Down an Unfamiliar Road

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson LIV) 02/18/21

Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi gives us this insight: “For uncleanness that affects the Temple and its Holy Things through immorality, atonement is made by the goat whose blood is sprinkled within [the Holy of Holies] and by the Day of Atonement; for all other transgressions spoken of in the Law, venial or grave, immoral or unwitting, conscious or unconscious, sins of omission or commission, sins punishable by ex-communication or by death at the hands of the court, the scapegoat makes atonement.”^[1] In like manner, John says that the blood of the sacrificial Lamb of God covers all sins regardless of their nature or seriousness.

Then, in response to what the Apostle John says here, Augustus Neander (1789-1850) writes that if every believer John addressed in this letter were already perfect and their fellowship with God unbreakable, and if their life’s course led them to walk in the Light free from the darkness of any kind, then John would have no reason to add anything more to what he’s already said at this point.

But John was well aware that even in believers, notes Neander, although their life is in its determining tendency a walking in the Light, yet the dark, the sinful, still mingle with it their disturbing influence. Their former stand-point of darkness and sin, from which redemption has set them free, remains in effect. Hence, this “walking in the light” must be developed in a continuous conflict with the former darkness; the whole life must be gradually transformed into the light from the Light already received. And hence, in reference to that sinfulness which still cleaves to the believer and opposes itself to the light, he says, that where that walking in the light exists as the determining tendency, the mark of fellowship with God, there the blood of Jesus the Anointed One will make known its purifying efficacy, its power to cleanse from all still struggling with sin.[2]

William Lincoln (1825-1888) emphasizes that light and darkness cannot coexist uniquely. He says, but now it is seen that fellowship must be in perfect light if God has a friendship with us. God cannot love our murky circumstances. I do not say He cannot come into our darkness. He has done that, but if He comes into our unlit condition, it is not that He may stay there, nor will He be content in going back to His Light by Himself. He wants to bring us to His light.[3] He tells us, for instance, that “God has called us to His eternal glory by the Anointed One Jesus.” First, God came to humanity’s home; but now He will bring humankind to His house. God visited Adam and Eve in paradise, but now the Anointed One promises, “Those that overcome will eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”[4]

Andrew Maclaren (1826-1910) sees John as the Apostle of love, but he was also a “son of thunder.” His intense moral earnestness and very love made him hate evil, sternly condemn it, and his words flash and roll like no other words in Scripture, except the words of the Lord of love. In the immediate context, he has been laying down what is to him the very heart of his message, that ‘God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all.’ There are spots in the sun, great tracts of blackness on its radiant disc, but in God is unmingled, perfect purity. That being so, it is clear that no man can be in sympathy or hold communion with Him unless he, too, in his measure, is light.^[5]

Marvin Vincent (1834-1921) points out an essential factor in verse seven by explaining that the phrase, the blood of Jesus His Son, is chosen with profound insight. Though Ignatius uses the phrase blood, yet the word blood is inappropriate to the Son as God conceived in His divine nature. The word Jesus brings out His human nature, in which He assumed a real body of flesh and blood, which blood was shed for us.^[6] The human name, Jesus, shows that His blood is available for man. The divine name, His Son, shows that it is incredibly effective.

Augustus H. Strong (1836-1921) tells us about a meeting years ago at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. The delegates advocated their various ideas about human life. Still, no religion except Christianity attempted to show that there “was any intellect given to humans to make sense of these ideals.” When Joseph Cook challenged ancient religious priests to answer Lady Macbeth’s question: “How do I cleanse this bloody right hand?” the priests were silent. But Christianity declares that “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” Says Ezekiel Gilman Robinson (1815-1893): Christianity differs from all other religions in being:

            (1) A historical religion;

            (2) in turning abstract law into a person to be loved;

            (3) in furnishing a demonstration of God’s love in the Anointed One;

            (4) in providing atonement for sin and forgiveness for the sinner;

            (5) in giving the power to fulfill the law and sanctify life.^[7]

Ernst Drylander (1843-1922) makes a point that the thought that ‘God is Light’ was not in itself new or never heard before. Dr. Drylander says that when Ezekiel saw the glory of God, it appeared to him as “a great storm coming from the north, driving before it a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light. There was a fire inside the cloud, and in the middle of the fire glowed something like gleaming amber.”^[8] The Psalmist also recognized God’s power and glory in Nature by exclaiming, “You wear Light like a robe. You stretch out heaven like a starry curtain.”^[9] Therefore, God in His essential being is Light free from the darkness, which overshadows us. He is without the cloud of error’s gloom, untouched by the blemishes of sin, and He, Himself, is Truth, Holiness, and Salvation. It is what the prophets of the First Covenant realized.[10]

Furthermore, Drylander asks, what does walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, mean? How can it be done? Foremost, let us remember that the Apostle John makes no impossible demand when he speaks of our “walking in the light.” He does not require that we be perfect in the sense in which God is perfect, but he does demand that we should, in all sincerity, place ourselves under the influence of the Light which is in God and streams forth from Him. He does not ask for perfected holiness, as God is holy, but he demands focused zeal. Nothing should hinder the Light of truth and holiness from permeating our life. When John bids us “walk in the Light,” he means that our whole lives should be influenced by sanctifying and transfiguring Light, which comes from God and which illuminates us in the Anointed One Jesus. That way, our thoughts and acts, the outer as well as the inner person, our lives are to be enlightened.[11]

F. B. Meyer (1847-1929) states that some are apt to say that they have fellowship with the Anointed One and yet continue to walk in darkness. —It sometimes arises from their desire to stand well with their fellows or because they do not realize how much darkness is still in their lives. But whichever be the case, they lie and “do not the truth.” It is better by far to walk quietly in the Light, so far as we have it. Thus, we shall secure His blessed fellowship, and His blood will be continually cleansing us from sin, removing all hindrance to the Anointed One’s desire to having free communication with His choicest gifts.^[12]

James Morgan (1859-1942) says, let us consider the seasonable and encouraging direction the Apostle John gives to those who would enjoy real fellowship. We find it in the seventh verse. The Apostle’s approach corresponds precisely with the prophet Isaiah’s invitation, “Come, people of Jacob. Let us walk in the Light of the Lord.”^[13] The encouragement of another prophet proceeds on the same principle, “Oh that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know Him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”^[14] The Apostle Paul expresses the same sentiment, in the form of an appeal and a counsel, “At one time you lived in darkness. Now you are living in the Light that comes from the Lord. Live as children who have the Light of the Lord in them.”^[15] Keeping these Scriptural passages as guidelines will make it worthwhile to investigate what is implied by “walking in the Light” to attain the enjoyment of fellowship? That leaves us with this question: What should we do that we may have so high a privilege?[16] The answer is clear: we should attempt nothing through the Holy Spirit on our own but let the Holy Spirit do it all in and through us.

Morgan continues by saying it is essential that we keep in mind that a priest must sprinkle the sacrifice’s blood before it is effective. Under the law, the blood removed all things. The book, the people, the tabernacle, and the ministry vessels were sprinkled with blood. It must be the same with our souls. It will not suffice that the Anointed One’s blood is available. It is not enough that it is of infinite value. It is not enough that it is sufficient to cleanse from all sin. It must be applied. It was not enough that the helpless sufferers lay at the pool of Bethesda mourning over their diseases; they must go into the healing waters when troubled by the descending angel. Whoever did so was made whole of whatever diseases they had. We must go into the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness in like manner. We must go at first with all our sins, original and actual. We must continue to go as long as we live and contract fresh defilement. Let us not neglect to do so. Our salvation is dependent upon it. Wash and be clean, as did the leprous Naaman. You shall then prove by experience that “the blood of Jesus the Anointed One cleanses us from all sin.”[17]

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[1] Mishnah, Fourth Division: Nezikin, Tractate Shabuoth, 1:6, p. 410

[2] Neander, Augustus: The First Epistle of John, Practically Explained, op. cit., pp. 33–34

[3] See 1 Peter 2:9

[4] Lincoln, William: Lectures on the Epistles of St. John, op. cit., pp. 26–27

[5] MacLaren, Alexander. Commentary (Expositions of Holy Scripture), op. cit., (Kindle Location 167555-167559)

[6] Vincent, Marvin: Word Studies on the NT, op. cit., pp. 315, 317

[7] Strong, Augustus A: Systematic Theology, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp.328-329

[8] Ezekiel 1:4

[9] Psalm 104:2

[10] Drylander, E. A Commentary on the First Epistle of St. John in the Form of Addresses, op. cit., pp. 16–17

[11] Ibid. pp. 23–24

[12] Meyer, F. B., Our Daily Homily, op. cit., Vol. 5, Fleming H. Revell Co., New York, 1899, p. 231

[13] Isaiah 2:5

[14] Hosea 6:3

[15] Ephesians 5:8

[16] Morgan, James, An Exposition of the First Epistle of John, op. cit., pp. 38–39

[17] Ibid., p. 50

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson LIII) 02/17/21

What kind of Gospel are we preaching? asks Octavius Winslow (1808-1878) rhetorically. Isn’t it for poor sinners? “There is not an ill word in it against a poor sinner stripped of his self-righteousness,” says a respected preacher from years ago, It speaks of pardon, acceptance, peace, full redemption here, and unspeakable glory hereafter. Furthermore, the Gospel proclaims a Savior to those drowning in sin, a Redeemer to sin’s captives, a Restorer to ruined lives, a Physician to the sick, a Friend to the needy, and an Advocate for those accused of corruption. It is everything to a self-ruined, sin-accused, law-condemned, justice-threatened, and broken-hearted sinner. It is the “glorious Gospel” our blessed God provides.

