v.1-7
1. 3-parties connection
a. the One from the beginning/the Word of life/the life/the eternal life/God's Son Jesus Christ and the Father
- Jesus was with the Father
- God is light, there is no darkness at all in him
- He is in the light
- The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin
- first we have heard, with our eyes, touched with our hands, then we testify and announce to you what was revealed to us (Heard the message and announce to you )
- our fellowship is with the Father and with Jesus
- you may have fellowship with us
- walk in light
BKC To walk in it, however, suggests instead openness and responsiveness to the light. John did not think of Christians as sinless, even though they are walking in the light...two things are true 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 true openness to the light of divine truth, Christians’ failures are under the cleansing power of the shed blood of Christ. 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.
Reflection: We have God who is eternal wanting to reveal to us, and we have the apostles who were the eye-witnesses for us. The eternal God is no longer just a force or a power that no one can contact or understand. Thank God for wanting to have relationship with me.
On the other hand, the purpose of the letter was for the apostles to announce the message to me about who God is, how is He like, etc. I do not need to worry about finding the testimony of the apostles myself.
Lastly, getting all these contact and information does not mean I am totally passive. I need to walk, keep on walking, or keep on the openness and responsiveness to the contact AND have Jesus to cleanse me from my sins. John was so certain that when anyone is open to God's light we need the cleansing. That is the purpose of the communication, the contact, and the information. Am I open to these? How can I make the best use of these?
v.8-2:2
1. The state of sin
v.8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, Grk “say we do not have sin..."we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
NET On the analogy with other constructions where ἔχω governs an abstract noun (e.g., 1 John 1:3, 6, 7; 2:28; 3:3, 15, 21; 4:16, 17; 5:12–13), it indicates that a state is involved, which in the case of ἁμαρτία would refer to a state of sin...refer to situations where a wrong action has been committed or a wrong attitude has already existed, resulting in a state of sin, and then something else happens which further emphasizes the evil of that action or attitude
NET It seems more likely that the opponents were saying that things a believer did after conversion were not significant enough to be “sins” that could challenge one’s intimate relationship with God (a relationship the author denies that the opponents have to begin with).
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