Bible Commentaries
1 John 1

Verses 1-4

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 1 John 1:1

As it has been said, we live on a "visited planet." In the fullness of time the Almighty God sent his only Son to live on this planet as the perfect example of what a human being should be like. He came here in flesh and blood in order to redeem all of us who are flesh and blood, but who are bound by sin and death. The Apostle John the Beloved is here bearing clear witness to what is surely the most important act in human history, the Incarnation of the Son of God.

The ancient Greek thinkers, likely following the teaching of Plato, seemed to have had a block in their heads concerning this very subject. They came to believe that the earth and the flesh were evil and beyond redemption, while the spiritual realm was the only real realm and the only thing that mattered. For them it was unthinkable that God could come down to earth and take upon himself mere flesh. The Gnostic teachers responsible for this letter being written were simply following the Greek way of thinking. Unfortunately, it was in clear opposition to the Hebrew way of thinking that is seen here and throughout the Bible.

The expression, "from the beginning" is very similar but somewhat different than the expression of John 1:1. Scholars seem divided as to whether or not this expression speaks of the beginning of creation and time, or whether it speaks of the beginning of Jesus' ministry. It would seem that John is using the expression much akin to John 1:1 and that he is referring once more to the beginning of creation. As Barclay, that Scottish great, says, "in him eternity entered time; in him the eternal God personally entered the world of men."^(F1) Peter Pett, the English Baptist college lecturer and Bible commentator, remarks, "'That which was from the beginning.' In the light of John 1:1 – this can only signify the eternity of 'the Word of life.'"^(F2)

With this verse, John launches a withering attack on those who would deny that Jesus came in the flesh and that he was a real man. Many of the Gnostics were what we would call Docetists. The Greek word from which this is taken means "to appear." Thus, it would mean that Jesus only appeared to be a man but he was in fact a phantom. Such a view would satisfy the Greek understanding, that the world and flesh were evil and that a righteous God would not be able to be associated with flesh. Unfortunately, this view was mistaken.

John comes forward with several eye-witness statements that thoroughly dispute the Gnostics. He says in essence that God really did become a man and that the disciples were all witnesses to this fact. He says, "We have heard" with our ears. The apostle is not presenting some mere hearsay evidence. He is not relating what others have heard but what he himself has heard. After all, the Beloved Disciple was personally with Jesus during the whole of his earthly ministry. He was even present when Jesus died on the cross. He had personally heard the Word of Life. He heard the Eternal God speak through the flesh of Jesus Christ. As British rector emeritus and prolific writer John Stott says, "What the apostle stresses in his proclamation of the gospel is the historical manifestation of the eternal."^(F3)

Since John was closer to Jesus than the other disciples he heard a lot of things that they did not hear. He heard that Jesus was the logos or Word of God (John 1:1); He heard that he was the Living Water (4:10); He heard that Jesus was the Bread of Life (6:35); that he was the Good Shepherd (John 10:11); and that he was the True Vine (15:1). He heard a lot of other things that they did not hear. They were just not close enough.

Not only did John hear with his own ears the words of the eternal God, but he saw the manifestation of God with his own eyes. John tries to describe the Logos saying, "…which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at…" (1 John 1:1).

The first Greek word for "look" used here (horan) simply means to see. However, the second word (looked at) is theasthai. Barclay describes this word saying, "The verb… theasthai…means to gaze at someone or something until something has been grasped of the significance of that person or thing…"^(F4) The disciples had thoroughly looked at and gazed upon Jesus. They knew he was real and that he was the incarnate Son of God. As John would say in his gospel, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

Finally, John says that he has not only heard and seen the Lord but he has actually touched him. The Greek here is pslaphan. Stott, quoting Brooke, says it means "to grope or feel after in order to find, like a blind man or one in the dark; hence to handle, touch… examine closely"^(F5)

Since John was closer to Jesus than the other disciples, there were probably many times that he snuggled up to Jesus and spoke privately with him. We see one of those times at the Lord's Supper. We note that John was leaning against the Lord's breast during the supper (John 13:25). John could have probably added to his testimony here, "I have even heard his heartbeat!"^(F6) In Luke 24:39–40, even after his resurrection, Jesus said to his disciples, "'Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.' When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet." Thus we see that the disciples were not only witnesses of Jesus' fleshly body but of his resurrected spiritual body as well.

John was proclaiming that he had heard, seen and touched the very Word of Life. We can understand by this why it was so important for these early disciples to leave everything and follow after Jesus. He would not appear incarnate again in all human history.

