1 John Chapter One

If you’re a racing fan you know the recent news — killed at Daytona speedway was the most famous (and many would say the best of all time) NASCAR driver, Dale Earnhardt. In third place on the last lap (almost the final turn), his car was bumped from behind sending him into the wall at almost 200 miles per hour. On impact with the wall his seat belt failed, killing him instantly. It was a tragic loss — he left behind a son and wife. Where was God in this? Does He care? Christians say God is a God of love, but where was He?

We need to turn to the human authority on God’s love — the apostle of love himself, John.

John was the last apostle alive — even Paul was gone. John became known as the “apostle of love”, using the word “love” 33 times in this epistle. But John was not always the apostle of love. His life is an example of how Jesus can transform anyone’s life. Earlier in John’s life we see him being:

Only later did he become known as the apostle of love — Jesus had a lot of work to do with him. That gives me hope.

John states four reasons for writing this letter

At the time John writes, a group called the Gnostics infiltrated the church; John writes in part to set the record straight. The Gnostics believed they possessed hidden knowledge and you needed to be part of their group to truly understand the scriptures — similar to cults of today who say you need the Bible and their books. Garbage. All you need is the Bible. Anytime someone says to understand the Bible you need other books (from their group at a small cost) you can be sure they are feeding you lies and deceit. If that sounds harsh, then so be it — but do not be deceived. Read the Bible for yourself — it’s all you need. The Holy Spirit teaches ALL things (John 14:26, 16:13) — not some things and you need someone else to finish the job.

This is not to imply we don’t need teachers — we do and teaching is one of the gifts of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:11). However, any honest teacher will insist (even beg) you read the Bible for yourself. A dishonest teacher will try and keep you from the Bible. It’s important for anyone who claims to be a teacher of God’s word to remember the words of James (James 3:1) — teachers are held accountable before God for their teaching of God’s word.

It’s interesting to note the Gnostics did not question Jesus’ deity, they questioned His humanity. Since they taught all matter is evil, Jesus really didn’t have a body; we have pictures of him walking along the beach and not leaving any footprints (details in the National Enquirer). In that time, everyone knew Jesus had supernatural power — many people witnessed His miracles; it would take a crazy person to deny their occurrence. Today, of course, we have the “Jesus seminar” people who deny Jesus’ deity, instead of His humanity.

In any event, the Gnostics teaching material was evil leads to two errors.

  1. A form of asceticism — denying yourself is the path to heaven. The extreme puritanical view.
  2. Your body (since it is evil) doesn’t matter. If you do drugs or party it really doesn’t matter since your body is evil anyway.

John writes to combat this false teaching, but doesn’t directly assault their beliefs. Rather, John restates the truth. As the last apostle alive John possessed considerable apostolic authority. He walked with Jesus, ate with Jesus, and was directly taught by Jesus. Thus John doesn’t have to waste time establishing his authority, everyone knew his authority — he was an eyewitness to the life of Jesus.

CHAPTER ONE

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) (1 John 1:1-2 KJV)

John immediately demonstrates his authority, since he personally heard and saw Jesus for several years. Right up front is a refutation of the Gnostics — how many of them spent several years with Jesus? John looked upon and handled Jesus. It was John who reclined on Jesus at the last supper — you couldn’t lean on a ghost could you? Remember after the resurrection in the upper room with Thomas, Thomas put his hands on Jesus; Jesus had a real physical body and John observed it. John speaks of events occurring 60 years earlier as if they happened yesterday. John’s mind is clear, his witness is valid and his testimony is true.

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3 KJV)

Our fellowship is not just with other believers, but with the Father Himself. This is amazing. Why would the almighty God want to fellowship with us? I have no idea, but He does. Contrast this with the Old Testament; only the High Priest could enter the presence of God, and only once a year. The idea we each can fellowship with God is a radical idea for a first century person. To illustrate God was available to everyone, after Jesus died the veil was torn in two — symbolizing the Spirit is available to all who want to enter. But do we take advantage of our direct line to the throne room of the universe? It’s easy to become casual and forget this powerful advantage we have.

And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. (1 John 1:4 KJV)

John’s first reason for writing this letter. Many people equate joy and happiness, but they are not the same. For example, if I give you a check for $1,000 you will be happy — until you try to cash it. At that time your happiness will depart. Happiness is temporary and subject to our conditions. Joy isn’t; that’s why Paul could be filled with joy while chained in a dungeon. It’s unlikely he was happy in his situation, yet he was filled with joy. But without fellowship with God, there is no Joy. Anything the world has won’t do — money, power, prestige, drugs, etc. The only way to have joy is by fellowship with God. Thus, the vital question becomes How do we have fellowship with God? What is required? John explains this critical point for us by:

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5 KJV)

God is Light. No matter what translation you pick up, the phrase is the same — God is light. In Genesis, the first thing God creates is light — and it’s amazing how little we really know about it. Even today, Light is a symbol of good, and darkness of evil. Remember the movies Star Wars? The whole battle was between the light side and the dark side. Light as an idiom is something we still use today.

