. Flesh is not confined to the body, but is the entire carnal man. It includes enmity, hate, malice, evil thinking, evil imagination. Let us never forget that the dominating lust of the world, speaking with reference to the physical or inner man, is of that kind. We may whitewash it, and civilization does whitewash it; we may make it look respectable, but inwardly it is full of rottenness and dead men’s bones.

Look at the second item: "Lust of the eyes." That refers to covetousness or the desire for the things seen. James, in his letter, refers to it when he describes the development of sin thus: "Each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lusts, and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin, and the sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death." Or, as Achan expresses it: "I saw a goodly Babylonish mantle and desired it and took it," or, "When Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good, or seemed to be good, she desired it and tools, it." That is the lust of the eyes.

He adds: "Vainglory of life"; everything that ministers to human vanity; the ambition to be a ruler; the desire to have a more excellent automobile than our neighbor; that our wife and daughter shall have prettier spring bonnets; that our floors shall have more elegant carpets; that our house shall be more palatial. Just think of that world that lieth in the power of the evil one! It is in spiritual darkness and death, and raging through it is the lust of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the vainglory of life.

This world necessarily adopts its own maxims of pleasure, of amusement, and of business according to its spirit or genius. It is away from God, away from righteousness, and away from the right. It does not mean in its business to look after our interests, but its own. We have to be wide awake to keep from being crushed. The men in Wall Street, or in Fort Worth, or Galveston, or Dallas, or San Antonio, following their business interests, will run their juggernaut over every other interest to promote their own.

Now when we look at that view of a lost world the question comes up: Who did it? Who brought about all this? We do not have to go far to find out. Let us look at 1 John 3:8 in which we get at the author of a lost world: "To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." There he is, the devil. The whole world lieth in the evil one, that is, the devil.

This evil one has several names in the Bible, and each name has a special import. The name here given, devil – diabolis – means slanderer, accuser. He slanders God to man, and he accuses man to God. He went to Eve and said, "God did not say you should not eat this fruit," and then when he gets the poor woman into trouble, he goes to God and says, "Just look at that woman; she is violating your law and deserves death." He is an accuser. He is the one that entices to do wrong. He tells us that God is not love; that God hates us; that God is a long way off from us, and when he gets us to hating God he goes straight up to God and accuses us. After we know that to be so, why on earth do we give way to him? In another place, James says, "Resist the devil." It is the devil who brings evil to us and to the world.

How was the loss of the world brought about? This letter answers it in every chapter. It was lost by sin. Then, according to this letter, what is sin? Whenever one masters the doctrine of sin as taught in 1 John, he is a theologian on this subject. Let us look at John’s definition of sin.

What is sin? Just one word in the last clause in 1 John 3:4 tells us; the Greek, anomia, English, "lawlessness." "Sin is lawlessness." Sin is anything that does not agree with nomos, "law." Lawlessness is the privative "a" put before the word nomos. That expresses the thought of sin. Sin is lawlessness. In preaching on salvation, I always commence with a definition of sin and of law. If sin is lawlessness, what is law? At the last analysis, law is that intent or purpose in the mind of the Creator when he brought beings into existence. That is the inherent law of the Creator. Whether it is ever expressed in statutes or not is immaterial. What God intended when he brought a being into existence is the law of that being, and lawlessness is anything that fails of the original intent of God.

A certain Methodist preacher defined sin thus: "Sin is the wilful transgression of a known law." But there can be sin without any wilfulness; there can be sin without transgression. Transgression means to go across the law. But we may sin without going across the law. We may sin by doing nothing, or by failing to do. We can sin by falling short of the law, or sin by going beyond it. "Who hath required this at your hands?" We may sin, not by transgressing the law, but by deviating a hair’s breadth to the right hand or the left hand.

Sin in its deepest from is not the over act, but the state of the mind and heart out of which the overt act proceeds.

Sin is lawlessness. To illustrate: I once found a den of rattlesnakes. Some of them were no longer than my hand. They had no fangs, no rattles, no poison. If I had taken one of the little fellows away from his parents and environment and carried him home and fed him on the milk for babies, before long his rattles would have grown, his fangs would have formed, his poison would have secreted, and if I should have taken him up to heaven he would have thrown himself into a coil and struck at an angel passing by.

But we are not done with the definition yet. The last clause, 1 John 4:6: "By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error," Greek, "plane." Sin is whatever is opposed to truth, i.e., error, falsehood, in whatever form. Again 1 John 5:17: "every unrighteousness is sin." There we have another Greek word: adikia – every act of unrighteousness. Righteousness is a law term. Whatever is in conformity with the law is right; whatever does not quadrate with law is not right, and every case of unrighteousness is sin. We thus have a definition in three words: lawlessness, as opposed to the law; error, as opposed to truth; unrighteousness, as opposed to righteousness – that is sin.

The next question is: What is the spiritual relation of every member of this lost world to the devil? See 1 John 3:8-10: "And whosoever doeth unrighteousness is of the devil," and then in 1 John 3:10: "children of the devil." So the members of the world are children of the devil.

