The first epistle of John was the first book I really “studied” after my conversion in December of 1998. I recall it as “hard-hitting” and “black & white; never gray”. God used this text instrumentally in my life to heal some relationships that were, as I wrongly thought, “beyond repair”. The next serious study I did in the text was in my Greek exegesis class. Now I find myself here again. I am in chapter one and just ruminating on the text, perhaps at a leisurely pace.
The “if-ee-ness” of 1 John 1 is not that the text is unclear or wishy-washy. It is that in this short chapter of just 10 verses, there are 5 “If / then” clauses. Three of the clauses are negative; two are positive. We’ll take a look at all the clauses, examining the negatives first:
- (v.6) If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
- (v.8 ) If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- (v.10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
- Notice that in every one of these clauses “we” are saying something.
- Notice that in every one of these clauses “we” are saying things that attempt to put us in the best light possible: fellowship with God & without sin.
- Notice that in every one of these clauses what “we” say is equated to falsehood.
- Notice in v.6 that our “talk” is not in line with our “walk”. Those who claim fellowship with God cannot be actively pursuing a worldly walk…it just doesn’t compute. There is also an expectation that the claim to be in fellowship with God is to also be “practicing truth”.
- Notice in v.8 that our “talk” is simply self-deception. How often we think we can fool others with our feeble claims to be passionate about serving our God, when in actuality our lives speak voluminously in an opposite direction.
- Notice that in v.10 that our “talk” is a reflection of our relationship with God. When we state things contrary to His word, it becomes obvious that His word is not in us.
Now let’s take a quick look at the “positive if/then clauses”:
- (v.7) If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
- (v.9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Notice we are not saying anything in these two clauses; we are doing something.
- Notice that the emphasis is on how we are living rather than on what we are saying.
- Notice that there is positive benefits to living this way: fellowship with one another, cleansing from sin and forgiveness of our sin.
- Notice that God moves on our behalf as we live in obedience to Him.
- Notice that we have an Example to follow and a Standard to work toward.
- Notice that we are totally cleansed from all sin when we live a life of integrity and confession.
There are no doubt many other things you can pull out of these verses. This is just a start, and prayerfully, a catalyst to get you into the Word. I’d encourage your reading and study of 1 John – it will change your life forever.
