Many know that I like Biblical tools, especially commentaries. There is much wisdom and application to glean from men that God has put in place to interpret His word.
Members on this forum do not like these commentaries, I really do not understand the reasoning behind that.
I will continue to post commentaries, so that others may see the hermeneutical interpretation of Scriptures.
3. Deception and Confession
1:8–10
8. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Once more John states the negative and the positive in two successive verses that express conditions. Also the last verse (v. 10) is a conditional statement, which John puts in the form of a negative conclusion.
(a) Denial Another claim made by opponents of the Christian faith, perhaps the so-called Gnostics, is that they have advanced to a stage beyond sinfulness. They say that they have achieved their goal: perfection.30
John listens to these people who assert that they are without sin. But when he quotes their claim, he includes himself and the readers. He puts the assertion in a conditional sentence and says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Anyone who has no need to pray the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer—“Forgive us our sins” (Luke 11:4)—because he thinks that he has no sin deceives himself. King Solomon wisely observed (Prov. 28:13):
He who conceals his sins does not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
The choice of words is significant: John says, “we have no sin.” He does not write, “we do not sin.” The noun sin describes the cause and the consequence of an act of disobedience; as a verb, the word describes the act itself.31
In the days of the apostle John, Greek philosophers taught a separation between body and spirit. The spirit is free, they said, but the body is matter that eventually dies. That is, if the body sinned, the spirit would be blameless. Sin, then, cannot affect the spirit. The First Epistle of John provides insufficient information to conclude that John was actively opposing Greek thinking. Scripture, however, teaches the universality of sin by saying that in the human race “there is no one who does good, not even one” (Ps. 14:3; 53:3; Rom. 3:12; also see Eccl. 7:20).
If we say that we have no sin, we are misleading ourselves. Moreover, the truth of God’s Word is not in us. In our spiritual blindness, we go contrary to the plain teaching of Scripture. And God judges us by the words we have spoken, for our own words condemn us.
9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
The writer presents typical Semitic parallelism. Verse 8 is parallel to verse 6, and verse 9 is a partial repetition and further explanation of verse 7. Because of its affirmative message, verse 9 is one of the more well-known passages of the epistle and even of the entire New Testament.
(b) Affirmation The text consists of three parts. The first is the condition, the second the assurance, and the third the fulfillment.
“If we confess our sins.” This is the conditional part of the sentence that points to our acknowledgment of sin. We openly and honestly face sin without hiding it or finding excuses for it.32 We confront the sins we have committed, without defending or justifying ourselves. We confess our sins to show repentance and renewal of life. We are not told when, where, and how to confess our sins, but daily repentance of sin leads us to continual confession. John actually writes, “If we keep confessing our sins.” He writes the word sins (in the plural) to indicate the magnitude of our transgressions.
“He is faithful and just.” Here is the assurance. God is faithful with respect to his promises. He is “a faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (Deut. 32:4). He does not scold or rebuke us; he does not become impatient; and he does not go back on his word. The only condition God requires for forgiveness is that we confess our sins. True to the promises made to the people of his new covenant, God declares, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12; 10:17).33
“[He] will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Note the fulfillment. Although translators put the verbs in the future tense as if the acts of forgiving and purifying will eventually happen, the Greek text says that God effectively forgives and purifies once for all. The first verb to forgive describes the act of canceling a debt and the restoration of the debtor. And the second verb to cleanse refers to making the forgiven sinner holy so that he is able to have fellowship with God. God takes the initiative, for he says to us, “Come now, let us reason together.… Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (Isa. 1:18).
10. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
This last verse is the conclusion of the series of conditional sentences. At the same time, it serves as an introduction to the next chapter.
(c) Conclusion The statement we have not sinned reveals the blatant attitude of the unrepentant, unregenerate infidel. In verse 8 the unbeliever said that he has no sin; now he asserts that he is not a sinner. If he is not a sinner, for he maintains that he has not sinned, he makes himself equal to God, the sinless One. Through his Word God convicts man of sin. But if man refuses to listen to evidence God presents, man accuses God of lying (1 John 5:10). In the sequence of three verses (6, 8, and 10), the writer works toward a climax: “we lie” (v. 6), “we deceive ourselves” (v. 8), and “we make him out to be a liar” (v. 10).
Once again John includes himself and the readers when he uses the personal pronoun we. If we should go so far as to say that we have not sinned, in spite of all the evidence, then the Word of God has no place in our lives. And that means that we are unbelievers who have rejected the gospel of salvation. The writer of Hebrews warns his readers not to follow the example of the rebellious Israelites who perished in the desert. “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith” (Heb. 4:2).[1]
Practical Considerations in 1:5–10
Plaques on walls and bumper stickers on cars tell the world “God is love.” But no one displays the sign God is light. Yet this is exactly what John does in his first epistle. He first says, “God is light” (1:5) and later writes, “God is love” (4:16). Light comes before love, for light uncovers that which is hidden. When we have fellowship with God (1:3, 6), we cannot hide our sins. Sins, like darkness, have no place in God’s light. They must be removed.