Now the next item: What is the characteristic of the members of the world? It is the opposite of what God is, and since God is love, the chief characteristic of the world is hate, that is, hate toward God, hate toward anything that is godlike – God’s standard, God’s people. Hate toward these is the characteristic of the citizens of this world.

Thus I have given a view of the lost world, who caused it to be lost, what the means by which he brought about its loss, and what the import of that means.

QUESTIONS

1. What the place, time, and conditions of John’s first letter?

2. What the object, as to other writings and the canon?

3. What the variety of his writings?

4. Tell about the canonicity of this letter.

5. Who addressed?

6. What exception to the integrity of this letter?

7. Give an outline.

8. What kind of analysis followed in the exposition?

9. In the letter’s view of a lost world, answer: (1) Who caused the loss? (2) Through what means? (3) Give the letter’s definition of sin in three words (4) State the condition of the world as lost and its dominant passions.

XXVIII

FIRST LETTER OF JOHN: EXPOSITION – (CONTINUED)

The last chapter closed with giving a view of a lost world, who brought about this ruin, how he brought it about, and what is the essence of sin through which he brought it about. Now, this chapter is to continue the thought by showing a world saved, who saved it and how it was saved. I commence by giving a view of each person of the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the three parties involved in the salvation of the world.

So far as this first letter of John is concerned, what is the view of the Father? "God is light" (1 John 1:5). We saw the world when it was lost, wrapped in darkness. But "God is light." "God is love" (1 John 4:15). We saw the world under the dominion of hate. We advance in this view, and show how that love and that light are manifested in the salvation of man. In 1 John 4:14 the record says that the Father sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world; sent his Son to save that world which was lost through Satan; that the Son is to save the world by being its light; he is to bring the dark world in touch with God and light, and hence in his gospel and teachings Jesus Christ is said to be the "true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world."

This leads us to the next question in the view of the Father: How was his Son to save the world, since he sent him to be the Saviour of the world? He certainly has some plan of salvation. What is it? "Herein was the love of God manifested that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him" (1 John 4:9). See the state of the world: It was in darkness; it was also in death, death the penalty of sin. He sent his Son into the world that we might live through him. "Herein is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

That is a strong word, "propitiation." It is that word which is used to describe the mercy seat, and it is the blood sprinkled upon that mercy seat that propitiates – makes atonement. He sent his Son into the world to save the world by becoming a propitiation for the sins of the world. That was his object in sending him.

I note that many modern teachers say that he saves by his example, and not otherwise. Or, that he saves by living and not dying. But a propitiation is a sacrifice that has been offered unto death, in order to placate the wrath of God against sin. He sent his Son to be a propitiation. That is a vital doctrine. We should not receive a man into the church, nor ordain a man to the ministry, who denies the expiation of sin through the propitiation of Christ.

We are now looking to see how this world is saved. We have seen that back of it is the Father’s love, and that this love prompts him to send his only Son to be a propitiation, or, as Paul puts it: "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood" (Romans 3:24-25). That is the precise thought of John here.

We continue our study of the view of the Father in 1 John 3:1: "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God." We have found the world’s inhabitants to be the children of the devil. God’s love proposes to save them by sending his Son to be a propitiation for their sins, and to make a propitiation by the application of which these children of the devil shall become the children of God. John does not go on here to discuss the adoption, as Paul does, that we are to become the children of God by adoption. I will show directly how we are to become his children, but just now let us get a view of the Father, in relation to the salvation of the world, as presented in the first letter of John.

We next consider the view of the Son, the second person in the Trinity. Let us see what is said about him in 1 John 1:1: "That which was from the beginning." What was from the beginning? The last part of the verse answers: "The Word of life." That is the first view we have of the Son. That in the beginning, that is, before there was any world – "In the beginning," as John says in his gospel, "was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." What Word? The Word of Life. It is easy to see that whoever wrote the first verse of this letter wrote the first verse of the Gospel of John.

That Word of life, existing from the beginning, invisible to the world centuries after it was created, is at last manifested. Manifested means to make plain – to make visible. How was that done? Let us look at 1 John 4:2: "Jesus Christ is come in the flesh." That is the way he was manifested. This parallels chapter I of the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was manifested and became flesh." This one now, that God sends into the world to be its Saviour, must take upon himself human nature; he must come in touch with the people whom he is to save.

That leads to the next question in the view of the Son: How was his coming in the flesh manifested? Let us look at that first verse again: "That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we have handled." When Jesus was manifested in the flesh he was so manifested that the natural senses took hold of him. "He was audible, for we heard him; he was visible, for we saw him; he was palpable, for we touched him, handled him." So that manifestation was real and recognizable by the senses and not merely apparent.

