1 John 1:5-2:2
5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an [1] Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
Notes from the study:
John writes that God is Holy and in Him, there is no darkness. Therefore, in order to have fellowship with God, we must strive for holiness and not walk in darkness. In order to have fellowship with God, we need to recognize His holiness along with his other characteristics. His holiness is what prevents him from having fellowship with sinners, who are not made holy by the blood for Jesus. It is what causes him to bring righteous wrath on the world that walks in darkness. In the coming day, he will not abide that which is not made holy by His work through Jesus (what do you mean by he will not abide that which is not made holy...). We as Christians need to understand this if we are to have fellowship with God.
John then goes on to contrast those that understand and those that don’t. Verses 6 and 7 are paired as well as verses 8 and 9. One could make the case that verse 10 and 2:1-2 are a pair, but it doesn’t really follow the form of 6/7 and 8/9. The content of 10 and 2:1-2 do contrast each other.
“If we say” verses are lies of the false or Gnostic teachers. They are compared against the next verse, which is truth. Verse 6, 8, and 10 all contain lie or some form of it (v6 lie, v8 truth is not in us, v10 liar). So as to say, if you do this, you are sinning or walking the path of a sinner / walking in darkness.
Verse 7,9 and 2:1-2 all contain the forgiveness of sin, extremely important to the central message of the gospel but even more so as this stands in opposition to v8 and v10 (we have no sin, we have not sinned). We use the term of walking in light as a metaphor for full disclosure, not hiding anything. A man who walks in this way acknowledges his sin and asks for forgiveness (if a Christian). A person who walks in darkness uses that darkness to hide away their sin, thus making the claims that they have no sin or have not sinned or even do not sin. Walk in the light, strive to be holy, and ask for the forgiveness of the Lord and he will forgive us our sins and cleanse us in the blood of his son, Christ Jesus, who paid the price for our sin, nay for the whole world’s sin.(2:2)
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