Winslow goes on to say that it reveals to the self-ruined sinner the One in whom there is help.^[1] And to the sin-accused the One who can wash away all sin.^[2] And to the law-condemned the One who saves from all condemnation.^[3] To the justice-threatened the One who is a shelter from the wind during the storm.^[4] To the broken-hearted, the One who binds and heals.^[5] That One is Jesus. O name ever dear, ever sweet, ever precious, ever fragrant, ever-healing to the “poor in spirit!”^[6]

Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910) discusses the necessity of walking in the light. He says there are three things we must consider. First, to walk (live) in the Light. In many languages, says Maclaren, “light” is the natural symbol for knowledge, joy, and purity. Besides, even light is broken down into various hues and colors in its spectrum, from infrared to ultraviolet. John’s intense moral earnestness leads him to focus on the symbolism, which makes light an expression, not so much our knowledge about joy, but of spiritual-moral purity.

Second, the companions of those who walk in the Light. John points out that if we walk in the Light, we have communion with God. But before that, he said that we have fellowship with one another. The critical factor here for John is the glue that holds believers together, and that is their mutual possession and appreciation for the Light. Even though many other things bond us together in fellowship, nothing strengthens more than the deep affections in the kinship of our souls as we move together into the realm of Light and purity. Sin separates people; sanctification bonds them together in their union with the Anointed One.

Third, the progressive cleansing of those who dwell in the Light. John wants to point out that the blood of the Anointed One not only erases sin from our record, but it also goes on cleansing when any marks of sin appear. We see that clearly expressed in verse nine. In other words, says John, the first is for justification and the second for sanctification. God attempted to impress upon the Hebrews when they came out of Egypt.^[7] Besides, says the Apostle, this is not a reference to the blood the Anointed One shed on the cross, but the life-blood transfused into our veins by which we were given a new life. We must have the life of the Anointed One as the animating principle of our lives and the life-force of Jesus keeping us free from the power of sin and death.[8]

Kenneth Wuest (1863-1961) interprets John’s declaration of that which we have seen with discernment in our mind’s eye, and which we heard and presently rings in our ears, we are also reporting to you. This way, you may participate jointly in common with us [in our first-hand knowledge of the life of our Lord]. And the fellowship indeed, which is ours, is with the Father and His Son, Jesus the Anointed One. And these things we are writing so that our joy, having been filled in times past, may persist in that state of fullness through the present time.

This message we bring is good tidings to you that God as to His nature is Light, writes Wuest, and darkness in Him does not exist, not one particle. Suppose we say that the things we have in common with Him are fellowship, but the sphere of darkness is habitually controlling our behavior; we would be lying and not doing the truth. But suppose within Light’s compass, we are habitually ordering our action as He is in the Light. In that case, these things we have in common. Therefore, we [the believer and God] are having fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, keeps continually cleansing us from every sin.[9]

Simon Kistemaker (1930-2017) believes that the words here in verses six and seven were not necessarily meant for the Apostle John’s readers but those spreading false doctrine about the Anointed One’s reality. Apparently, they were not expressing these teachings from some remote location, but were already a part of the church community. That made them doubly dangerous. They were, in fact, wolves in sheep clothing.^[10] The main characteristic of true believers is that they live in the Light of God’s truth. They walk in the Light because they walk in union with Him, who is the Light. His radiance reflects on their pathway to show them where to step and what to avoid. And how do they prove that they are walking with and in the Light? Because they have holy fellowship with God and harmonious fellowship with their spiritual brothers and sisters.^[11]

As that blessed old hymn written by William Cowper in 1772 so aptly states:

There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains:
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.

And John knew who this fountain was because he recorded that John the Baptizer was the first to recognize Him the day Jesus went to the Jordan River to be baptized. As he saw Jesus approaching, John the Baptizer lifted his eyes and voice and exclaimed: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”^[12] And later in life, in his revelation, John informed the seven assemblies of believers in Asia that this same Jesus would be coming again. Yes, the same Jesus the Anointed One who is the faithful witness to all that John wrote and the first among those raised from death. He is the Leader of the kings of the earth. He is the One that loved us and washed us clean from sin by His blood.^[13]

We must remember that when John wrote this epistle, there was no doubt still many messianic Jews and proselyte non-Jews who were part of the church. They were familiar with the Jewish form of sacrificial atonement for sin. In the Jewish Mishnah, we read where the Rabbis discussed the various forms of sacrifice to cover their transgressions. So, someone asked if a sacrifice for one type of sin could be offered at a time appointed for another? When their teacher said, “Yes,” they then said to him, “If so, then those on the Day of Atonement could be offered at the New Moons, but how can those of the New Moons be offered on the Day of Atonement to make atonement which does not pertain to it?” He answered that they were all brought to make atonement for uncleanness that affects the Temple and its Holy things.^[14]

It is also evident that John was acquainted with the Hebrew form of poetic structure, such as what we find in the Psalms. They are called “Parallelisms.” One type of such parallelisms was the ABBA called the chiasmus. It is also referred to as a “sandwich” parallelism where the first and last lines are synonymous, and the middles lines are also interchangeable. In this case, the first and last lines are about light, while the middle lines are about darkness. Rewriting these verses makes its organization evident:

                                    A God is Light

                                                B No Darkness in God

                                                B Walking in the Darkness

                                    A Walking in the Light

It is immediately apparent that John’s interest involves determining the meaning of the light/darkness metaphor and applying it ethically to Christian living.^[15]

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[1] Hosea 13:9

[2] 1 John 1:7

[3] Romans 8:1

[4] Isaiah 32:2

[5] Isaiah 61:1

[6] Winslow, Octavius, The Works of: (Kindle Locations 38056-38063). Monergism Books.

[7] See Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:28

[8] MacLaren, John: Commentary (Expositions of Holy Scripture) 32 Books In 1 Volume: An Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Kindle Location 167553-167651). http://www.DelmarvaPublications.com. Kindle Edition.

[9] Wuest, Kenneth S., The New Testament: An Expanded Translated, (1 Jn 1:3–7). Eerdmans. Grand Rapids, MI: 1961

[10] Matthew 7:15

[11] Simon J. Kistemaker, op. cit., pp. 243-244

[12] John 1:29

[13] Revelation 1:5

[14] Mishnah, Fourth Division: Nezikin, Tractate Shabuoth, Ch. 1:5, p. 410

[15] Burge, Gary M. The Letters of John, op. cit., p. 65

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson LII) 02/16/21

Spurgeon then goes on to say, I cannot tell you the exceeding sweetness of this word “all,” but I pray for God’s Holy Spirit to give you a taste of it. Manifold are our sins against God. Whether the bill is little or large, the same payment can release one as the other. The blood of Jesus the Anointed One is as blessed and divine a payment for the transgression of Peter’s blaspheming as for the shortcomings of John. Our iniquity is gone, all gone at once, and all gone forever. Blessed completeness! What a sweet theme to dwell upon as we lay ourselves down to sleep.^[1]

John Lias (1834-1923) says that while we struggle to do God’s will for our lives, to free ourselves from the defilements of “negligence” and “nonsense” in our present imperfect condition, we risk falling into transgressions, which are sins of spiritual weakness rather than of deliberate rebellion. If our purpose is to be right with God, our will is to move towards purification; God is ready to forgive our stumbling. If we do not seek forgiveness, then we have resolved to “walk in darkness.” Sanctification from sin is a gradual process. But it rests on the life-giving properties of the blood of the Anointed One. When this is communicated to the soul, it frees it from the curse of condemnation in God’s sight and cleanses the will from the desire to sin. It inspires it with a yearning for holiness. It helps overcome the believer’s lawbreaking tendencies by confirming the purpose in its submission to God’s will.[2]

Reverend A M Hills (1848-1931) compliments the Salvation Army’s commitment to preaching and teaching holiness and sanctification in his day. Therefore, no church in the land would not be blessed and spiritually improved by sitting at General Booth’s feet. It is what he teaches concerning the relation of faith to sanctification by the Holy Spirit: “What is the faith that sanctifies? It is the act of simple trust that, on the authority of, “The blood of Jesus the Anointed One does NOW cleanse me from all inward sin and make me pure in heart before Him.” Thus, a believer can say with confidence, “I do here and now commit myself to Him, believing that He receives me and that He will evermore keep me holy while I trust Him.”

When a soul thus trusts God, says Hills, will they be made clean in every case? Yes, if that soul has the assurance that they entirely renounce all known and doubtful wrongdoing and give themselves up to doing the will of God in all things. It implies trusting God for full cleansing according to God’s Word for believing that the work is done, no matter how they feel. They must hold on to this faith until the feeling comes. If we confess our sins, He is faithful (to His promise) and (to the suffering and agony of His Son, which purchased the blessing) to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.^{[3] [4]}

Hills goes on to say that God will continually throw new light upon His guidelines, which He justly expects us to follow. Hill then offers this quote from Dr. Dale M. Yocum (1919-1987), a minister, scholar, and writer in the Church of God (Holiness), founded in 1883, who says, “To retain sanctification or cleansing, we must walk in the Light. As we keep this up, the blood is applied by the Holy Spirit. Refusing to walk in received and acknowledged Light brings condemnation. Knowing the way of holiness and refusing to walk in it is unjustified.”[5] ^[6]

William Shepard (1862-1930) speaks about how we must read each scripture in context and points out that reading the Apostle John’s epistle is especially true. For instance, in one place, he says that we have no sin, and in another that if anyone says they have no sin, they are liars. The same is true of teaching on holiness. There are some, says Shepard, that instead of teaching what opposers of holiness claim they do, they convey quite a different thought, and sometimes the very opposite. What, then, does our text in verse eight teach? Read verse seven above. Suppose a garment spotted with ink is put through a process that removes ink. When finished, how much ink would remain? If the cleaner added a note: “All ink removed,” would there be any reason to doubt?