How does God remove sins? This is God’s method: First, he cleanses us from sin with “the blood of Jesus, his Son, [that] purifies us from every sin” (v. 7). And second, he specifies our part in the remission of sin: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1:9). The blood of Jesus is sufficient to cleanse us from sin, but we must be willing to confess our sins. God’s provision and man’s responsibility go hand in hand.
To confess means that I say the same thing God says about sin.34 God applies his law and says, “You are the sinner.” And like the publican in the temple court I acknowledge my sin and pray, “God, have mercy on me, the sinner” (Luke 18:13, italics added—the original Greek has “the sinner,” not “a sinner”). When God and man say the same thing about sin, the blood of Christ dissolves the stain of sin. God will remember sin no more. He forgives and forgets! Indeed, God is love.
Greek Words, Phrases, and Constructions in 1:9–10
Verse 9
τὰς ἁμαρτίας—John writes the plural form of the noun to express the multitude of sin.
ἵνα—the conjunction introduces not so much purpose as “conceived result.”35
Verse 10
ἡμαρτήκαμεν—the perfect active tense denotes completed action in the past—although negated by οὐχ (not)—that continues into the present.36
ψεύστης—this noun appears ten times in the New Testament; half of the references occur in I John (1:10; 2:4, 22; 4:20; 5:10).
34 J. D. Pentecost, The Joy of Fellowship (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977), p. 31.
35 Robertson, Grammar, p. 998; and see Blass and Debrunner, Greek Grammar, sec. 391(5).
36 Consult Burdick, The Letters of John the Apostle, p. 128.
Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, Exposition of James and the Epistles of John, vol. 14, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 247–248.
30 Refer to Neil Alexander, The Epistles of John, Introduction and Commentary, Torch Bible Commentaries series (London: SCM, 1962), p. 49.
31 Refer to Westcott, The Epistles of St. John, p. 22.
32 Consult Dieter Fürst, NIDNTT, vol. 1, p. 346; Dodd, The Johannine Epistles, p. 23.
33 Compare J. R. W. Stott, The Epistles of John: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), p. 77. And see Brooke, Commentary on the Johannine Epistles, p. 19.
[1] Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, Exposition of James and the Epistles of John, vol. 14, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 245–247.
Members on this forum do not like these commentaries, I really do not understand the reasoning behind that.
I will continue to post commentaries, so that others may see the hermeneutical interpretation of Scriptures.
3. Deception and Confession
1:8–10
8. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Once more John states the negative and the positive in two successive verses that express conditions. Also the last verse (v. 10) is a conditional statement, which John puts in the form of a negative conclusion.
(a) Denial Another claim made by opponents of the Christian faith, perhaps the so-called Gnostics, is that they have advanced to a stage beyond sinfulness. They say that they have achieved their goal: perfection.30
John listens to these people who assert that they are without sin. But when he quotes their claim, he includes himself and the readers. He puts the assertion in a conditional sentence and says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Anyone who has no need to pray the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer—“Forgive us our sins” (Luke 11:4)—because he thinks that he has no sin deceives himself. King Solomon wisely observed (Prov. 28:13):
He who conceals his sins does not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
The choice of words is significant: John says, “we have no sin.” He does not write, “we do not sin.” The noun sin describes the cause and the consequence of an act of disobedience; as a verb, the word describes the act itself.31
In the days of the apostle John, Greek philosophers taught a separation between body and spirit. The spirit is free, they said, but the body is matter that eventually dies. That is, if the body sinned, the spirit would be blameless. Sin, then, cannot affect the spirit. The First Epistle of John provides insufficient information to conclude that John was actively opposing Greek thinking. Scripture, however, teaches the universality of sin by saying that in the human race “there is no one who does good, not even one” (Ps. 14:3; 53:3; Rom. 3:12; also see Eccl. 7:20).
If we say that we have no sin, we are misleading ourselves. Moreover, the truth of God’s Word is not in us. In our spiritual blindness, we go contrary to the plain teaching of Scripture. And God judges us by the words we have spoken, for our own words condemn us.
9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
The writer presents typical Semitic parallelism. Verse 8 is parallel to verse 6, and verse 9 is a partial repetition and further explanation of verse 7. Because of its affirmative message, verse 9 is one of the more well-known passages of the epistle and even of the entire New Testament.
(b) Affirmation The text consists of three parts. The first is the condition, the second the assurance, and the third the fulfillment.