The Gnostics taught that Jesus Christ in the flesh was not a reality, but was a mere appearance, something that looked like a man, but it was not really a man. Jesus met that very doubt in the minds of one of his apostles when he said "Thomas, reach hither thy fingers and put them into the prints of the nails in my hands. Reach thy hand here and thrust it into my side. A spirit hath not flesh and bones, such as you see me have; handle me and see." John, therefore, in this letter, teaches that the incarnation of Jesus Christ was not a mere appearance, but was something actual. He could see him, hear him, eat with him, handle him, every possible proof that the human senses can determine.

The incarnation is a vital, fundamental doctrine without whose acceptance one cannot be a Christian.

The Son was sent into the world in such a way that we can know by the senses. But for what purpose? Why did he come into the world? I have shown that the Father sent him to be the Saviour of the world. He was manifested in the flesh that he might become the Saviour of the world. How does his incarnation save men? "And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world" (1 John 2:2). He is to save the world by becoming a propitiation for sin, and thereby taking sin away.

How else was he to save the world? "To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8). There are two things he must do if he is to save the world. "The whole world lieth in the wicked one", so he must overcome that wicked one some way and destroy his works. "The whole world lieth in sin"; he must in some way take away sin. As Jesus himself explained: "When a strong man armed, keepeth his goods, his goods are in peace; but when a stronger than he is come, he strips him of his armor in which he trusted and despoils him of his goods." The devil is the strong man armed keeping his goods in peace; they cannot recover themselves from the snares of the devil. But God sends Jesus to be the Saviour of the world; he saves the world by destroying the works of the devil. As Paul puts it in Hebrews 2:14: "Because the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he likewise partook of the same, that through his own death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."

The conflict between the devil and the incarnate Son of God was the most personal and real battle ever fought in the world. Indeed, Jesus calls its culmination the crisis of this world. Men talk about a crisis in very little things) but that was the world crisis when for the redemption of the world, the seed of the woman bruised the serpent’s head. Hence Paul writes that on the cross "He overcame principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly." When I preached my sermon on the "Three Hours of Darkness on the Cross" in Richmond, Virginia, some people said that the thoughts in it were too horrible, that it was too realistic. It is an exceedingly real thing that the world lies in the evil one, in darkness, and in order to save the world Christ had to enter into that realm of darkness, and fight and overcome the principalities of darkness, else the world would never be saved.

We are not theologians if we do not have correct views of a personal devil, between whom and our Saviour occurred the conflict of the ages on the cross.

See further 1 John 3:5: "And ye know that he was manifested to take away sins; and in him is no sin." This sinless one was manifested to take away sin. John the Baptist, on seeing Jesus approaching, pointed at him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!" A lion could not take away the sin of the world, but a Lamb could take it away, because the Lamb was the propitiation for sin. We are still considering a view of the Son, as presented here, and we have gone to the cross. We have seen how he conquered the devil on the cross, and we have seen his life laid down as a propitiation for sin. How is that propitiation to be further secured to us after justification? The answer is in 1 John 2:2: "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Here he comes before us, not as a sacrifice, but as an advocate – a high priest to make intercession for us, having died as a sacrifice. As a high priest he enters heaven and pleads the merits of his own sacrificial blood, and makes intercession for us on the strength of it.

We are tracing the process of salvation, but the salvation is not yet complete. In 1 John 2:28 we have another view of the Saviour: "Now, my little children, abide ye in him that if he shall be manifest, that we may have boldness and not be ashamed at his coming." This is a second manifestation of him. This is not his incarnation. It is his manifestation at his second advent. He is to come a second time, not as a sin offering, but as a judge, and at his coming he will raise the dead and glorify their bodies, and he will change the living. In 1 John 3:2 we have an added thought: "Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be; we know that if he be manifested we shall be like him, for we shall see him even as he is." So at his second advent there takes place a change in our bodies that makes them like his risen and glorified body. But how is his incarnation and propitiation attested? "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ. Not with water only, but with water and with the blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is the truth. There are three who bear witness, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and the three agree in one" (1 John 5:6). Whatever one testifies, the three testify. Now, what does that mean? What the testimony of that coming by water, and the testimony of that coming by blood, and the testimony of the Spirit, all to a single fact, the testimony to agree in one? How was the incarnate one to be identified? John the Baptist answers. See John 1:30-34. Evidently his coming by water refers to his baptism by John. In his baptism he was identified by the Father and the Holy Spirit.

How did he come by blood? He came by blood on the cross. How did his baptism, and his crucifixion, and the Spirit witness all agree? His baptism symbolizes his death, burial, and resurrection; his blood was his actual death, followed by his burial, and resurrection, which the baptism symbolized. The Spirit’s testimony agrees with both in this, that when he was baptized, with that mapped out before him as his mission, the Spirit of God descended upon him in the form of a dove. The descent of the Spirit upon Christ just after his baptism is the witness of the Spirit to the fact that he cornea to save the world by his death, burial and resurrection, which are symbolized in his baptism.

