The First Epistle of John

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is my sincere Prayer that you are being Blessed even as you read this email.

Today, we study the first Epistle of John.

1:1 John here and below alludes to his eyewitness status. That of which he speaks, he has witnessed personally. His witness pertains to the Word of life, which is the proclamation concerning the One in whom was life (John 1:4).

1:2 Was manifested means "appeared." The life John and others saw (John 14:6) is what 1 John seeks to convey to its readers. John says this life, which is summed up and was shown forth in Jesus Christ, was with the Father; This statement echoes John 1:1 and points to Christ's preexistence, His eternal presence and oneness with God the Father.

1:3 John seeks to establish, or perhaps to broaden, the fellowship between himself and his readers. "Fellowship" here means "a close association or relationship"; in Christian terms this means mutual acceptance of and submission to the verities of Christian faith. It means sharing in personal knowledge of and heartfelt obedience to God through Jesus Christ.

1:4 The major purpose of 1 John is stated in 5:13, but another purpose is stated here: for the recipients, and no doubt John as well, to enjoy and share in the deep sense of satisfaction and purpose that knowing Christ and walking with Him brings.

1:5 Again John implies his eyewitness status, having heard of him, that is, Jesus. John passes on to the church teaching he first received from Jesus. Light and darkness here have ethical overtones. John is saying that God is perfect and good; there is thus no sin or evil in Him. This will have implications for followers  of this God in the following verses.

1:6 Walk in darkness means walking in sin. John may have had in mind the people who claimed to be enjoying a close relationship with God, but those lives were clearly characterized by sin. Such a state of affairs, John says boldly, is impossible; such persons are lying.

1:7 "God is light" (verse 5): To walk in this light, which is to live free from bondage to sin (Romans 6:18), is to make true communion between believers possible. Jesus' violent death on the cross, which is what blood signifies, is the initial antidote for and ultimate defense against sin's presence and power.

1:8 Other seem to have been claiming that they had no sin. Jesus had taught that those who owned up to their sin could find forgiveness, while those who were blind to their sin would be left mired in it (John 9:41).

1:9 This is a restatement of verse 7. We ought not to deny our sins (verse 8), but rather to confess them before God. This opens the door for His forgiving and cleansing light to purify our hearts. Unrighteousness is another way of saying "sin."

1:10 To deny one's sinfulness (verse 8) or sins is not just to deceive oneself; it is to make God liar by denying His Word. Both Old and New Testaments stress the universality of man's sin (e.g., Job 4:17; Psalms 14:3; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:10-18, 23).

Yours in Jesus Christ,

Bishop William B. Caractor