On the same principle, says Shepard, then, if “the blood of Jesus the Anointed One cleanses us from all sin,” how much sin is left? If all the stains of sin are removed, is there any self-deception if a believer testifies to that effect? Of course, we would not advocate self-righteousness nor self-exaltation, but on the contrary, always put Jesus first and let everybody know that all we have and are is through the Anointed One, Jesus. Instead of saying, “I am saved” and “I am sanctified,” putting “I” first, say, “Jesus saved me” and “Jesus sanctified me.” Let the people see Jesus and not ourselves. We should not remain silent, but at the same time, magnify what the Lord has done for us. Give Him all the glory.^[7]

Henry E. Brockett (1936-1994) writes concerning the blessing of the fresh revelation of the power of the blood of the Anointed One. He points to Christians like English religious poet and hymn-writer Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879), writer on New Testament Holiness Thomas Cook (1808-1892), and Samuel Logan Brengle (1860-1936), teacher of Sanctified sanity, and many others have been led into the secret of the fullness of this blessing through faith.^[8] In his own case, says Brockett, it was not the same. He entered in by faith on a different line of truth, namely, faith in the Spirit of God’s sanctifying work based on the crucifixion of the “old nature.”^[9] People do not always immediately see the underlying unity between different but related truths of divine revelation.

As regards the truth of the blood of the Anointed One, however, Brockett felt hindered by the theory that the “cleansing from sin”^[10] related only to his “standing” before God as completely justified in His sight and not to any actual inner cleansing of the heart. As Brockett understands it; this theory does not teach that the Anointed One’s blood is applied to the believer’s heart at justification. As such, he was not able to see the glory of the fullness and depth hidden in that precious phrase, “the blood of Jesus the Anointed One His Son cleanses us from all sin.” He confesses that he is not the only one hindered in their spiritual experience by the limited interpretation of John’s words in verse seven.^[11] Brockett’s confusion may be in his understanding of “justification.” We are only justified because we accept what Jesus did on the cross on our behalf to pay the penalty for sin. It is that faith in Jesus’ work upon which we ask forgiveness and cleansing of our sins. It certainly cannot happen earlier.

Reverend Mr. Beverly Carradine (1849-1910) says two meanings are buried here in this latter part of verse seven. To the regenerated person, it represents one thing; but O how much more it means to the Sanctified believer! First, it is the cleansing away of all sins, guilt, and immorality that is personal and pertains to the individual; to the second, it means all this and the utter removal besides inherited or inbred sin. The soul is made to rejoice continually in the delightful and blessed possession of the experience of a positive indwelling purity! Two meanings, both blessed, but one so much deeper than the other!^[12]

Arno Gaebelein (1861-1945) asks, “What is this walk in the Light?” It is not the same thing as walking according to the Light. It does not mean to live a perfect and sinless life. Walking in the Light is not the question of how we walk but where we walk, and the place where the believer walks is in the Light. It means to walk daily in His presence, with our will and conscience in the Light and existence of God, judging everything that does not respond to that Light. Whatever is not right is brought at once in His presence, exposed to the Light, confessed, judged, and put away. Such is the walk in the Light, which fellowship with God demands.

The result of such walking in the Light, says Gaebelein, is the mutual fellowship it brings among believers. Each one possesses the same nature and Spirit of God. The Anointed One is also the object of each heart before the same Father. It cannot be otherwise. Then, another thing is stated, “The blood of Jesus the Anointed One His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Walking in the Light shows us what we are, and we cannot say that we have no sin. Yet, because of the cleansing blood of the Anointed One it is possible to stand before a holy God with no consciousness of immorality troubling us. Nevertheless, we know that lawbreaking tendencies are still in us. Still, we have the assurance of being cleansed from any sin by His precious blood. The blessed position of a true Christian is fellowship with the Father and His Son. Therefore, walking in the Light, since He is the Light, and fellowship with one another comes through the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb.^[13]

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[1] Charles H. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Daily Readings, op. cit., July 23 PM, p. 412

[2] Lias, J. J. First Epistle of John Homiletics, op. cit., pp. 47-49

[3] John 1:7

[4] Aaron M. Hills, Holiness and Power, op. cit., Part. 1, Ch. 15, p. 208, 

[5] Yocum, Dale M., The Holy Way, Schmul Publishing, 1984, p. 46

[6] Aaron M. Hills, ibid., Ch. 19, p. 262

[7] Shepard, William: Wrested Scriptures Made Plain, Ch. 1, p. 6

[8] 1 John 1:7

[9] Romans 6:6

[10] 1 John 1:7

[11] Brockett, Henry E. The Riches of Holiness, op. cit., Holiness and the Blood of Christ, p. 56

[12] Carradine, Mr. Beverly. Sanctification op. cit., pp. 83-84

[13] Gaebelein, Arno C. The Annotated Bible, The First Epistle of John, loc. cit. 

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson LI) 02/15/21

Charles Hodge (1797-1878) argues that the consequences attributed to justification are inconsistent with the assumption that it consists either in pardon or in the impartation of righteousness. Those consequences are peace, reconciliation, and eternal life. As the Apostle Paul said, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.”[1] Pardon does not produce peace. In fact, it leaves the conscience unsatisfied. A pardon may remove the penalty for a person’s crime, but it does not take away the fact that they are still criminals. There can be no satisfaction of justice until they are cleared of having committed a crime. What satisfies the justice of God and the conscience of the sinner is the blood of Jesus, the Anointed One, the Lamb of God that cleanses from all unrighteousness. It is done by removing the guilt, thereby producing a peace beyond comprehension.[2] Hodge goes on to say; our sanctification is due to His death since His blood cleanses us from all sin. It cleanses from the guilt of sin by paying the price and secures inward purification by securing the Holy Spirit’s gift.[3]

Daniel D. Whedon (1808-1885) says that we must be aware of the significant error of making this wonderful image of being washed and cleansed in Jesus’ blood a literal ceremony. There is no container of actual blood into which our bodies or souls are plunged. This glowing imagery reigns in parts of the Final Covenant, especially in John’s writings, as well as in our sermons and hymns. Unfortunately, many Christians pass their lives without looking through the word pictures in the text to the literal wording, thereby becoming liable to deception and arguments based on a figure-of-speech with no bases in the literal interpretation.

This figurative speech means, says Whedon, that our sins are first, upon our faith, forgiven us on account of the death of the Anointed One; and, second, that the Holy Spirit given as a consequence of that death, does, in the completeness of that work, so strengthen and energize our moral and spiritual powers that we are able to reject temptation and avoid sin; and just in the measure and fulness of that power in exercise is the entireness of our sanctification. When that divinely-bestowed power is complete, the sanctification is thorough. But it is to be noted that while our pardon is immediate from the Anointed One’s blood, our sanctification is mediated through the Spirit purchased by the Anointed One’s blood. We are justified by the Anointed One; we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit.^[4]

William Graham (1810-1883) addresses the subject of fellowship with Jesus and our Father in heaven. He notes that the Apostle John, in one passage, says that it dispels the darkness of ignorance so that it is impossible to enjoy sinning while we walk in darkness. If then, you wish a quiet and peaceful walk with God, you must treasure communion with Him: if you desire the Light of truth to shine on your path, you must walk in union with Him who is the Light. There is no way of dispelling this moral darkness except by fellowship with God. In Him, you find light and life and joy. You can have no communication with Him except in the truth, and all those who seek fellowship with God in systems of falsehood and superstition deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them.[5]

Johannes H. A. Ebrard (1819-1893) notes that to have fellowship with God means to have communion with Him who is Light. Such companionship cannot be understood other than a close relationship in life, which John mentioned in verse three, and as his Gospel defines it.^[6] Now he says that he stands in such union with God, the Light, as a bodily member with the head. The Greek verb peripateó means “to walk.” But, notes Ebrard, this walk is better understood in the context of the Apostle Paul’s illustration to the Romans[7] and what John says here in his epistle.[8] It supplies the confirmation and external assurance that a person carries in themselves as part of their nature – their moral behavior, so far as it manifests itself before human eyes, and is discernible by others.

From the extent to which a person chooses to let their inner nature be seen, says Ebrard, we may draw a sure conclusion about the character of that internal nature itself. Anyone with the tendency to outwardly serve darkness and claim to have an internal secret nature in fellowship with God is a liar. Such harmony between their inner and outer attitude cannot possibly exist. An internal union with God reveals itself externally to believers through the fruit of sanctification. Yes, the Light which shines inwardly must of necessity have a glow of holy consecration over the whole life that other people’s eyes can see it. Those born of the Light and live in solidarity with God cannot hide the source for their behavior.[9] It would be like setting an oil lamp on the table for everyone to see where the flame gets its fuel.[10]

William Alexander (1824-1911) is struck by how the Apostle John talks about having an Advocate with the Father, Jesus the righteous Anointed One. He is the atonement for the whole world. God loved us and sent His Son to pay the ransom price for our sins. Where the Apostle passes on to deal with the spiritual life, he once more deals with beliefs. He speaks of eternal self-evidence as if in a speech. He waxes elegant when talking about “down from heaven.”^[11] Identical propositions, all-inclusive, teachings on the moral and spiritual life, the Trinity, the Incarnation, Atonement, are all strict theological truths.

As a sacred writer in his Epistle, John’s other characteristic, says Alexander, is that he appears to indicate throughout the moral and spiritual conditions necessary for receiving the Gospel God endowed to the Church as the essence of their life. These conditions are three. The first is spirituality. Second, submission to the Spirit’s teaching, that they may know by it the meaning of the words of Jesus. Thirdly, the “anointing” of the Holy Spirit is “teaching all things” that Jesus said.^[12]

For Brooke F. Westcott (1825-1901), the Anointed One’s blood conception as an energetic power, as a fountain of life, opened by death and still flowing, is clearly marked. It explains John’s stress on the blood and the water from our Lord’s side at the Crucifixion.[13] That which was outwardly, physically, death, was yet reconcilable with life. The Anointed One’s spirit lived even in Death and through Death.^[14]

Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910) tells us that John was the Apostle of love, but he was also a “son of thunder.”[15] His intense moral earnestness and love made him hate evil, sternly condemn it, and his words flash and roll like no other words in Scripture, except the words of the Lord of love. In the immediate context, he has been laying down what is to him the very heart of his message, that “God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” There are spots in the sun, great tracts of blackness on its radiant disc; but God is unmingled, perfect purity. That being so, it is clear that no person can be in harmony or hold communion with Him unless they, too, are in the Light.