Now, let us get to the blood, and the Spirit witness on that, and see if it agrees with the blood. Paul says, "Who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself as a sacrifice for sin." When the blood was offered as a sacrifice for sin it was offered through the Spirit. And when the church was commissioned to preach salvation through the blood, it was the outpoured Spirit that endued it with power. And when the blood is applied by the Spirit to the individual, the Spirit bears witness of its efficacy with our spirit. Now, here we have three witnesses: Not only the baptism of Christ as it actually took place, but its perpetuity. Christ was buried in baptism. We were buried in baptism with Christ. And so water still speaks. Wherever a creek or a river flows, wherever are pools, lakes, gulfs, bays, or oceans, their yielding waves are parted in baptism. This witness still stands.

How does the witness of his death still stand? He instituted a memorial of that death in the Lord’s Supper. He said, "This cup is the New Testament in my blood shed for the remission of sins. As often as ye do this ye show forth my death until I come." That witness is still standing. And inasmuch as the Holy Spirit was sent to abide with us forever, that witness is standing. So right now the three witnesses are speaking – the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. Such the view of the Saviour as presented in this letter. The titles given him in the letter are, "The Word of Life," "Jesus Christ, the Son of God," and "Jesus Christ the Messiah." We have seen him in this letter as the sacrifice, the priest, the judge. What a marvelous piece of theology is this letter!

The letter’s view of the Holy Spirit is the salvation of the lost world. In general terms the office of the Spirit is to apply and make efficacious to the individual the salvation wrought by the Son for the world. This is done in such a way as to bring the lost sinner into saving touch with Christ, through faith, thereby in justification overcoming the guilt of all sin, and by the application of the atoning blood cleansing him from the defilement of all past sins; renewing his nature, thereby overcoming his love of sin and bringing him into filial relations with the Father and securing him forever from Satan’s power to destroy; anointing him, thereby giving him assured knowledge of his acceptance with Christ and consciousness of availing prayer; perfecting his Spirit in holiness, thereby destroying the dominion of sin and fitting him for his heavenly estate and its associations and service, and completing his spiritual likeness to Christ; raising and glorifying his mortal body, thereby completing its likeness to the glorified body of the Lord.

These general views of the Spirit’s work appear particularly in the following passages of the letter:

1. Deliverance through faith from the guilt of sin (1 John 1:9), first clause.

2. Cleansing from the defilement of sin (1 John 1:9), last clause.

3. Renewing of his nature, delivering from the love of sin and bringing him into filial relations with the Father and securing him forever from Satan’s power to make him commit the unpardonable sin (1 John 3:2; 1 John 3:9; 1 John 5:1; 1 John 5:18). The nature imparted at this new birth is imperishable because it comes from an indestructible seed, as Peter also explains it. See 1 Peter 1:23-25.

It disposes to obedience of all God’s commands, and imparts new affections of love toward God and man. Its faith is a fighting force conquering the world (1 John 5:4).

4. Through the Holy Spirit the regenerate man is led to repentance and confession of all sins committed after justification, and to commit them to the intercession of the Advocate or high priest (1 John 1:9; 1 John 2:1). Concerning these sins also, none of which is unto death, God is pleased to grant forgiveness at the intercession of his people (1 John 5:16). The sin unto death – that is the unpardonable sin – no child of God can commit. So far as that sin is concerned it is a case of non posse pecarri – not able to sin (1 John 5:17-18).

5. The Spirit’s anointing of the Christian, conferring assured knowledge of acceptance with God and consciousness of power in prayer appears in the following passages: 1 John 2:20; 1 John 2:27; 1 John 5:9-10; 1 John 5:13; 1 John 5:15; 1 John 5:19.

6. The Spirit’s sanctifying power perfecting the soul in holiness unto complete spiritual likeness to our Lord, appears at 1 John 3:3. This is a progressive work, going on from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from glory to glory, even as Paul so graphically put it. See 2 Corinthians 3:18.

7. The Spirit’s work in the glorification of our bodies at the final advent, completing the likeness to our Lord’s glorified body, appears at 1 John 3:2.

THE VIEW OF THE SAVED MAN
1. He was a sinner: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us" (1 John 1:10). The Bible knows nothing of a man who never sinned except our Lord himself.

2. He is a pardoned man: "I write unto you, my little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake" (1 John 2:12). Every Christian is a justified man. He is also a regenerate man. The great blessing of the New Covenant is the forgiveness of sin. That comes to us the very moment that, by faith, we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour. That is justification.

3. Yet this regenerate man, this justified man, will sin until sanctification has perfected him in holiness.

Now, here is a regenerated man and a forgiven man. "If we say (1 John 1:8) that we have no sin" that is different from "if we say we have not sinned." "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us," that is, in the regenerated man there is sin of some kind; there are remnants of depravity; so when a man in this life says, "I am perfect, I am sinless," he contradicts God. What, then, is the remedy for sins committed after justification and regeneration? Let us look at 1 John 2:1: "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous." Then at 1 John 2:9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." The sins committed after justification, what about them? We confess them. We put them in the hands of the advocate, the great high priest. They are not the sins of the unconverted man, of a lost man, or the sins of a child of the devil, but are the sins of a child of God. So we confess them and put them in the hands of the advocate, and he makes intercession for us, and through the intercession of Christ we receive forgiveness for the sins committed after justification. Even Paul said this of himself. See Philippians 3:12-14.