The expression "Word of Life" is an important one. In the Greek language "word" is logos. It was a very popular Greek philosophical concept. Calvary Chapel pastor and web commentator, David Guzik, describes it saying that logos is, "…the basis for organization and intelligence in the universe, the Ultimate Reason which controls all things… It is as if John said to everyone, 'This Logos you have been talking about and writing about for centuries – well, we have heard him, seen him, studied him, and touched him! Let us tell you about him."^(F7)

For those moderns and postmoderns who doubt that there is a supreme intelligence behind our universe, we would only mention that several top-notch physicists are now defining the universe in terms like these: J. A. Wheeler says the essence of the universe is information. James Jeans says it is more like a thought, while Werner Heisenberg thinks it is like an idea and George Wald sees it more as mind.^(F8) All these descriptions are extremely close to "word."

"The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us" (1:2). Augustine (354-430) says of this, "The life itself has been manifested in flesh, so that what can be seen by the heart alone might be seen also by the eyes, in order that hearts might be healed."^(F9) John says later in this verse that it is the eternal life that has been manifested. The Greek word for eternal is aionios and according to Thayer it means "without beginning and without end, that which always has been and always will be, eternal." Life is zoe and also according to Thayer it "indicates…the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God."^(F10) It is this eternal life that has been proclaimed to us.

John says that "the life appeared" or was made manifest. The Greek word is phaneroo, and it means "to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown."^(F11) It is important to note that the word for "seen" used here is in the Greek perfect, which speaks of continuing action. Pett says of it, "The perfect indicates something happening in the past and continuing into the present. He cannot forget the glory of it and it is still with him. We heard, and we still hear, we saw, and we still see…spiritually that hearing and seeing still goes on in a deeper way, for it is imbedded in their hearts …"^(F12) Kenneth Wuest, the noted Greek scholar comments, "Thus the incarnation of the Son of God was the making visible to human understanding, the life which God is."^(F13)

"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ" (1:3). John has discovered that which is too good to be kept for himself. It absolutely must be shared with others. The word for "fellowship" is the common New Testament Greek word koinonia. This is a very important concept in John's letter. Pett says it, "…indicates a closeness of relationship. It can signify the marriage relationship, a true and working partnership, a oneness of many, and it can mean to be so close together that all is shared, that their aims and goals are shared, that they have all things that are important in common."^(F14) The great reformer, John Calvin, says, "Whosoever, then, really perceives what fellowship with God is, will be satisfied with it alone, and will no more burn with desires for other things…."^(F15) The apostle is no doubt wishing to make clear that those who have broken the church fellowship or who have left it altogether are running a big risk of losing the life of God that is only revealed in his Son.

"We write this to make our joy complete" (1:4). The reason for his writing is that his hearers may have fellowship with him and with the Father, so that everyone's joy can become full and overflow. This reminds us of Psalm 16:11, "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Guzik says of this divine joy, "This joy is an abiding sense of optimism and cheerfulness based on God, as opposed to happiness, which is a sense of optimism and cheerfulness based on circumstances…."^(F16) We all know that circumstances can change but true joy always abides. It continues with us and in fact it becomes our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Verses 5-7

THE LIGHT OF LIFE

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5

Light is a very mysterious and wonderful thing. In Genesis, we realize that there was light before the sun, moon and stars were ever created (Genesis 1:3,14-18). This was undoubtedly the light of God shining upon the darkness and chaos of the emerging creation.

Natural light itself is so mysterious that it has been the subject of much scientific investigation, especially in the last century. In fact, the twentieth century began with several important scientific discoveries related to light. In 1900 the German theoretical physicist Max Planck discovered that light did not only appear in waves, but in particles or quanta, and thus the Quantum Era of physics was born. Albert Einstein was very much involved in the study of light and received the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his correct explanation of the photoelectric effect. Not only did Einstein discover the photon theory of light, but he also went on to propose the incredible theory of relativity.

The physicist F. David Peat speaks of, "…two bombshells…a massive explosion in the twentieth century physics; Their names were relativity and quantum theory, and both theories had something to say about light."^(F17)

We are surely aware that most of the inventions of the last hundred years were directly or indirectly based upon these discoveries concerning light. Without these discoveries we would be missing things like electric lights, televisions, x-rays, microwaves, computers, iPhones, etc. Perhaps devout people will soon begin to make discoveries concerning spiritual light. What a day that will be!