So, with fiery indignation, says Maclaren, John turns to the people, of whom there were some, even in the primitive Church, who laid claims to a lofty spirituality and communion with God, all the while were visibly living in the darkness of sin. He will not mince matters with them. He roundly says that they are lying, and the worst sort of lie — an acted lie: “They do not the truth.” Then, with a quick turn, he offers to these pretenders examples: the people who are in fellowship with God. He does this by laying down the principle that walking in the Light is essential to having an alliance with God. In John’s usual fashion, he turns the opposite into a somewhat different form to suggest another aspect of the truth. Instead of saying, as we might expect, “If we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with God,” he says, “we have fellowship with one another.” Then he adds a still further result of that walk, “the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin.”^[16]

In one of his evening devotions, Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) points to the word “cleanses” in the text of verse eight. “Cleanses,” says the text – not “will cleanse.” Some people think they may look forward to being pardoned as a dying wish. Oh! How infinitely better to have cleansing now than to depend on the rare possibility of forgiveness at the moment of death. Some imagine that a sense of pardon is attainable after many years as a Christian. But forgiveness of sin is a present thing – a privilege for here and now, a joy for this very hour. The moment a sinner trusts Jesus, they are fully forgiven.

The text, says Spurgeon, being written in the present tense, indicates continuance. It was “cleanses” yesterday; it is “cleanses” today, it will be “cleanses” tomorrow: it will always be with you, until you cross the river; every hour you may come to this fountain, for it still cleanses. Notice, likewise, the completeness of the cleansing, “The blood of Jesus the Anointed One His Son cleanses us from allsin” – not only from sin but “from all sin.”

---

[1] Romans 5:1

[2] Philippians 4:7

[3] Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology: op. cit., The Complete Three Volumes (Kindle Location 27391-27692). GLH Publishing. Kindle Edition

[4] Daniel D. Whedon: on First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 255

[5] Graham, W., The Spirit of Love, op. cit., p. 38

[6] John 15:1; 17:21

[7] See Romans 6:4; 8:4

[8] 1 John 2:6

[9] Ebrard, John H. A., Biblical Commentary on the Epistles of St. John, in Continuation of the Work of Hermann Olshausen, translated by William Burt Pope, Published by T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1860, pp. 88-89

[10] Cf. Matthew 5:15; Luke 11:33

[11] See John 3:13; 6:33, 38, 41-42, 50-51, 58

[12] William Alexander: The Expositor’s Bible, W. Robertson Nicoll, Ed., op. cit., The Epistles of St. John, p. 59

[13] See John 19:34

[14] Brooke F. Westcott: op. cit., p. 36

[15] Mark 3:17

[16] Alexander Maclaren: Sermons on First Epistle of John, op. cit., Walking in the Light.

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson L) 02/12/21

John Bunyan (1628-1688) makes the following observations: (1) If Jesus the Anointed One allowed you to think that He will throw you away, He’d have to permit you to believe that He will change His Word, for He said that under no circumstances will He get rid of us.^[1]

(2) Suppose Jesus the Anointed One allowed a sinner coming to Him even think He would dismiss them. In that case, He must permit the appearance of unbelief – which He counts His greatest enemy, to be responsible for twisting His holy Gospel.

(3) If Jesus the Anointed One allowed a repentant sinner to think that He will not be accepted, then He must consent to answer this question: Whether he is willing to receive His Father’s gift; for the coming sinner is His Father’s gift; as it says in the text, “All that the Father gives me will come to me; and those who come to me I will in no wise refuse.^[2]

(4) If Jesus the Anointed One allowed those coming to Him, fear that He will refuse forgiveness, He must grant them the right to think that He will be unfaithful to the trust and charge that His Father has in Him. It was to save and not lose anything given to Him to redeem.^[3]

(5) If Jesus the Anointed One allowed those coming to Him to feel He has no time for them, then He must permit them to think that He will be unfaithful to His office of the high priest. First of all, He paid the price to ransomed souls, and secondly, He continually makes intercession to God for them that come.^[4] How could He allow us to question the faithful execution of His priesthood?

(6) If Jesus the Anointed One allowed us once to think that repentant sinners will receive no pardon, then He must allow us to question His will, or power, or merit to save. He cannot allow them to challenge the effectiveness of His goodness, for the blood of the Anointed One cleanses the comer from all sin. Therefore, He cannot tolerate the one coming to Him to think that He will send them away.^[5]

John Bunyan then testifies: I began to conceive peace in my soul, and I thought I saw as if the tempter did glare and creep away from me, ashamed of what he had done. At the same time, I also realized that my sin was no more than a little stone in this vast and wide field before me compared to the Anointed One’s blood.^[6]

John Gill (1697-1771) is straight to the point when commenting on what John says here in verse seven. Suppose we were all to appear to be like God and adopt His nature. If we together seem to be like God and embrace His nature to commune with Him and His Son Jesus the Anointed One, after having shared in the cleansing effect of His blood, we can all testify to being free from the stains of sin. It takes more than ceremonial washing and sacrifices, moral duties and evangelical performances, or submission to Gospel sacraments such as baptism to remove those sins. It takes the blood of the Anointed One.  

For this cleansing, says Gill, is not to be understood as sanctification, for that more appropriately belongs to the Spirit of God. Besides, it does not cleanse from all unrighteousness; lawbreaking tendencies remain in the saints. It takes the atonement for sin brought by the Anointed One’s sacrifice. It brings complete justification, which inspires the believer’s active obedience to God’s Word and will. The pardon of sin, procured by the Anointed One’s blood, and the application of that blood to the conscience purges it from depending on works to save. The Anointed One’s blood, being applied by the Spirit of God, has always been cleansing from sin; it had this virtue and purpose in it, even before it was shed. To the First and Final Covenant saints, of whom the Anointed One is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world; it has the same effectiveness now as when first shed, and will have to the end of the world.

Then, adds Gill, when the Anointed One’s blood is sprinkled on the conscience by God’s Spirit, it removes sin’s guilt from the believer’s mind. It continues to cleanse sins from them as fast as their lawbreaking tendencies act. It speaks peace to the soul, which they owe to the Anointed One’s dignity. His person and His sacrifice’s value allow for His continual intercession, advocacy, and mediation. 

Gill concludes: it reaches all sin, original and actual, secret and open. Sins of the heart, thoughts, lip, and behavior; sins of omission and commission, major or minor sins, committed against light and knowledge, grace and mercy, Law and Gospel. But the sin against the Holy Spirit is never forgiven. In this, the Anointed One was the antitype of the scape goat which, the Jews say, “Atoned for all the transgressions of the law, whether small or great, sins of presumption, or ignorance, known, or not known, which were against an affirmative or negative command, which deserved cutting off (by the hand of God), or death by the Sanhedrim.”^{[7] [8]}

John Wesley (1703-1791) asks, what is the doctrine I teach concerning what the Apostle Peter declares, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the ones who reverence Him and do what is right.’”[9] It is true, but no one can worship God or live a holy life until they believe according to grace. As the Apostle John says: “He that does what is right is living right.’”[10] That makes common sense but does not establish a doctrine. However, the Apostle John says, “If we walk in the Light, as God is in the Light, then have we communion with Him, and the blood of Jesus the Anointed One His Son cleanses us from all sin.’”[11] The phrase “cleansing us from all sin” means justification.^[12]

Let me add, Wesley is pointing out that our “justification” is dependent totally on the work of Jesus the Anointed One. Justification involves being able to stand upright before God. It comes after we have repented and believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Wesley sees it as God’s stamp of approval on our faith and trust in Jesus as having died on our behalf. To put it another way, when you receive your diploma, it signifies that you completed all of your studies with passing grades. Likewise, when you stand justified before God through Jesus, the Anointed One, it signals that His blood has covered all your sins.

James McKnight (1721-1800) comments on Paul’s statement that “We have fellowship with one another,” is not of the fellowship that Christians have with each other, but with the Father and His Son Jesus the Anointed One. The word “fellowship” must mean “interaction between the head and the community members.” This fellowship contains the Father’s blessings on us through the Anointed One’s mediation and in our receiving these blessings from the Father and the Son with thankfulness. In some Greek manuscripts. the rendering here is, “with Him.” But it does not alter the sense. And because of this fellowship with the Triune God, John can say that the blood of Jesus the Anointed One keeps us clean from all sin. However, in the next verse, anyone who thinks they do not need this fellowship is deceiving themselves.^[13]

Samuel E. Pierce (1746-1829 points out that verses five and six connected with verse seven contains one entire subject. It is most easily perceived and may be fully confirmed, by the first word in the text, “but,” which knits it with the former verses. Therefore, it will be necessary to examine this concept to see the proper connection of these, including recognizing the harmony, dependence, and influence the one has with the other. The subject begins this way: “Here is the message we heard of Him, and declare to you that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus the Anointed One His Son cleanses us from all sin.”[14] The subject begins this way: The whole narrative contains an essential text and context. Nowhere can we find anything written on the subject of the holy, blessed, and free communion the Apostles had with the sacred and forever blessed Trinity expressed with excitement here in verse twenty-five to all saints.