In confirmation of this point I appeal to the Christian experience. We know how we felt when we were first converted, that all our sins were taken away and that we would never sin again. After awhile we did something wrong, and whatever is wrong is wrong – our conscience told us it was wrong. We said, "I know I have sinned." Yet that was after justification. If a man has never had that experience, then I do not believe that he has ever had any experience. Sometimes, perhaps, it took a long while to get ready to do the right thing, but ultimately we do get off to ourselves and say, "Father, I have sinned against thy love, against thy grace. My sins pain me; I am distressed. I confess my sins. God forgive me for Christ’s sake," and peace comes to us. Not the peace of justification, but the peace of a forgiven child.

4. But this saved man progresses to a goal of perfection (1 John 3:3).

I have now presented so far five views in order to an understanding of this letter, as follows:

1. The view of the lost world.

2. The view of the Father, and what he does in saving the world.

3. The view of the Son, and what he does in the saving of the world.

4. The view of the Spirit, and what he does in the saving of the world.

5. A view of the saved sinner himself.

That far only have we gone, and yet we have gone to the very heart of the letter.

QUESTIONS

1. On this letter’s view of the Father, answer: (1) What two words express his nature? (2) How was his love manifested toward the lost world? (3) In what way did he intend his Son to save the world? (4) What relation, toward himself did he provide for sinners?

2. On the view of the Son, answer: (1) What was his name in eternity before the world was? (2) How was he manifested to the world? (3) Was this a real assumption of human nature or only an appearance? (4) How was this incarnation demonstrated to human sense? (5) What, the importance of this doctrine of his incarnation? (6) In his incarnation in what 2 ways did he effect salvation of the world? (7) In what one act were both accomplished? (8) Explain "This is he that came by water." (9) Explain "This is he that came by blood." (10) Show the Spirit’s witness that he came both ways. (11) Show how the witness of the Spirit, the water and the blood do now agree in their testimony to the one act of salvation. (12) How is that propitiation made available for sins after justification? (13) In what way is it made available at the end of the world in the perfecting of salvation?

3. On the view of the Holy Spirit, answer: (1) What in general terms is the office work of the Spirit in salvation? (2) In seven distinct particulars show what the Spirit accomplishes, citing passages in the letter for proof.

4. On the letter’s view of the saved man, cite at least four distinct stages of this man, citing passages from the letter for each.

XXIX

FIRST LETTER OF JOHN, EXPOSITION – (CONCLUDED)

So far, in the logical, not chronological, exposition of this great feat of theological discussion, we have considered:

1. Its view of a lost world – the agent, means, and condition of its downfall.

2. Its view of the Father, in the salvation of the lost world.

3. Its view of the Son, in the salvation of the lost world.

4. its view of the Holy Spirit, in the salvation of the lost world.

5. Its view of the sinner after his salvation, and in what the salvation consists.

We now consider:

6. Its evidences which discriminate between a child of God and a child of the devil. The legal, or external, difference has been considered somewhat, and consists of two particulars:

(1) The child of God has been forgiven for all past sins on account of the Saviour’s propitiation, or vicarious sacrifice, accepted by faith.

(2) Forgiveness of his sins after justification is secured by confession, and putting the case in the hands of the advocate, or high priest, who makes intercession for him on the ground of the same propitiation which avails for sins after justification as well as for sins before justification. The legal ground for forgiveness is the same in both cases. On the same meritorious ground it is provided that sins after justification may be forgiven at the intercession of the saints, here on earth.

The spiritual, or internal, difference has also been considered somewhat in the work of the Holy Spirit, which consists:

(a) In the new birth which gives a holy disposition to the mind, and makes its subject a child of God by regeneration.

(b) In the cleansing from the defilement of sin by the Spirit’s application of the atoning blood.

(c) In the progressive work of the sanctification of the soul after the new birth.

(d) In the redemption of the body into its final likeness to our Lord’s body at his final advent.

But we are now to consider the discriminating evidences subjectively and practically, i.e., the evidences as knowable to the roan himself in his own experience, and as manifested to others in his life. If a man be acquitted in God’s sight, and if he be forgiven time and again after justification, and if he be born anew, and if he be cleansed from the defilement of sin, and if the progressive work of the sanctification be going on in him, we may expect to find some consciousness and realization on his part of these great changes, and we have a right to expect some differences in his life, observable to all men acquainted with his life.

These are the matters discussed, not exclusively, but particularly in 1 John 3:10-24; 1 John 4:7-21. While the two distinct things are mingled in the apostle’s discussion, yet because of this distinction we consider them separately.