John says simply, "God is light." In God there is not a speck of darkness. He is not referring to natural light but to spiritual light. There are a lot of things light symbolizes in the spiritual world. It speaks of purity, holiness, knowledge, wisdom, happiness.^(F18) It speaks of life, love, glory, truth, beauty, majesty, energy, growth, perfection and it represents every essential excellence. Light is fully manifested in the face of Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:6). "Darkness, on the other hand, implies all imperfection, and principally ignorance, sinfulness, and misery."^(F19) In the presence of light there are beautiful living blooming and growing things. In the darkness there is decay and ugliness, like the gross things we might find under a rock. Darkness is fully manifested in Satan and his kingdom.

It is clear from scripture that we humans not only once lived in darkness but that we actually were darkness within ourselves (Ephesians 5:8-9) because of our sinful nature. Now, through Christ and his sacrifice we have become children of light. We are now delivered from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God's dear Son (Colossians 1:13). He has brought us out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). That light now shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it or put it out (John 1:5).

To live in darkness is a dreadful and dangerous thing. The pastor and evangelist Ray Stedman tells of a time in his youth when he and some other young men decided to spend a night at the Grand Canyon. They were almost without funds so they decided to get into their sleeping bags and spend the night on the ground there. He says:

We arrived in the park long after midnight and not knowing where the Canyon was we drove on into the park, found a wide spot in the road, pulled the car over. Taking out our sleeping bags we walked a few feet into the trees, threw them down and went to sleep. When we awoke in the morning the sun was high. I woke first, rolled over, and to my astonishment found that I had been sleeping within arm's length of the edge of the canyon. If I had rolled over in my sleep I would have fallen over the edge of a 500-foot precipice. In the darkness we had not seen it, but the light made it clear. That, in turn, made us grateful that we had not tried to go further from the car that night.^(F20)

John says, "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth" (1:6). The big problem with many Christians in the US is that they are walking in the shadows. When we walk towards Christ the shadows will always be behind us, but when we walk away from him the darkness and the shadows will be before us. Many believers are essentially accepting the rules and the "wisdom" of this present evil age. They are beguiled by the spirit of this age and so they are deeply compromised.

When we walk in the shadows we will begin to lose our witness and our spiritual power. Warren Wiersbe, the internationally known Bible teacher and pastor of Moody Church says, "One of the first symptoms of walking in darkness is a loss of blessing from the Bible. You cannot read the Word profitably while you are walking in the dark."^(F21) I remember the situation with a dear friend and church deacon some years ago. He kept complaining that he could just not read the Bible anymore. That sounded strange, but year after year he had the same complaint. Finally, in desperation he confessed that he was hooked on pornography. We prayed together and this stronghold was broken. Now he can once again enjoy God's precious Word.

There are many other things that happen when we begin walking in the shadows. We lose our love for the fellowship of God's people. We really become hypocrites, or liars, pretending to be something we are not. Once Jesus said, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God" (John 3:19-21).

In the Jewish world the word "walk" has to do with one's manner of life. In the Hebrew, the word for walk is "halak." The Jewish people refer to the commands and traditions of Judaism as "ha-lak-hah," or "walk." The Greek word here in verse 6 is peripateo and it conveys a similar concept. This verb peripateo is present active subjunctive. Thus, it does not speak of a single isolated instance of sin but it speaks of a habitual action of sin.^(F22) Stott says, "The false claim here is the assertion that we have fellowship with God, while at the same time we walk (that is, habitually live) in the darkness (cf. 2:11; Isaiah 9:2; John 8:12; Romans 2:19)."^(F23) The Bible says plainly that light has no fellowship with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14).

Guzik sighs, "John is much too plain for our sophisticated age, which doesn't want to see anything in black or white, but everything in a pale shade of gray."^(F24)

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1:7). Barclay says, "Truth is the creator of fellowship. If men are really walking in the light, they have fellowship one with another. No belief can be fully Christian if it separates a man from his fellow-men."^(F25)

Once again, here the word for "walk" is present subjunctive and it indicates habitual action, that one is continuing to walk in the light.^(F26)

We have something interesting here. It says that if we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us of all sin. When we think of the blood sacrifice of Christ we probably think of a one-time action. Here we see that the cleansing is a present active verb or something that is done continually.^(F27) Barclay adds, "The meaning is that all the time, day by day, constantly and consistently, the blood of Jesus Christ ought to be carrying out a cleansing process in the life of the individual Christian."^(F28)

The world-renowned Bible teacher, Derek Prince, once remarked that the blood of Jesus only cleanses in the light. As we bring our sins to the light we are washed and cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. When we seek to hide our sins in darkness, they remain.^(F29) It is also true that when we bury our sins in the dark it is like burying a seed in the ground. Our sin simply sprouts, grows and bears its ugly fruit.