Charles Simeon (1760-1851) speaks of the importance of being conformed to God’s image that he sees in verses five through seven. In fulfilling the ministerial office, says Simeon, it is not enough that we set before our people the doctrines of Christianity or instruct on some moral duties’ performance. We are messengers from God to the world, and we must “declare to them the gospel we received from Him.”[15] We must not alter or conceal any part of that He commanded us to deliver but make known God’s whole guidance and declare it with all the energy we possess. Paul tells the Corinthians that we have a message from God for you: He commanded me to open to you His Divine character and call you by the most impressive arguments to become conformed to His image. In discharging this duty, we will proceed to set before you.[16] ^[17]

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[1] John 6:37

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid. 6:39

[4] Hebrews 7:25

[5] John Bunyan’s Practical Works, Vol. 2, Good News for the Vilest of Men, Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ, pp. 221-222

[6] John Bunyan’s Practical Works, op. cit., Vol. 8, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, p. 46

[7] Jewish Mishnah, Shavuot, Ch. 1. Sect 6

[8] John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible (Kindle Location 339966)

[9] Acts 10:34-35

[10] 1 John 1:5

[11] 1 John 1:7

[12] The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 9, A Letter to the Reverend Dr. [George] Horne, pp. 122-123

[13] James McKnight: On 1 John, op. cit., pp. 32-33

[14] Pierce, Samuel E., An Exposition of the First Epistle of John, op. cit., Vol. 1, James Nisbet and Co., London, 1835, Sermon VII, p. 58

[15] 1 John 1:5

[16] Cf. 1 Corinthians 1:15

[17] Charles Simeon: Horae Homileticæ, op. cit., Vol. XX, op. cit., pp. 261-262

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XLIX) 02/11/21

Calvin goes on: The Apostle Peter’s words are: “All the early preachers spoke of this. Everyone who puts their trust in the Anointed One will have their sins forgiven through His name.”^[1] However, indulgences bestow the remission of sins through Peter, Paul, and the Martyrs. “The blood of Jesus the Anointed One His Son cleanses us from all sin,” says John.^[2] Indulgences make the blood of the martyrs an absolution for sins. “The Anointed One had no sin, but God made Him become sin so that in the Anointed One we could be right with God,” says Paul.^[3] Indulgences make the satisfaction for sin dependent on the blood of the martyrs.

Calvin’s conclusion. Paul exclaimed and testified to the Corinthians that the Anointed One alone was crucified and died for them.^[4] Indulgences declare that Paul and others died for us. Paul elsewhere says that the Anointed One purchased the Church with His blood.^[5] Indulgences assign another purchase to the blood of martyrs. But the writer of Hebrews says, “By one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified.” On the other hand, indulgences insist that sanctification, which would otherwise be insufficient, is perfected by martyrs. John says that all the saints “have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”^[6] Indulgences tell us to wash our robes in the blood of saints.^[7] So which one is right? The Word of God is always right!

James Arminius (1560-1609) points to a Church trend that affords the preaching and practice of an unjust conception of the meaning of extreme of devout adherence to Church doctrines. It is a method by which certain theological subjects were interpreted with ecclesiastical phrases that do not fit the Scriptures. For instance, when we do our good deeds for others with gratitude toward God, it is a well-known fact that people are falsely told that they become heirs and owners of eternal life by doing these works.

This delusion makes them think, says Arminius, it is reasonable to follow the hypothesis that good works performance is not necessary. In this case, the Scriptures deny that a true conversion and good works’ performance form a prerequisite condition for justification. They base this on a passage from John, “But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus the Anointed One, His Son cleanses us from all sin.”^{[8] [9]} It is so easy even today for congregations who promote church ministries’ involvement to give the impression that this enhances our salvation. That’s ridiculous! The work needed for salvation is already done by Jesus the Anointed One on the cross and in the grave.

John Owen (1616-1683) speaks about removing our transgressions’ contamination. It applies to every sin. For instance, just as our clothes are considered unwearable because of stains,^[10] in the same way, spots, smears, rust, wrinkles, filth, or bloodstains represents sin. Besides the defilement of our nature, which God purges,^[11] He also takes away the discoloring caused by our thoughtless wrongdoings. The Scriptures tell us that “By one offering He perfected forever those He sanctified,”^[12] and by Himself, He “purged our sins”^[13] before He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.^{[14] [15]}

Owen also comments on “Peace,” by it, we enjoy communion with God. “The wicked are like the troubled sea, that cannot rest;” and, “There is no peace” to them, “says my God, for the wicked.”^[16] There is no peace, rest, or quietness in a distance, separation, or alienation from God. He brings rest to our souls. In the light of His countenance are life and peace. Now, “if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another,”^[17] “and truly, our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus the Anointed One.” The person who walks in the Light of new obedience to God’s Word has communion with God. And being in His presence, there is fullness of joy forever.[18] There is nothing but darkness and aimless wandering and confusion when no such fellowship exists.^[19]

John Owen proceeds: The third part of our wisdom is to walk with God: and to that requires agreement, acquaintance, procedure, strength, boldness, and aiming at the same goal; and all these are hidden in Jesus the Anointed One. The sum of which, in short, is this: — that the Anointed One paid the ransom for our sins, and fulfilled all righteousness for us, though we have no personal righteousness of our own, but are as contrary to God as darkness is to light, and death is to living, and universal pollution and defilement is to complete and glorious holiness, and hatred is to love; yet the righteousness of the Anointed One is not just sufficient but the only foundation of our agreement, and, upon that, of our walk with God. The Apostle John tells us, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; but if we walk in the Light, as God is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus the Anointed One His Son cleanses us from all sin.”^[20]

And our only acquaintance with God, says Owen, and our knowledge of Him remain hidden in the Anointed One, which no one can discover outside His Word and miracles. And He is the only way we can walk with God and receive all our strength from Him. He makes us bold and confident, too, having removed the guilt of sin. Now we can look justice in the face since all our debts have been paid-in-full by the Anointed One. And in the Anointed One, we become what God wants us to be, which is the advancement of His glory. I suppose, says Owen, it comes by trusting in how the Anointed One settled the debt with God and achieved righteousness for our salvation. Without doing anything ourselves, we make sure that God is not cheated out of the glory of His free grace, by competition of any merits and virtues of our own.”^[21]

John Flavel (1627-1691) addresses whether or not believers are entirely freed from their sins’ guilt and will never again come under condemnation. O the unspeakable efficiency of the Anointed One’s sacrifice, which extends to all sins! Does not the Apostle John say here that the blood of the Anointed One cleanses from all sins, sins past and present, without exception? And some theologians affirm, original sin, in which all future sins are, like branches from the root, are pardoned; and if these are not forgiven, they will make void and invalidate former pardons. And lastly, it would deviate from the Anointed One’s complete satisfaction.

But most say, notes Flavel, and I think, honestly, that all the past sins of believers are pardoned, without revocation, all their present sins without exception. Still, not their sins to come. And yet for them, there is a pardon, which is applied on their repentance, and application, of the Anointed One’s blood so that none of them will make void former pardons. O, let these things slide sweetly to your melting heart, pleads Flavel. Even if your heart is so filled with despair because of sin’s guilt that it makes you cry out: How can such a sinner as I be pardoned? Is my sin too great to be forgiven? “Behold the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world.”^[22] Remember that no evil can survive the power of His blood. Do not forget John’s words, “The blood of Jesus the Anointed One cleanses from all sin.” This sacrifice brings God great satisfaction.[23] A little explanation here on the point Flavel is trying to make. When the Holy Spirit convicts you of being a sinner, born with inherent sinful and lawbreaking tendencies, and you ask God to have mercy on you, that involves original sin. Later, when you confess to the evil deeds that their lawbreaking tendencies drove you to do, you are addressing your current sins. Unless you repent as a sinner, there is no open-door to forgiveness of sin as a child of God.[24] However, once you are born again, if you break God’s laws, you go to Him as one of His children and ask forgiveness. You don’t start all over again as an unregenerate sinner.

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[1] Acts of the Apostles 10:43

[2] 1 John 1:7

[3] 2 Corinthians 5:21

[4] 1 Corinthians 1:13

[5] Acts 20:28

[6] Revelation 7:14

[7] John Calvin: Institutes, op cit., Bk. 3, Ch. 5, pp. 693-694

[8] 1 John 1:7

[9] The Works of James Arminius: op. cit., Vol. 2, A Dissertation of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, p. 211

[10] Job 9:31

[11] Titus 3:5

[12] Hebrews 10:14

[13] Ibid. 1:3

[14] Ibid. 10:12; See Acts of the Apostles 7:55-56; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1

[15] John Owen: Of Communion with God, op. cit., Part 2, Ch. 7, p. 217

[16] Isaiah 57:20-21

[17] 1 John 1:7

[18] Psalm 16:11

[19] John Owen: Of Communion with God, op. cit., Ch. 8, pp. 236-237

[20] 1 John 1:6, 7

[21] John Owen: A Vindication of Some Passages in a Discourse Concerning on Communion with God, p. 33-34

[22] John 1:29

[23] John Flavel: op. cit., The Fountain of Life, Of the Excellency of our High-Priest’s Oblation, being the first Act or Part of His Priestly Office, Sermon 12, pp. 150, 152

[24] See Luke 13:3

• 

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XLVIII) 02/10/21

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

1:7b:  That’s why John continues his motivational plea to live in the Light because, … If we live in the Light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood shed by Jesus, God’s Son, as our sacrifice, washes away every sin and makes us clean.

EXPOSITION

James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000) says: Let me point out that where it says that His blood cleanses us from ALL sin, it does not mean every sin ever committed in one lump sum. The Greek adjective that John used is pas, which means “each, every, individually, any” sin. The NIV has a footnote that explains it as “every.” We find this same meaning in verse nine. Therefore, it projects the forgiveness of God through the Anointed One as “on-going.” Just as His grace never ceases, His forgiveness never runs-out.