Subjective knowledge of salvation. "We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14). Love is an affliction of the heart of which we may be conscious. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Or, as expressed in 1 John 4:7-8: "Love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." This love is set forth in opposition to the passion of hate. "Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother." "Whoso hateth his brother is a murderer." Love is unselfish. The Father’s love was manifested in sending his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him (1 John 4:9). The Son’s love was manifested in that he laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16). So if we love God in his Son, in his people, in his cause, it will manifest itself, not merely in profession, but in deed and truth (1 John 3:18).

How easy to understand the apostle’s question: "But whoso hath this world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion for him, how doth the love of God abide in him?" And how unequivocal the declaration: "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen cannot love God whom he hath not seen."

That love is a matter of consciousness is further evident from its effect on our consciences. Conscience is the inward monitor which passes judgment on matters of right and wrong. This judgment is according to the light it has. Even in the case of the heathen with only the light of nature and of dim tradition, it accuses or else excuses. Its verdict against us is very painful; its verdict of acquittal gives peace.

The standard of our letter will not accept mere words, but deeds: "My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth. Hereby we shall know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him, because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." Again, faith differentiates between the child of God and the child of the devil. This letter says, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God; and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten."

One convicted in conscience of sin realizes "a sense of guilt and condemnation," but when justified by faith, there comes instead peace and rest. This is a matter of consciousness. Moreover, under conviction of sin we fear – we are conscious of that fear – but this letter says, "There is no fear in love: perfect love casts out fear because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).

But another question arises: It is true I may know that I have passed out of death into life if I love the brethren) but how may I know that I love the brethren? "Hereby we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do his commandments. .For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous." In other words, we know it by being conscious of the spirit of obedience. "Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." The saved soul puts itself under divine orders: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" The concern is not: Why must I do this thing? nor, may not some other thing do just as well? but simply to know what God has commanded.

The spirit of faith, the spirit of love, the spirit of obedience, felt in our souls) approved in our consciences attest the Christian to himself. And there is yet another test: "Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is. And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself even as he is pure." This is the progress of grace in the soul; we call it sanctification. It is the doctrine taught also by Paul: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit." We ought to be able to know whether we are making progress in holiness.

There is also a final test in relation to the world. We have seen in the preceding chapter a view of the whole world lying in the wicked one, and opposed to grace. This furnishes us an additional double test. If we love God in his Son and people and cause, then it follows that we cannot love the world as dominated by Satan and swayed by its worldly passions, but will conquer it. Hence this letter declares: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. . . . For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith. And who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

But there is a practical side attesting the Christian to the outsider. The outsider cannot know our inner experiences of faith, hope, love, joy, and peace. He hears our professions, and holds them credible only so far as manifested in the life. Our Lord himself fixed that standard: "A tree is known by its fruits." So, of professed children of God it may be said, "By their fruits shall ye know them." Hence our letter says, "My . little children, let no man lead you astray. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous; he that doeth sin is of the devil. . . . Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever that doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."

Evidences which differentiate God’s preachers from the devil’s preachers. As God is light, and the devil is darkness; as God is love and the devil is hate; as God would save the world which the devil has destroyed; as God sends a Saviour of the world to be a propitiation for sin and the devil resists him; as Father and Son send the Holy Spirit to make effective the propitiation; we ought to be able to discriminate between God’s preachers and the devil’s preachers. We would naturally expect the devil to influence his agents to deny the incarnation by which the Son is manifested, his being a propitiation for sin in that incarnation, that propitiation effected by his vicarious death on the cross, the miracles which attested him, the witness of the Spirit, and the necessity of the Spirit’s work of regeneration, sanctification, resurrection, and glorification.

And quite naturally we would expect God’s preachers to be influenced to preach and insist on all those vital things which the devil’s preachers deny. The great issue would necessarily center on the nature, person, and offices of the Saviour. Knowing also the wiles of the devil, we would expect him to influence his preachers to creep privily into churches, and into the ministry, and into professors’ chairs in Christian schools, instructed from headquarters to praise Christ as a man, while denying his deity and pre-existence, throw bouquets at his morality while denying his vicarious propitiation, command his example while denying his expiation; in other words, as saving us in any other way than by his death on the cross.

On this point this letter says) "Little children, it is the last hour: and as ye heard that antichrist cometh, even now hath there arisen many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us. And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, even he that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father; he that confesseth the Son hath the Father also. . . . Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God." God became incarnate. The highest object of the incarnation was to expiate sin as a propitiatory offering. On these two points we may expose the antichrists. To the bitter end they fight the doctrine that God, the preexisting Son, was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. See John 1:1; John 1:14; 1 John 1:1; Luke 1:31-35; 1 John 1:7; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 2:22; 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:10; 1 John 5:6-8.

This letter stresses the incarnation, the propitiation, the blood, the obedience, and it is precisely by these that we are to test all professors of the Christian religion, showing who are for Christ and who are antichrists. If preacher or teacher hold not these vital doctrines, whatever other merit, they are not of us and should go out from us. Hence the injunction:

Believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits.

1 John 1:1-2: "From the beginning was . . . the Word of life, and the life was manifested." This attests his deity and incarnation.

