Introduction (1.1:-1.4)

 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—2the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And we are writing this that our joy may be complete.

 John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, stayed close to his Master’s side through a long and productive life and ministry. He nurtured untold numbers of disciples,  making them full disciples of Jesus. He wrote a profound and insightful account of his Master’s life and teaching. As  bishop in Asia minor, at the end of his life, he wrote an epistle of five brief chapters laying out for his flock and for us a treatise on Christian perfection to establish us and secure us in the fulness of the eternal life which he had learned upon his Master’s breast and had lived out for well over a half century.

 John begins in verse 1 by stating his authority for what he is about to expound. He does this by proclaiming that he is an eyewitness to all Jesus was and taught. He had both seen and touched the Word of life. When he speaks in verse 2 about revelation of the word of life, it is clear that{it} refers to much more than a spoken word. The word of life is the whole Christ manifestation, the self-revelation of the Word Who is life and the light of men.   This revelation was made, not only in words, but in deed and in relationship. In the latter part of verse 2, John states that, through Jesus, the Father has made manifest the profound reality of eternal life. In verse 3, he states that he is going to testify to what he has seen and heard, that, through this proclamation, his readers can share in the impact of that revelation and have fellowship with the Father, with Jesus Christ, and with each other.

Victory over Sins (1:5—2:2)

 5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; 7but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 2:1My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

 In this passage, using the image of light, John shows how the believer is to attain freedom from sinful acts. Light has several meanings: referring to God, light describes His absolute righteousness, His self-revealing openness, and His glory. For us, light means an appropriation of the light of God through our association with Him. John goes so far as to say that we cannot claim to have fellowship with God, if any darkness remains in our lives (1:6). God’s light shines into our lives, first to reveal sin, and then to remove it, because darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. God’s light in our lives also brings us into fellowship with each other, because we begin to see them and love them as God does (1:7). Throughout this letter, John will continue to return, with increasing emphasis,  to the subject of our relationship with each other. This is presented, not only as a manifestation of the light in our lives, but also as a very accurate test of the reality of our relationship with the Lord.

 Our continuing in the light has two powerful results: It gives us fellowship with each other, and it enables us to be cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus.

 Sin has two meanings: the Old Testament definition is doing things that are against the rules. In this sense, God’s Law was given to make us aware of sin. Without the Law, there is, as Paul sometimes pointed out, no consciousness of sin.  Much of the Law consists in prohibitions. Righteousness, by this definition, consists in trying to avoid doing forbidden acts. The other definition is falling short of the purposes and the glory of God. This corresponds to the law of God written in our hearts and is a fulfillment of the new covenant relationship prophesied by Jeremiah.  Doing righteousness, under this definition, is a necessary result of a loving relationship with God.

 1 John 1:7—2:2 deals mainly with the first definition of sin. Sin is, by this definition, doing naughty things (evil deeds) for which we deserve punishment; but coming into the light brings closure on this kind of sin. If we walk in the light as Christ is in the light the sin question gets settled. Christ, by His sacrifice, assumes upon Himself the penalty for sin, brings forgiveness for our wrong-doing, and cleanses us from our sinfulness (1:9). This has already been provided in Christ’s sacrifice; our part in the transaction is to appropriate this victory by confession of sin and receiving forgiveness.

 Sin in our life cannot be dealt with by denial, but only by confession. If we deny that we have sinned, we deny the necessity of Christ’s sacrifice, His forgiveness, and His cleansing from sin. By denial of sin, we deceive ourselves and we call His sacrifice an unnecessary and lying act (1:10). Conversely, when we face the sin question honestly and confess our sin, He not only forgives the sins, but cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1:9). We then stand before Him in perfect purity and sinlessness. The slate is wiped clean. The logical corollary to this is that, if we have been cleansed from sin, we may no longer refer to ourselves as sinners.  That would be throwing away God’s saving act with ingratitude. How can we still claim to be sinners, when He has removed the sin?

 Verse 2:1 deals with the possibility that temptations may sometime get too great or deceptions of the enemy become so subtle or enticing that we fall back into sin. In this case, we do not need to look at ourselves as failures or sinners again. We just have one more sin to confess and a relationship to reestablish. When we confess this sin, we find that Christ does not clobber us or write us off. He acts in our defense as Advocate. He even takes the consequence on Himself (He Himself is the propitiation for our sins) (2:2).

 If, however, we go off and try to hide ourselves as Adam and Eve did, then we break our relationship with Him and we are in real trouble. If we stick around and apologize, we receive His forgiveness and restoration. He transforms the situation into a learning experience and an opportunity for Him to show His forgiving love for us.

 When we have been forgiven and cleansed, we have a lifetime in which to live out that victory He has provided us. The rest of the epistle deals with how we maintain the victory.

 From this point on, John is not concerned with sin as misdeeds, but with the second or new covenant definition of sin as falling short of the purposes and the glory of God. He will give frequent warnings and refer to pitfalls along the way, but he will be concerned mostly with our growth towards perfection.