The prophet Amos would agree with the Apostle John, with one exception. He says that two people will not walk together unless they have decided where they are going.^[1] It is certainly true of those who walk with Jesus. John then goes on to say that those who live and walk together with the Anointed One in His Light will always have access to a fountain that cleanses them from every sin and keeps them clean. The prophet Zechariah came to a similar conclusion. He said: the days were coming when a fountain would open up for David’s house and the people living in Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity.^[2]

When considering that the Son of God came to earth and was born to Mary as the son of man, when they crucified Him, it involved His humanity and did not affect His divinity. That’s why in our creeds, we all confess that the Only-begotten (meaning, “born of a woman.”) Son of God was crucified and buried, then raised to life again by His Father in heaven. As the Apostle Paul said, “for if they had known, they would never have crucified the LORD of glory.”^[3] However, even if they heard what Peter said, “You are the Anointed One, the Son of the living GOD,”^[4] they still no doubt would have gone ahead with the crucifixion.

COMMENTARY

But, says Leo the great (400-461), let us not dismiss what the blessed Apostle John says here in verse seven, “that the blood of Jesus the Son of GOD cleanses us from all sin.” And again: “this is the victory which overcomes the world, our faith.”^[5] And “who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”^[6] And how could the Apostle John be so sure? Because he saw the Son of God, talked to Him, leaned on His shoulder, listened to His teachings, and took care of His mother after He was crucified.^[7] That gave the Apostle John more than enough reason to declare: “We love [God] because He loved us first.”^[8] Then he says, “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.”^[9]

And again, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with His Son, Jesus the Anointed One. He is the only true God, and He is eternal life.^[10] Not only that but “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except for the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” ^{[11] [12]} Such a positive, affirmative, sure testimony should quiet the doubters as to who we are and whom we serve.

Bede the Venerable (673-735), the Benedictine monk we mentioned before, shows some understanding of the Apostle John’s message. First, he tells us to notice the different verbs which John uses. God dwells in the Light, but we are told that we must walk in the Light. Those right with God walk in the Light when they do good for others and thereby go on to better things. John also gives us an indication of how we can know that we are on the right track, and that is we rejoice in the brotherly and sisterly fellowship we have with those who are journeying along with us toward the pure Light.

However, says Bede, even if we are observed doing the works of Light, and even if we are seen to be maintaining the bonds of mutual love, we must never think that we can be cleansed from our sins by our progress and effort, as the last part of the verse reminds us. The sacrament of our Lord’s passion both washed us in baptism from all our previous sins and forgave us by the grace of our Redeemer, whatever we did in our human weakness after baptism. For, says Bede, along with all the works of light we do, we also humbly confess our wrongdoings to Him every day. We do this before receiving the sacraments of His blood, along with forgiving those who trespassed against us. We ask Him to forgive our trespasses against Him while remembering what He did for our sake. Bede adds that we are to do this even while undergoing adversities of our own.[13] As we can see, by this time, baptism has reached the level as a sacrament of grace, part of Roman Catholic doctrines.

John Calvin (1509-1564) explains that when we say that grace was obtained for us by the merit of the Anointed One, our meaning is, that we were cleansed by His blood, that His death was His compensation for our sin, “His blood cleanses us from all sin.” “This is my blood, which is shed for the remission of sins.”^[14] If the effect of His shed blood is that our sins are not ascribed to us any longer, it follows that God’s justice was satisfied. To the same effect is John the Baptizer’s words, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”^[15] He contrasts the Anointed One with all the Law’s sacrifices, showing that in Him alone was fulfilled what these figures typified. But we know the common expression in Moses – Iniquity will be paid for; sin will be wiped away and forgiven.[16]

In short, notes Calvin, we are admirably taught by the ancient scholars what power and efficacy there is in the Anointed One’s death. And the writer of Hebrews, skillfully proceeding from this principle, explains the whole matter, showing that there is no remission without shedding of blood.^[17] It infers that the Anointed One appeared once and for all to take away sin by sacrificing Himself on our behalf. Furthermore, that Jesus the Anointed One was sacrificed to bear the sins of many.^[18] Not by the blood of goats or of heifers, but by His blood, once He entered the holy of holies, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Now, when the writer of Hebrews reasons, “Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of the Anointed One will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, the Anointed One offered Himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.”^[19] [20]

Calvin continues by saying that since many see the despicable deception in forgiving sins yet to be committed are not aware of the real source of their irreverence. It may be proper to show what indulgences genuinely are and are thoroughly polluted. They renamed the Anointed One’s merits as the Church’s treasury, the holy Apostles, and Martyrs. As I have said, they pretend that the management of God’s storeroom now belongs to the Roman bishop, to whom the dispensation of these great blessings belongs in such a sense that he can both exercise it by himself and delegate the power of exercising it to others.

Calvin continues. Therefore, at one time, the Pope offered unlimited indulgences, later on, for specific years, from the Cardinals for a hundred days and the Bishops for forty. To describe these accurately, they blaspheme the Anointed One’s blood and is a delusion of Satan. Many Christian people were led away by this scheme from God’s grace and life in the Anointed One. In doing so, they were misguided from the way of salvation. For how could the blood of the Anointed One be more shamefully profaned than by denying its sufficiency for the remission of sins, for reconciliation and satisfaction, unless its defects, as if it were dried up and exhausted, are supplemented from some other source?

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[1] Amos 3:3

[2] Zechariah 13:1

[3] 1 Corinthians 2:8

[4] Matthew 16:16

[5] 1 John 5:4

[6] Ibid. 5:5 – New Living Translation (NLT)

[7] Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series, Vol. 12, Letter 28, To the Bishop of Aquileia, pp. 100-101

[8] 1 John 4:19

[9] 1 John 1:7 – New Living Translation (NLT)

[10] 1 John 5:20

[11] 1 John 5:4 -5 – English Standard Version (ESV)

[12] Letters of Leo the Great to the Bishop of Aquileia, op. cit., Letter 28, pp. 101-102; Also see, Sermon 12, pp. 268-269

[13] Bede: On 1 John, Bray, G. (Ed.), op. cit., p. 171

[14] 1 John 1:7; Luke 22:20

[15] John 1:29

[16] Numbers 14:19

[17] Hebrews 9:22

[18] Ibid. 9:12

[19] Ibid. 9:13-14

[20] John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, Bk. 2, Ch. 17, pp. 552-553

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XVI) 02/08/21

Charles Gore (1850-1932) says that a person is much better off when they reverence God’s awesomeness. Thus the Apostle John tells us that if any person does not confess to personal sinfulness, they are self-deceived and liars. Confession of sin inevitably follows any sincere attempt to bring ourselves and our deeds into the light of truth. But the admission must be real. No vague confession is enough. It must be an acknowledgment of our sins in detail and particular, without any alibis or self-excusing. Being open and honest is so valuable because it is willingly coming into the light. Then God shows His truth to His promises and His real righteousness in no way more than this, that He meets our mere confession with forgiveness—waiting for nothing else—and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

We stand free to serve Him without the past guilt or disability. But he has declared us to be sinners, and confession—that is, practical assent to this divine charge against us—is necessary. To deny that we have sinned—to attribute our shortcomings to any other cause, such as our nature or our circumstances—is, in effect, to make God a liar and show that His word has no place in us. It may sound like a simple illustration about God is light, and there is no darkness in Him, but it has a strong message. Light can enter darkness, but darkness cannot enter the light. As long as the light is on, darkness disappears.[1]

Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis (1861–1927) was a Welsh evangelical speaker and Christian writer. Her ministry took her to Russia, Scandinavia, Canada, the United States, and India. In speaking about the outward profession of godliness, the Lord’s message to the church at Smyrna was this: “Those who say they are Jews and are not, are of the synagogue of Satan.”^[2] It appears by this that the adversary has not only a religion that gives him worship through material images but that his “synagogue” or congregation consists of professors of religion who are without the inward truth.

That’s why John says here in verse six, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and live in darkness [i.e., in sin], we lie, and do not the truth,” and the harshest words that ever passed the lips of the Anointed One were His scathing exposures of the Pharisees. “They do not practice what they preach,” He said, and “on the outside, you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” He told them they were of their “father the devil” and called them “serpents” and the “offspring of vipers.”^[3] And yet, the Pharisees, the strictest sect in Israel in the outward fulfilling of the law, nevertheless claimed God as their Father. The Lord’s strong words make it appear that Satan’s invisible “church” is filled with those who make religion a cloak to hide their relationship to the devil.[4]

Alan E. Brooke (1863-1939) says that complete knowledge of God is impossible; He can be indeed “known” here and now, under human living conditions and limitations. His nature is “Light,” which communicates to those made in His image until transformed into His likeness. From the ethical side, the words also emphasize the conditions of fellowship. Walking in darkness excludes a person from any connection with Him in whom is no darkness at all. Conduct is not a matter of indifference, as some in John’s day was teaching. With the order of ideas here, is “life, light, and darkness.” (verses 2, 5). Compare the same sequence in the Prologue to John’s Gospel (1:1, 2, 4, 5).^[5]

Albert Barnes (1874-1951) explains a somewhat confusing phrase, “do not the truth” (KJV), here in verse six. To do the truth is to act according to the truth. The expression here means that such a person could not be a Christian. And yet, how many there are who are living in sin who profess to be Christians! How many whose minds are dark on the whole subject of religion, who have never known anything of the real peace and joy that it imparts, who nevertheless entertain the belief that they are the friends of God, are going to heaven! They trust in a name, in forms, in conformity to external rites, and have never known anything of the internal peace and purity which religion imparts, have never had any real fellowship with that God who is Light, and in whom there is no darkness at all.

Faith in God brings light; belief in God secures peace, purity, joy.  Sometimes, there are cases when a Christian wanders back into darkness, lose their spiritual joy, and begin to doubt their salvation. Yet, it doesn’t change the great truth of who God is. Unless we know by personal experience what it is to walk habitually in the Light, to do not have the Spirit’s comfort to experience in our souls. His influence makes the heart pure and brings us into conformity to the God who is Light. Until then, our religion is not genuine. It becomes merely a name, which will not profit us on the final day of judgment.^[6]

Paul W. Hoon (1910-2000) says we find the moral test for religious experience outlined in the correlated statements that God is light and that Christians must walk in the light. God as Light signifies that just as light by nature cannot be self-contained but must communicate itself to be seen, so also God’s divine nature must be self-revealing.^[7] That is what happened in the beginning on the first day of creation,^[8] and it happened again on the first day of Jesus’ human creation. The same is true when Jesus takes up residence in a person’s life. John says that if God’s Light is within you, it must shine forth by its very nature.