1 John 4:2-3: "Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesses not Jesus is not of God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist."

1 John 3:22: "Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, even he that denieth the Father and the Son."

1 John 4:14-15: "The Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him." This attests the purpose of his coming.

1 John 4:9-10: "God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. . . . God sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

1 John 2:21: "He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world." This attests the way he saves.

1 John 3:5: "He was manifested to take away our sins."

1 John 3:16: "He laid down his life for us."’ This attests the way propitiation is accomplished.

1 John 5:6: "This is he that came by water and blood."

1 John 5:8: "There are three who bear witness – the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three agree in one."

1 John 1:7: "The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin."

1 John 3:2; 1 John 3:7-8: "If he shall be manifested [second advent] we shall be like him . . . and every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure . . . Let no man lead you astray; he that doeth righteousness is righteous. . . . He that doeth sin is of the devil."

1 John 4:18-19: "Let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth. Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our heart before him."

1 John 3:10: "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."

The author would most solemnly impress these passages on the reader’s heart. They constitute the touchstone which exposes all lying spirits, false prophets, false preachers, false teachers in Christian schools, false professors of religion. From these passages it is evident that no man should be fellowshiped as a preacher, or even retained as a church member, who denies the essential deity of Jesus Christ, his incarnation, his vicarious death as a propitiation for sin; nor one whose profession of these doctrines does not bear fruit unto love and holiness.

A mere verbal orthodoxy is hypocrisy, and is more hateful to God and more hurtful to man than avowed infidelity. I am quite sure that a strict application of this test would empty thousands of pulpits, hundreds of professors’ chairs in Christian schools, and deplete thousands of church rolls. This emptying and depleting would not be deplorable but helpful. It would amount to a great revival. As they depart from us, we could say with this letter: "They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us they would have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us."

Knowledge of the Holy Spirit vs. the Gnosis of the Lycus Valley philosopher, and the Agnosis of the modern philosopher. This letter is the secret of certain positive knowledge, and attributes the subjective knowledge or assurance of our acceptance with God, and all other positive knowledge of theological matters to the witness and unction of the Holy Spirit: "And as for you, the anointing which ye received abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as is taught you, ye abide in him. . . . And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three who bear witness – the Spirit, the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for the witness of God is this: that he hath borne witness concerning his Son. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his Son. And the witness is this: That God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. These things have I written unto you that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God."

It is written against the Lycus Valley Gnosticism. That philosophy ignored the word revealed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, and denied any illumination by him for its interpretation and claimed instead an intuitive subjective human knowledge that claimed to serve all the purposes of a portable Bible. Each man became his own standard, and found in himself an answer to all questions of life and doctrine. All concerning Christ and salvation that appealed to his inner man he accepted – all else he rejected. While he might admit some temporary educational good in the Spirit’s illumination, yet all this would become antiquated as man progressed into a new religion. In modern times the philosopher affects agnosticism, which rejects all supernaturalism, and accepts nothing not demonstrable by unaided human science. The vital elements of the gospel they declare unknowable.

It was the precise object of this letter to lead its readers out of all misty incertitude, and into positive, definite, assured knowledge. "I know," "we know," "that ye may know," is its distinguishing mark. And this knowledge extends into the realm of prayer, and unto the unpardonable sin: "These things have I written unto you that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the boldness which we have toward him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him. If any man gee his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death; not concerning this do I say that he should make request. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death.

"We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but he that was begotten of God keepeth himself, and the evil one toucheth him not. We know that we are of God, and the whole truth lieth in the evil one. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."

The source of the knowledge is unmistakable: "And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things. . . . And as for you the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as is taught you, ye abide in him."

These passages are in full accord with our Lord’s words, as reported by this same John in his Gospel: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, for it beholdeth him not) neither knoweth him, for he abideth with you and shall be in you. . . . But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you. . . . But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me. . . . Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things ever he shall hear, these shall he speak; and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come."

And now before we pass away from this great letter we must answer a very serious question, not without difficulty. What is the exact meaning of 3:9, "Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him, and he cannot sin because he is begotten of God?" Or, as expressed in a preceding verse: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him?" Or, in other words, does the apostle mean that every regenerate man is absolutely impeccable, not posse non pecari, i.e., "able not to sin," but non posse peccari, i.e., "not able to sin"?

Those who adopt the view that the regenerate man is absolutely impeccable must take one or the other of the following positions, none of which is satisfactory to the author:

(1) When a man accepts Christ, he is no longer under law, but under grace, and where there is no law there is no sin. This is antinomianism,. it hides behind a fallacy. Christians are not indeed under the law as a means of life, i.e., by a perfect obedience. But the Christian is under law to Christ. To violate any rule of right is sin, no matter by whom committed.

(2) The Christian united to Christ stands sinless in him. As Christ stood for the sinner, all his offenses are charged to Christ’s account. This explanation is foreign to the apostle’s whole line of thought. He is not discussing the imputation of righteousness.