No doubt, the Gnostic teachers felt that light was primarily knowledge, but John makes clear that it has to do with ethical purity. Baptist professor Bob Utley says "Truth is something we live, not just something we know."^(F30)

Verses 8-10

ADMITTING OUR SINFULNESS

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8-9

Many people in our postmodern world do not seem to understand what sin is. The theologian John Hannah says that many folks would likely define sin as a Peanut Butter Binge or as Chocolate Decadence, while they would at the same time not define lying as sin. Sin is often merely caloric in our society.^(F31) Because of our increasing biblical ignorance, there are many people walking around today who would never consider themselves sinners. They feel they are far removed from the inherited sinful nature of Adam and they do not believe the many wicked things they do and say would be classified as sin. John says of these that they are simply self-deceived.

Perhaps we should take just a little time to think about how we got into this situation. In our society, the philosophers have told us that we are all "OK." Thomas Harris assured us of this in his 1967 classic,"I'm OK, You're OK." If we are really OK, we have no need to be concerned about our sin. However, as we observe ourselves and the world around us, it becomes obvious that we are not OK. We have a problem, a very deep problem, and the problem is our sinful nature. We sin and we cannot help sinning.

Stott comments, "John's affirmation is equally applicable today to those who deny the fact of guilt of sin by seeking to interpret it solely in terms of physiological, psychological or social causes."^(F32) Today sin is often seen as syndrome. For instance, alcohol abuse is now defined as a disease or syndrome, relieving the person of any and all responsibility.

Well, the Bible is crystal clear that we are all sinners. In Romans 3:23 we read, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…" Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, "Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins." In Galatians 3:22 we read, "But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe." The Bible assures us that we have inherited a sinful nature due to Adam's fall, but it also says in 1 Corinthians 15:22, "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."

In our verse under discussion here we should note that "sin" is singular. Stott feels by this that the reference is to that inherited principle of sin or self-centeredness that we have all received from our forefather Adam.^(F33) It is almost as if sin was a part of our genetic makeup.

This verse has a lot of implications for some branches of Christianity, where a great emphasis is placed upon "sanctification," as some act of God that rids us from all future sin. This verse blows such a doctrine to shreds. It is clear that sin will continue to show up in believer's lives until we are made perfect on that last day. Even the great Apostle Paul could still classify himself as the "worst of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). Once someone came up to the evangelist D. L. Moody claiming that he had reached the point that he no longer sinned. Mr. Moody remarked, "Well, I'd like to ask your wife about that."^(F34)

No doubt, John was facing false teachers who did not take sin too seriously. There were in fact two streams of thinking in Gnosticism. One group felt that salvation was an intellectual matter entirely and therefore it really did not matter how a person lived. The body was evil anyway. The other group believed the body was evil and thus it had to be controlled in its desires.^(F35)

The scripture also plainly says that if we will confess our sins God will forgive us. What a wonderful promise! The Greek word "confess" is homologeo, and it means essentially to "say the same thing" that God is saying about us.^(F36) God says that we all are sinners and when we confess, we simply say, "God, you are right. I am a sinner!" In truthfully admitting this, we cannot go on our merry way sinning, but we must turn away from our sinful life and turn to God as we receive his total forgiveness. Sometimes it is even necessary that we repay the loss that we have brought upon others (Luke 19:8).

When we truly confess our sins it is a first step into the kingdom of God. The crusty British commentator John Trapp (1601-1669) says, "No man was ever kept out of God's kingdom for his confessed badness; many are for their supposed goodness."^(F37)

"If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us" (1:10). If God says we are all sinners how can anyone dispute this? If we say that we are no longer sinners because of our doctrinal beliefs we make God a liar. The Gnostic heretics were liars. They felt that their superior enlightenment made it impossible for them to sin.^(F38)

There are plenty of folks around today who involve God in their sin. It is common to hear people say "Well, we are divorced because he (or she) was not the right one for me." God says that the two shall be made one and shall not be separated (Ephesians 5:31; Matthew 19:6). Other people say after being divorced and finding another partner, "God just put us together." Such talk is common in our day, but Jesus says in Matthew 5:32, "But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery." God also says, "I hate divorce…" (Malachi 2:16; cf. NAS, NET, NRS, NKJ). Often by our unbiblical talk today we also make God out to be a liar.