Raymond E. Brown (1928-1998) gives an exhaustive examination of the phrase “to do the truth,” but his conclusion is short and sweet. For Brown, “to live the truth” means God’s revelation of the truth is accepted and followed by the believer. Therefore, it becomes the basis on which that person lives; if one acts in truth (does truth), one is not merely following an exterior pattern of what is right but working from an interior principle.^[9] This principle is continuously active even when no one looks or observes it. It does not hesitate for a moment when it may cost something that a person could otherwise keep if they followed the crowd.

Zane Clark Hodges (1932-2008) declares that there can be only one sphere of real communion with God – Light itself. That’s why John insisted that this is where a Christian will find harmony: But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another. Strangely, many commentators have understood the expression “with one another” as a reference to fellowship with other Christians. But this is not what the author is discussing here. The Greek pronoun for “one another” allēlōn may refer to the two parties (God and the Christian) named in the first part of the statement.

John’s point is that if Christians live in the Light which God is, then there is mutual fellowship between Himself and them. That is, they are in union with Him, and He has fellowship with them. The Light itself is the fundamental reality which they share. Accordingly, true communion with God is living in the sphere where one’s experience is illuminated by the truth of what God is. It is to live open to His revelation of Himself in Jesus the Anointed One. As John soon states in verse nine, this involves believers’ acknowledging whatever the light reveals as right or wrong in their lives.

Significantly, John talked of walking in the Light, says Hodges, rather than according to the Light. To walk according to the light would require sinless perfection and would make fellowship with God impossible for sinful humans. However, to walk in it suggests openness and responsiveness to the Light. John makes it clear in the last part of this verse that he did not think of Christians as sinless, even though they are walking in the Light. John added that “the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from every sin.” This statement grammatically synchronizes with the preceding one, “We have fellowship with one another.” The message of verse seven, in its entirety, affirms that two things are real of believers who walk in the Light: (a) they are in fellowship with God and (b) they are being cleansed from every sin. So long as there is genuine openness to the Light of divine truth, Christians’ failures are under the cleansing power of the shed blood of the Anointed One. Indeed, only in virtue of the Savior’s work on the cross can there be any fellowship between imperfect creatures and the infinitely perfect God.[10]

Ian Howard Marshall (1934-2015) now follows a series of criticisms of positions that are incompatible with acceptance of it. John takes up three claims which people make but must be assessed in the light of their real character concerning this thesis. It is probable that these claims were real statements made by people in the church to which John was writing and that they reflect the outlook of the people who were causing trouble in the church. The claims were: (1) We have fellowship with Him. (2) We are without sin. (3) We have not sinned. In each case, the writer’s reply is to compare the statement with the actual way of life of the persons who made it and show that the claims were false. Then he goes on to indicate in each case how people who wished to have fellowship with God could have it.[11]

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[1] Gore, Charles (1920). The Epistles of St. John, op. cit., pp. 71–72, 78

[2] Revelation 2:9

[3] Matthew 23:3-33

[4] Penn-Lewis, Mrs. Jessie: Fundamentals Torrey Satan & His Kingdom, Ch. 16, p. 160

[5] Brooke, Alan E. International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 12

[6] Barnes, Albert: op. cit., p. 4799

[7] Noon, Paul W., The Interpreter’s Bible, op. cit., pp. 221-222

[8] Genesis 1:3

[9] Brown, Raymond E. Anchor Bible, op. cit., pp. 199-200

[10] Hodges, Zane Clark: Epistles of John, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, Walvoord, J. F., & Zuck, R. B., (Eds), Vol. 2, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL, 1985, p. 885

[11] Marshall, I. Howard. The Epistles of John, op. cit., pp. 109-110

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XLVII) 02/09/21

John Painter (1935) points out that verse six reveals a fabrication of the heretics’ claim of union with God. It is not that such claims are necessarily false. Instead, the author shows what would falsify the claim. The use of “walk” is a metaphor for the Christian lifestyle and is typical of John’s teaching. The Greek verb peripatei (“to walk”)is used seventeen times in John, five times in 1 John, three times in 2 John, and twice in 3 John.^[1] These provide ample evidence of the symbolic meaning beyond walking’s physical activity.[2] This walking goes from faith to faith.^[3]

Karen H. Jobes (1968-Present) points out that truth is closely associated with facts in our times. But John’s writings show a reality that goes far beyond the facts to interpret the significance and entailments of the facts. The purpose of the signs in John’s Gospel is to narrate Jesus’ miracles and present them so that the astute reader perceives the identity of Jesus as both the long-awaited Messiah and the Savior sent by God to atone for sin.[4] It isn’t that faith replaces facts, but faith engenders confidence in the evidence.

David Guzik (1984-Present) implies that the issue here is fellowship, not salvation. Although a believer may claim to walk enlightened with God, they walk ignorantly in darkness. They may be His child, but they have no fellowship with Him. If they continue to insist on maintaining such a relationship, they do not live the truth. John says they live a lie (see verses eight to ten). It is important then to remember the promise of eternal life is given only to those who continue to stay in union with Him.^[5] Since He is the Light, we cannot claim that union if we walk in darkness.^[6] What fellowship or comradeship does darkness have with light?

I like what Ben Witherington says about belief being a matter of behavior. The term “walking,” or doing what one is supposed to do, is typically Jewish.^[7] It reflects that John does not draw a line between creed and conduct between theology and tenets. Ethics is putting your preaching theology into practical theology, in other words, doing the truth.^[8] John is about to tell us that sometimes believers fail to do the right thing. That indeed is sin. John is not trying to be an idealist nor a realist. He’s only making it clear that to do or not to do the truth is not an option. Behavior matters just as much as belief does, and any deviation from the truth in either one’s belief or behavior can sever one from fellowship with God and His community.[9]

1:7a That’s more than enough reason for John to now encourage everyone: We should live in the light where God is… 

EXPOSITION

Here the Apostle John echoes the words of the Psalmist David who thanked the LORD that He saved Him from death at the hands of King Saul; that He kept him from being defeated at the hands of his enemies; and that’s why he will serve Him in the light that only the living can see.^[10] And the Psalmist Ethan joins him by telling the Lord that His loyal followers are happy. They live in the light of His kindness.^[11] So, the people of God are encouraged to sing a new song because light and happiness shine on those who do what is right. That’s why the prophet Isaiah said with a loud voice: “O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD.^[12]

And why should we seek to have fellowship with the Lord in the light? Because John says, He is in the Light. Listen to how the Psalmist describes Him: “You wear Light like a robe. You spread out the starry skies like a curtain.”^[13] The Apostle James offers his thoughts: Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from Him. These good gifts come down from the Father, who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same.^[14] The Apostle Paul chimes in: “God is the only one who never dies. He lives in Light so bright that people cannot go near it. No one has ever seen Him; no one is able to see Him. All honor and power belong to Him forever. Amen.”^[15]

As a small boy, I remember picking up several wooden boards laid down outside the back door of my grandmother’s house so she could walk over to the washhouse without stepping in the mud after it rained. I was amazed that there was bright green grass all around these planks, but nothing underneath. I couldn’t understand it until someone explained it to me. Grass couldn’t grow under these planks because they received no light, although they got plenty of water. The same is true of some Christians. There is plenty of spiritual rain and showers of blessings, but they are not growing in the Anointed One and the things of God because there is no light in their lives. For some reason, they are hiding from the Word of God that gives light. This idea may sound risky to some, but I feel that anyone who calls themselves a faithful, committed Christian and child of God would undoubtedly endeavor to read the Bible through at least one time during their lifetime.

COMMENTARY

Richard Rothe (1799-1867) says that we cannot speak of walking in connection with God, but only of a changeless existence. However, our whole being has yet to become light; and to this, it is of supreme importance that we walk in God’s light, which has come to us in its whole truth in the only-begotten Son of God. According to verse five, it is the Light of truth, holiness, and love.^[16]

Richard Tuck (1817-1868) makes an excellent point about the believer and sin. It states that there is much confusion caused by accepting that the word “sin” identifies all sins. In other words, whether it be theft, murder, adultery, they are all sins but of a different color, like the M&M candies. But in fact, the word “sin” represents a “violation of the Law.” But there is something else that goes with it, says Tuck, “sin” is also an “expression of our will.” Furthermore, it is evidence of our human frailty. So, to put this in reverse order, because we are spiritually weak, we often carry out the will of our lawbreaking tendencies and thereby violate the Law of God. That makes it impossible to be a sinner unless you give into sin.^[17]

John Stock (1817-1884) points out that ravens, contrary to their nature, were sent to feed Elijah^[18] because God commanded them to do so. It must have been very humiliating to Elijah. But in like manner, sometimes our lawbreaking tendencies and outward temptations are often controlled by God as a way of feeding His children to keep them humble. It is also another way to keep them from being proud. Suppose a person is guilty of even the smallest sinful thought or desire. In that case, it will prevent them from falling victim to the curse of meaningless vanity and keep them from bragging about their significant spiritual accomplishments.^[19] Since no one is permanently free from lawbreaking tendencies, God is working in them to do His will brings Him great pleasure.^[20] It’s because all praise is due to God by the happy recipients of His unfailing blessings and provisions and grace.^[21]

Stephen S. Smalley (1931-2018) points out that John’s idea of “walking” in the light or darkness is to be loyal to God, as He is faithful to Himself.^[22] For God is “light,” and “He Himself” is, therefore, the Light. John’s imagery is sufficiently flexible for the symbol of “light’ to be applied to God in these two directions without confusion.^[23] In other words, God is not only Light; He is the Light. That’s why if we walk in the Light, we walk with God. Light is not just something that shines on our pathway but is in us and with us on that pathway. Furthermore, says Smalley, by “living in the Light,” we share fellowship with God and God’s people who also have the Light.^[24]