(3) A much more plausible explanation is borrowed from Romans 7:17-21. The explanation is that the renewed nature does not and cannot sin, but this man in the renewed life possesses another nature, from which the Christian’s sins outflow. There are two "egos" – the "I" that would not, and the "I" that yet does. The author is quite sure that the apostle John has not in mind this refinement.

(4) Some who reject the absolutely impeccable interpretation understand the word thus: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not as a rule of life – sinneth not habitually." This view is better expressed by Sawtelle in the American Commentary on 1 John 3:6: "Now, what is the interpretation of John’s language? We answer by saying that in this and in similar cases he looks to an ideal or principle. He presents what the divine union involves in its fulness that will be when our union with. Christ shall be developed in experience and actual life to its normal and perfected state. Abiding in Christ in its fulfilled degree will involve a partaking in full of the holiness of Christ. This ideal had not yet been fully reached by John, and his brethren, though the union had richly commenced and was going on. But he looks forward to their perfected union with the Lord, and predicates of it complete purity; nay, he even speaks of it as if it were present, since the beginning in all grace involves the ending, the germ, the full unfolding; as the New Testament calls every Christian a saint, not because he has reached that ideal, but with reference to the perfection, which is yet to be. John gives us the law or principle of union. -with Christ. Purity characterizes this union, and so far as the union is realized and fulfilled, so far there will be purity, until the ideal becomes fully real, and then by the very law of the -union, there will be utter sinlessness. The union is a holy principle, and the more it is developed the more it bears personal holiness with it. The Christian, therefore, by the very law of his union with Christ, is one who is reaching on to moral purity; and if not approaching the ideal, he may doubt his spiritual state. Purity is the law, the tendency of divine union."

The author has much respect for this view of Dr. Sawtelle, but it fails to meet the words "doeth no sin." Hence he submits:

John’s own explanation (1 John 3:6; 1 John 3:9), must be interpreted in harmony with the rest of his letter. He must not be interpreted as inconsistent with himself and put in square contradiction with both previous and subsequent statements. Let us look at some of these statements:

In 1 John 1:8 he says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." This is said of the Christian He is not referring to our state before regeneration, for that is separately expressed in 1 John 1:10: "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." He is telling what to do with sins committed after justification. "If we confess ours sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. . . . 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."

We have already seen his treatment of the progress in sanctification (1 John 3:3). In 1 John 5:17 he declares every act of unrighteousness to be sin, no matter by whom committed) regenerate or unregenerate. And he specifically exhorts us to pray for the forgiveness of a sinning brother (1 John 5:16).

It would contradict every book in the Bible, and the experience of every Christian that ever lived to affirm that no regenerate man ever sins at all. It would deny the need of the continuous intercession of the high priest, our Advocate with God. It is suggested for due consideration that John explains himself in 1 John 5:13-18. Here we have the object of the whole letter, that we may know we have eternal life. While every act of unrighteousness is sin, not every one excludes from eternal life. A Christian may sin, but not unto death, the opposite of the eternal life. These sins are pardonable, and are pardoned even at the intercession of the saints. There is a sin unto death. It is unpardonable and not the subject of intercession.

And now to put the matter beyond doubt, he repeats his former words: "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not," i.e., sinneth not unto death, as the context demands. Which is further evident from what he continues to say: "but he that was born of God keepeth himself, and the evil one toucheth him not."

This is the author’s answer to the question raised. It means that no regenerate man sinneth in a way, or to the extent, that his eternal life is disturbed. He sinneth not unto death.

John’s idea of the unpardonable sin agrees with our Lord’s teaching at Matthew 12:32; Mark 3:29-30, and Paul’s teaching in Hebrews 10:26-29. It is rejection of the Spirit’s witness to our Lord, 1 John 5:8-11.

QUESTIONS

1. Give the legal grounds which distinguish the child of God from the child of the devil, and why and how attained in three particulars.

2. Give the spiritual grounds in four particulars.

3. What parts of this letter discuss the difference as apprehended by the Christian in subjective knowledge and as evidenced to an outsider in practical life, i.e., How may he know and how may they know?

4. Subjectively, then, how may a Christian know that he has passed out of death into life?

5. How is this known through his conscience?

6. How may a Christian know that he loves the brethren?

7. How may the Christian know his state by applying this test to the world?

8. How is the Christian’s salvation evident to an outsider?

9. Why should we naturally expect a discernible difference between. Christ’s preachers and the devil’s preachers?

10. In trying the spirits whether they be of God, cite the passages in this letter which constitute the test.

11. What should be our attitude toward preachers, teachers in Christian schools and church members who fail under this test?

12. What would be the result of a faithful application of this teat?

13. Which the more hurtful, hypocrisy or avowed infidelity?

14. How would this console us if the test were rigidly applied when we saw such members leaving us?

15. Who the source of all the Christian knowledge?

16. What question is raised by 1 John 3:6; 1 John 3:9, and what four unsatisfactory answers, and then what John’s own explanation?