“If we confess our sins.” This is the conditional part of the sentence that points to our acknowledgment of sin. We openly and honestly face sin without hiding it or finding excuses for it.32 We confront the sins we have committed, without defending or justifying ourselves. We confess our sins to show repentance and renewal of life. We are not told when, where, and how to confess our sins, but daily repentance of sin leads us to continual confession. John actually writes, “If we keep confessing our sins.” He writes the word sins (in the plural) to indicate the magnitude of our transgressions.
“He is faithful and just.” Here is the assurance. God is faithful with respect to his promises. He is “a faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (Deut. 32:4). He does not scold or rebuke us; he does not become impatient; and he does not go back on his word. The only condition God requires for forgiveness is that we confess our sins. True to the promises made to the people of his new covenant, God declares, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12; 10:17).33
“[He] will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Note the fulfillment. Although translators put the verbs in the future tense as if the acts of forgiving and purifying will eventually happen, the Greek text says that God effectively forgives and purifies once for all. The first verb to forgive describes the act of canceling a debt and the restoration of the debtor. And the second verb to cleanse refers to making the forgiven sinner holy so that he is able to have fellowship with God. God takes the initiative, for he says to us, “Come now, let us reason together.… Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (Isa. 1:18).
10. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
This last verse is the conclusion of the series of conditional sentences. At the same time, it serves as an introduction to the next chapter.
(c) Conclusion The statement we have not sinned reveals the blatant attitude of the unrepentant, unregenerate infidel. In verse 8 the unbeliever said that he has no sin; now he asserts that he is not a sinner. If he is not a sinner, for he maintains that he has not sinned, he makes himself equal to God, the sinless One. Through his Word God convicts man of sin. But if man refuses to listen to evidence God presents, man accuses God of lying (1 John 5:10). In the sequence of three verses (6, 8, and 10), the writer works toward a climax: “we lie” (v. 6), “we deceive ourselves” (v. 8), and “we make him out to be a liar” (v. 10).
Once again John includes himself and the readers when he uses the personal pronoun we. If we should go so far as to say that we have not sinned, in spite of all the evidence, then the Word of God has no place in our lives. And that means that we are unbelievers who have rejected the gospel of salvation. The writer of Hebrews warns his readers not to follow the example of the rebellious Israelites who perished in the desert. “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith” (Heb. 4:2).[1]
Practical Considerations in 1:5–10
Plaques on walls and bumper stickers on cars tell the world “God is love.” But no one displays the sign God is light. Yet this is exactly what John does in his first epistle. He first says, “God is light” (1:5) and later writes, “God is love” (4:16). Light comes before love, for light uncovers that which is hidden. When we have fellowship with God (1:3, 6), we cannot hide our sins. Sins, like darkness, have no place in God’s light. They must be removed.
How does God remove sins? This is God’s method: First, he cleanses us from sin with “the blood of Jesus, his Son, [that] purifies us from every sin” (v. 7). And second, he specifies our part in the remission of sin: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1:9). The blood of Jesus is sufficient to cleanse us from sin, but we must be willing to confess our sins. God’s provision and man’s responsibility go hand in hand.
To confess means that I say the same thing God says about sin.34 God applies his law and says, “You are the sinner.” And like the publican in the temple court I acknowledge my sin and pray, “God, have mercy on me, the sinner” (Luke 18:13, italics added—the original Greek has “the sinner,” not “a sinner”). When God and man say the same thing about sin, the blood of Christ dissolves the stain of sin. God will remember sin no more. He forgives and forgets! Indeed, God is love.
Greek Words, Phrases, and Constructions in 1:9–10
Verse 9
τὰς ἁμαρτίας—John writes the plural form of the noun to express the multitude of sin.
ἵνα—the conjunction introduces not so much purpose as “conceived result.”35
Verse 10
ἡμαρτήκαμεν—the perfect active tense denotes completed action in the past—although negated by οὐχ (not)—that continues into the present.36
ψεύστης—this noun appears ten times in the New Testament; half of the references occur in I John (1:10; 2:4, 22; 4:20; 5:10).
34 J. D. Pentecost, The Joy of Fellowship (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977), p. 31.
35 Robertson, Grammar, p. 998; and see Blass and Debrunner, Greek Grammar, sec. 391(5).
36 Consult Burdick, The Letters of John the Apostle, p. 128.
Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, Exposition of James and the Epistles of John, vol. 14, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 247–248.
30 Refer to Neil Alexander, The Epistles of John, Introduction and Commentary, Torch Bible Commentaries series (London: SCM, 1962), p. 49.
31 Refer to Westcott, The Epistles of St. John, p. 22.
32 Consult Dieter Fürst, NIDNTT, vol. 1, p. 346; Dodd, The Johannine Epistles, p. 23.
33 Compare J. R. W. Stott, The Epistles of John: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), p. 77. And see Brooke, Commentary on the Johannine Epistles, p. 19.
[1] Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, Exposition of James and the Epistles of John, vol. 14, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 245–247.