1 John 1:8

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Confession of sins flows from 'walking in the light' (). 'If thou shall confess thyself a sinner, the truth is in thee; for the truth is light. Not yet has thy life become perfectly light, as sins are still in thee; yet thou hast already begun to be illuminated, because there is in thee confession of sins' (Augustine). THAT WE HAVE NO SIN. "HAVE," not 'have had,' must refer, not to the past life while unconverted, but to the present state, wherein believers have sin even still. "Sin" is singular; "(confess our) sins," , plural. Sin means the corruption of the old man still in us, and the stain created by actual sins flowing from that old nature. To confess our need of cleansing from present sin is essential to...

8._If we say. _He now commends grace from its necessity; for as no one is free from sin, he intimates that we are all lost and undone, except the Lord comes to our aid with the remedy of pardon. The reason why he so much dwells on the fact, that no one is innocent, is, that all may now fully know that they stand in need of mercy, to deliver them from punishment, and that they may thus be more roused to seek the necessary blessing. By the word _sin_, is meant here not only corrupt and vicious inclination, but the fault or sinful act which really renders us guilty before God. Besides, as it is a universal declaration, it follows, that none of the saints, who exist now, have been, or shall be, are exempted from the number. Hence most fitly did Augustine refute the cavil of the Pelagians, by adducing against them this passage: and he wisely thought that the confession of guilt is not require...

5-10 A message from the Lord Jesus, the Word of life, the eternal Word, we should all gladly receive. The great God should be represented to this dark world, as pure and perfect light. As this is the nature of God, his doctrines and precepts must be such. And as his perfect happiness cannot be separated from his perfect holiness, so our happiness will be in proportion to our being made holy. To walk in darkness, is to live and act against religion. God holds no heavenly fellowship or intercourse with unholy souls. There is no truth in their profession; their practice shows its folly and falsehood. The eternal Life, the eternal Son, put on flesh and blood, and died to wash us from our sins in his own blood, and procures for us the sacred influences by which sin is to be subdued more and more, till it is quite done away. While the necessity of a holy walk is insisted upon, as the effect a...

Verse 8. _IF WE SAY THAT WE HAVE NO SIN_] This is tantamount to 1 John 1:10: _If we say that we have not sinned. All have sinned, and come_ _short of the glory of God_; and therefore every man needs a _Saviour_, such as Christ is. It is very likely that the heretics, against whose evil doctrines the apostle writes, denied that they had any sin, or needed any Saviour. In deed, the _Gnostics_ even denied that Christ suffered: the _AEon_, or Divine Being that dwelt in the man Christ Jesus, according to them, left him when he was taken by the Jews; and he, being but a common man, his sufferings and death had neither merit nor efficacy. _WE DECEIVE OURSELVES_] By supposing that we have no guilt, no sinfulness, and consequently have no need of the blood of Christ as an atoning sacrifice: this is the most dreadful of all deceptions, as

IF WE SAY THAT WE HAVE NO SIN - It is not improbable that the apostle here makes allusion to some error which was then beginning to prevail in the church. Some have supposed that the allusion is to the sect of the Nicolaitanes, and to the views which they maintained, particularly that nothing was forbidden to the children of God under the gospel, and that in the freedom conferred on Christians they were at liberty to do what they pleased, Revelation 2:6, Revelation 2:15. It is not certain, however, that the allusion is to them, and it is not necessary to suppose that there is reference to any particular sect that existed at that time. The object of the apostle is to show that it is implied in the very nature of the gospel that we are sinners, and that if, on any pretence

EXPOSITION 1 JOHN 1:1 1. THE INTRODUCTION. It declares the writer's authority, based on personal experience; announces the subject-matter of his Gospel, to which this Epistle forms a companion; and states his object in writing the Epistle. These opening verses help to raise the reader to the high frame of mind in which the apostle writes. Emotion, suppressed under a sense of awe and solemnity, is shown by the involved construction through which his thoughts struggle for utterance. We are reminded of the introduction to the Gospel, especially in the first clause. Both announce to us the subject of the writing which follows—the Word who is the Life. Both set before us, in the simplest language, truths of profoundest meaning. But while in the Gospel he seems to lose sight of his readers in the magnitude of his subject,

IF WE SAY THAT WE HAVE NO SIN,.... Notwithstanding believers are cleansed from their sins by the blood of Christ, yet they are not without sin; no man is without sin: this is not only true of all men, as they come into the world, being conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity, and of all that are in a state of unregeneracy, and of God's elect, while in such a state, but even of all regenerated and sanctified persons in this life; as appears by the ingenuous confessions of sin made by the saints in all ages; by their complaints concerning it, and groans under it; by the continual war in them between flesh and spirit; and by their prayers for the discoveries of pardoning grace, and for the fresh application of Christ's blood for cleansing; by their remissness in the discharge of duty, and by their frequent slips and falls, and often backslidings: and though their sins are all pardoned, and...

1 John 1:1. _That which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;_ You know who that is, who it is that John had heard, and seen, and looked upon, and handled, even Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. 1 John 1:2. _(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us), that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ._ The Father delights in his risen Son, no more to suffer and to die, having accomplished all his work; and I am sure that we h

II. LIGHT AND DARKNESS AND THE TESTS Chapter S 1:5-2:17 _ 1. God is light; walking in darkness and in light (1 John 1:5)_ 2. What the light manifests (1 John 1:8) 3. The advocacy of Christ to maintain the fellowship (1 John 2:1) 4. The tests of fellowship (1 John 2:3) 1 John 1:5 The message they had heard of Him and which they declared to others is, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Light, perfect, pure light is God's nature; He is absolutely holy, with no darkness in Him at all. That God is light was manife

1 JOHN 1:5 TO 1 JOHN 2:2. FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD REQUIRES A RIGHT VIEW OF SIN. 1 John 1:5. Spiritual fellowship depends on moral affinity. Hence since Jesus has declared the holy perfection of God, we cannot truthfully claim fellowship with Him, and at the same time be habitually committing sin. Only as we Christians constantly aim to be like God have we fellowship with Him and with one another, our sinfulness being cleansed by the blood of Christ. To deny that we are sinful or that we have committed sin proves self-deception, ignorance of moral facts, and of God's message to us in the Gospel. Our duty is to confess our sins to God and thereby secure from Him forgiveness and cleansing. Thus does John deal with _the view_ which re