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[1] John 6:66; 7:1; 8:12; 11:9, 10, 54; 12:35; 21:18; 1 John 1:6, 7; 2: 6, 11; 2 John 1:4, 6; 3 John 1:3, 4

[2] Painter, John. Sacra Pagina: op. cit., Kindle Locations 3635-3639

[3] Romans 1:17

[4] Jobes, Karen H., 1, 2, and 3 John, op. cit., p. 69

[5] John 15:1-2

[6] Guzik, David – Enduring Word, op. cit., pp. 16-17

[7] Cf. Genesis 17:1; 1 Kings 2:4; 2 Kings 20:3

[8] Cf. John 3:21 with 2 Chronicles 31:20; Nehemiah 9:33

[9] Witherington III, Ben, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians: op. cit., Kindle Location 6011

[10] Psalm 56:13

[11] Ibid. 89:15

[12] Isaiah 2:5 – NIV

[13] Psalm 104:2

[14] James 1:17

[15] 1 Timothy 6:16

[16] Rothe, Richard: The Expository Times, op. cit., March 1890, p. 137

[17] Tuck, Richard H., The Preachers Complete Homiletical Commentary, op. cit., p. 243

[18] 1 Kings 17:4

[19] Proverbs 20:6

[20] Philippians 2:12

[21] John Stock: On First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 36

[22] 2 Timothy 2:13

[23] Stephen S. Smalley: Word Biblical Commentary, op. cit., p. 22

[24] Ibid. p. 33

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XLV) 12/04/20

As a result, says Stock, we can join our Lord in calling Satan a liar and a murderer from the beginning.^[1] False prophets, despite all their pretensions to holiness, and presumptuous confidence, are called liars.^[2] So, the Apostle does not hesitate to say of those who walk in darkness willingly, continuously, and progressively, and yet affirm that they have fellowship with God – that both they and we if we do the same, lie, and do not the truth. English churchman Dr. Edward Goulburn says that any person who pretends to love God in the absence of loving their neighbor is a delusion. Goulburn concludes, for some, loving their neighbor is not as hard as loving God since it is easier to walk by sight than by faith.”^[3]

Dr. Stock then reminds us that a mixed multitude accompanied Israel out of Egypt,^[4] and out of this intermixed band, arose the murmurings which disgraced and troubled the chosen of God. Tares grow with the wheat^[5] and in the East resemble it so closely that they are somewhat difficult to distinguish one from the other. Among the ten virgins, five were foolish.^[6] All possessed the same thing; all went forth to meet the bridegroom, and all took lamps with them; a kind of kindred brilliancy adorned them all, and to external casual observation, one bridesmaid looked the same as the others.

Unfortunately, laments Stock, this same exists among Churches where false and true believers co-exist. It allows false claims to boast based on pretension. In doing so, they brag about their being equal with Diotrephes.^[7] They claim to be part of the Body of the Anointed One but belong to the church of Satan.^[8] They are offensive to God and contrary to all Christians, hindering truth by their unrighteousness.^[9] [10]

The Apostle Jude vehemently denounces such; saying, “When these people join you at the love feasts of the church, they are flies on a piece of meat, laughing and carrying on, gorging and stuffing themselves with anything they can get their hands on. They are like big puffs of smoke blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much, but producing nothing. They are like trees without stripped clean of fruit. They are not only dead, but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out, roots and all, to be burned. All they leave behind them is shame and disgrace like the dirty foam left along the beach by the wild waves. They wander around like lost stars in outer space on their way to a crunching black hole!”[11]

Richard H. Tuck (1817-1868) sees the Apostle John as telling his readers to be true to themselves. That means a person should take care to keep their profession and conduct in complete harmony. If they say that they are in union with the Anointed One, they must walk in cooperation with the Anointed One. No Christian should live their lives for their sake, but the Savior’s sake. Since our Lord honored us by saving our souls, we should praise and glorify our Lord by not losing our souls. If we conduct our lives in righteous living for other people’s sake, they may not understand the saving and sanctifying power behind our motives. In so doing, we risk misrepresenting our Lord and Master. That is why there must be consistency between our profession and our possession of being a new creation in the Anointed One. If we fail to do so, we cannot be true to ourselves but are traitors to ourselves. That can only lead to becoming slaves to our sinful nature instead of being servants to our spiritual nature.^[12]

Daniel Steele (1824-1914) mentions that if a person makes a genuine case of confession followed by walking in the light, then that person walking in the Light should declare this fact to benefit those still stumbling around in the dark. They need to know that their so-called “victorious soul” is deceived and the truth is not in them. They must also verify that while the Apostle John penned these words, he could not truthfully say that he always walked in the light and never did anything about which to feel guilty. What John is talking about does not apply to sinners, but to Christians trying to live our spiritual lives in an immoral world. Otherwise, it would make John the most self-contradictory writer found in the whole range of secular and sacred literature. For he declares the purpose of his writing to be “that you sin not,” “that those born of God should not sin.” Then he is inspired to write that all who obey God’s prohibition and, by grace, never sin should be branded as deluded or lying.

But Steele is not finished. He focuses on the erroneous interpretation of “Walk in darkness.” When we allow ourselves to be encompassed in darkness or sin by our own choice, it is an effort to hide those acts which our conscience, fellow believers, and God condemn.^[13] Religious fanatics of all eras have endeavored to combine loose morals with the possession of genuine Christian faith. It seems that John found such persons among the Gnostics in the church at Ephesus. He says that they lie and live not the truth. They affirm what they know to be positively false when they profess communion with the holy God and are willfully choosing darkness and sin.^[14] Such a choice is fatal to fellowship with God.[15]

John J. Lias (1834-1923) looks at the necessity of holiness and warns that we may deceive ourselves concerning our relationship with the Anointed One because He warned us of this danger.^[16] Also, His Apostles warned us.^[17] Many deceive themselves still, resting in outward observances, in membership of a particular society, belief in certain doctrines, or certain feelings or experiences in the present or past. Such grounds of acceptance, in the absence of the one necessary characteristic, are simple deceptions.

The only test of present acceptance is the “walking in the Light.” Nothing can be more evident than the Apostle John’s statement of this truth. Not only does he say “we lie,” if we claim fellowship with the Anointed One and walk in darkness, but we “live not the truth,” that is, we do not merely make a misstatement, but we act out the lie we speak. We deny the Eternal Principles and behave as though they were not in existence. Our lives are perpetual defiance of God and His Son Jesus the Anointed One.

Lias goes on to say that all this about not living the truth is Gospel. It rests on the Anointed One’s indwelling in the believer, which John talks about here, and we find elsewhere in the Final Covenant. So, our Lord teaches^[18] the expression, continually used throughout the Final Covenant, signifying the presence of inner life.^[19]  Paul limits freedom from condemnation to those walking in union with the Spirit,^[20] thus fulfilling the righteousness of the law. What it is to walk in darkness and light.

Lias then makes these important points: To walk in the Light is to (a) acknowledge the truth revealed in Jesus the Anointed One; (b) this revelation makes known to us God’s will, and primarily – the point we are at present considering – in what true holiness consists; (c) true holiness consists, as we have just seen, in fulfilling the righteousness of the law, by virtue of the illumination we have received, which enables us to distinguish right from wrong, to set up before us a higher standard of purity and perfection. To “walk” in the light is to press daily forward towards the realization of this ideal. The enlightened soul perceives this, as well as all the steps which lead to it. To walk in darkness is, of course, the exact opposite of all this.[21]

Erich Haupt (1841-1910) writes that only when a person who opens themselves to the Light and has entered into the domain of Light can experience in themselves the effects of the Light. Only when the memory of his father’s house swayed all the thoughts of the prodigal son, and he came back to this sphere of his home, does the father reach out to meet him with the announcement of forgiveness. The kingdom of God, and its interests, its views, and its measure of all things are to the natural man altogether sealed up and strange.

When a person obtains an eye and a heart for reconciliation, says Haupt, they enter the sphere of Light. In that Light begins at once its ethical influence upon and in them. Therefore, a person’s ethical conduct is a consequence of their walk in the sphere of Light. The same goes for those who walk in darkness. By shining, the light reveals what the night is hiding. There is also the immediate result of walking in the Light. The person perceives why and where the darkness occurred and recognizes it as the absence of light.^[22]

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[1] John 8:44

[2] Revelation 2:2

[3] Goulburn, Edward Meyrick: The Pursuit of Holiness, D. Appleton Company, New York, 1870, Ch XX, p. 209

[4] Exodus 12:38; Numbers 11:4

[5] Matthew 13:25

[6] Ibid. 25:1

[7] Diotrephes is mentioned in 3 John 1:9-10. Diotrephes was a self-seeking troublemaker in an unnamed local church in the first century. We know nothing of his background, other than he was probably a Gentile (his name means “nurtured by Jupiter”).

[8] Revelation 3:9

[9] 1 Thessalonians 2:15

[10] Stock, John: On First Epistle of John, op. cit., pp. 29-31

[11] Jude 1:12-13 – Paraphrase by RRS.

[12] Richard H. Tuck: Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary, op. cit., p. 238

[13] See John 3:19, 20

[14] See James 3:14

[15] Steele, Daniel: op. cit., p. 10–11

[16] Matthew 7:22, 23; 25:44

[17] Revelation 3:17; 1 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 6:7, 8; Philippians 3:18, 19

[18] Matthew 7:16

[19] John 15:1-8

[20] Romans 8:1

[21] Lias, John J., The First Epistle of St. John with Homiletical Treatment, James Nisbet & Co., London: 1887, pp. 38–43

[22] Haupt, E., The First Epistle of St. John, op. cit., pp. 36–37