This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 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 cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.[1 John 1:5-10]
So the primary reason for the gap in “Daily” posts is that I have been at our Association’s Youth Camp for the last week. The secondary reason, however, is that I’ve been wrestling with the present passage. You see, I’ve come to the conclusion that if the Bible is truly the Word of God, then each sentence, phrase, and word must have significance, and I’ve set out to dig it up. For this reason, my “Daily” posts may be less than daily as I seek to uncover the Truth which may be buried in the text.
Case in point: These six verses are very common to someone who has been a believer for any length of time. In fact, they seem very simple on the surface. But something told me that there must be more to them than simple exhortations to “live by the truth.” There must be real significance in their meaning. The question I asked this passage (and should be the question we ask all texts) was, “Why did John write this?”
To begin, verse 5 is typical John. He loves analogy and uses Light and Darkness often in his writings (e.g. John 1:4,5). The following verses (6-10) are linked. There is some sort of pattern to them. They each begin with “If we say…” and they seem to say the same thing--that we shouldn’t claim to be sinless. But is that all? They all speak of light and truth and forgiveness/purification. There is something connecting these exhortations, these warnings. What was John getting at?
To further analyze it, I broke the passage into three parts:
#1.) vv.6,7- If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 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 cleanses us from all sin.
#2.) 8,9- If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
#3.) 10- If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
After I wrote out each statement individually, I marked the ideas that were repeated. I found that the metaphors were all intertwined. For instance, in #1 “fellowship” is repeated within itself, and there is a link to #2 through a “redemption clause” (as I call it), both tell us that there is a way out of our sin. (“But if we walk in the light...” and "If we confess our sins...")
There are several connecting points between the three verses, For instance, they all talk about claims we may make, but they do not all discuss the exact same claim. #1 speaks of Fellowship, while #2 speaks of having (literally, holding) no sin, and #3 speaks of not committing the act of sin.
To break down this passage even further, I diagrammed each sentence. I’ll spare you the crumpled notebook paper full of scribbles and lines, but I will tell you that finding the central verb in each part, the center of the action, helped me sort all of this out.
In #1, the central thought is the word pseudometha, a verb that means, “we are lying”. #2 is different. Split between two words it is “we lead astray / ourselves.” Finally, #3 says “we are making / him / a liar”.
Do you see the connection in the action here? I didn’t at first, but then it hit me. After 4 days of tossing this around in my mind I found only one common link: Deception. This is the key to this passage and, as I quickly noted, the theme of this entire book.
As noted previously, John started this letter with great effort to establish his credentials as a reliable witness to Jesus’ life. Also, he is combating false teachings (most likely Gnosticism), as noted in 4:1,6. If you connect this introduction with the action in these verses (6-10), it becomes obvious that John was trying to expose lies and present the Truth.
At this point in my study the words began leaping off of the page. John was warning about the lies being spread among the believers. He was urgently trying to show them what was Truth as well as how to identify the lies.
2:26- “I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.”
3:7- “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.”
This is why he repeatedly uses words like light, darkness, confidence, false prophet, antichrist, liar, truth, believe, and testify.
Perhaps the most striking is the use of the word “know.” John uses it (in its many forms) 33 times in this short letter. The only New Testament book that uses the word more frequently is John’s Gospel. The only other book that even comes close (with 27 occurrences) is Luke. Obviously, knowledge is the assurance of the facts. However, this word has an even deeper significance.
Gnosticism is a heresy that, at its core, says that one must obtain secret knowledge to get to heaven. In fact, Gnosticism has its root in the Greek word, gnosis, which is the same basic word that John uses so many times in this book (gnosis is a noun, and we have been discussing its verbal form). It is as though he is specifically trying to undermine Gnostic influence among the early believers.
Over and over again, he gives tests--almost quantitative measures--of what it means to be a true Christian. In fact, 1:6-10 includes three of them. This letter is riddled with ways to recognize a believer:
2:9- “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.”
3:6- “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.”
3:21- “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God.”
4:8- “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
5:12- “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
It is obvious that John was writing to a people who lived in a culture filled with lies and deception, people who were confused about what it meant to have Fellowship with the Son of God.
More on this tomorrow, including some application. For now, what are your thoughts?
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