Light in this verse is “phos” which means light never kindled and therefore never quenched.[1] We are going to look at two implications of the fact that God is light. First, let’s answer a common objection of the skeptic. Perhaps you’ve been faced with something along the following lines:

Did God create everything? Yes. Is God good? Yes. Did God create satan? Yes. Then I can’t follow God because that means God created evil, and that contradicts the idea God is good, since a good God would never create evil and suffering.

Many times the skeptic attempts to place a Christian in such a position — so it appears a contradiction exists. But does it? It only does if you accept the premise the only solutions possible are the ones the skeptic presents. Is that valid? No. It is on that basis the skeptic’s logic fails. We’ll answer the skeptic’s question shortly by analyzing a different issue. I once had a math professor who was a master at explaining difficult concepts by temporarily ignoring the difficult idea, but instead turning to something obvious like two plus two equals four. Naturally, we would all proclaim “But that’s obvious!” and slowly they related the obvious to the complicated and our eyes would open — the difficult concept becoming clear. I hope to do the same, so stay with me.

You might think the answers to both of those questions is yes, but you would be incorrect. Heat does exist, but cold doesn’t — cold is defined as the absence of heat. Oh, you’re just being picky, you say. No I’m not. Understand a temperature exists beyond which you can not get any colder — absolute zero (-459.67 F). Temperatures colder are not possible. Why? Because once you’ve removed all the heat nothing remains — you’re as low as you can go. Cold doesn’t exist.

Now we understand the basic concept, consider the next issue.

If you’ve caught on now you know darkness doesn’t exist either — darkness is the absence of light. Perhaps you’ve been in a situation where you are enveloped by complete darkness — you can’t even see your hand in front of your face. Can it get darker? Nope. Once you’ve removed all the light you have darkness. Darkness as a separate and individual quantity doesn’t exist.

Now we have some background; let’s answer the skeptic’s question. You might have a clue from the previous ideas, along with the fact God is light. Think about it for a moment.

Good. Now the final questions:

Get the point? God is good. God created satan. Satan was originally good, but became evil. Why? He quenched the light of God; God did not create satan evil, satan chose to quench the light, and the result is evil. Evil is not a real quantity — evil is the result of a lack of goodness and perfection. Thus evil is the absence of light (or God). The concept of evil being created is false — it’s what naturally results when you turn away from God. Thus God did not “create” evil, as it’s not a real entity to create.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (John 3:19-20 KJV)

Shifting to a different thought, light itself we really don’t understand much (from a physics point of view that is). I must warn you we are going off into some strange territory here, but stay with me and you’ll see the point. Halley in his little Bible handbook said “In a more real and literal sense, light may be an attribute of God beyond the understanding of human eyes”.[2] Halley goes on to list some attributes of God[3]

Physicists think of the dual nature of light from the famous two-slit experiment showing light is both a wave and a particle. Which brings up a question: If God is light (dual-natured), but we have a trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, how does that work? If the Bible is 100% accurate (and it is), don’t we have a problem here? From a physicist’s point of view, we can do experiments with light showing either a wave or particle nature — nothing else appears in the lab (at least up to this point). So it’s possible we have another characteristic of light yet to discover. Perhaps, yet I’m also intrigued by the words of John in his gospel.

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: (John 15:26 KJV)

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. (John 16:13 KJV)

Since the Holy Spirit only testifies of Jesus, you can’t perform an experiment to get another characteristic of light — you will always get one of the other two. So yes, light does have three natures, but only two are experimentally (as of now) possible to see.

Alright, for those of you who dozed off on the previous excursion, we now return to our study...

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: (1 John 1:6 KJV)

Recall the Pharisees were called hypocrites — they didn’t walk the talk as they say. If you claim to follow God, yet walk in darkness, you’re a hypocrite. I get e-mail on occasion complaining about all the hypocrites in the church, and must agree with them. But don’t assume just because someone claims to be a Christian they are one — not everyone who goes to church is a Christian (dare I say not everyone who claims to be a pastor is a Christian). That’s John’s point; liars exist in the church. For a quick review of the works of the flesh verses the works of the Spirit see Galatians 5:19-25. Also note liars will NOT inherit the kingdom of God (there is no gray area here).

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8 KJV)

But John goes on to tell us the benefits we enjoy if we truly do walk in light.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7 KJV)

John starts with but — a contrast of the previous verse. These people are different from the liars who walk in darkness. You should be able to tell the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. If you can’t it might be a hint something is wrong. But if we walk in Light, his blood cleanses us from all sin — continually (cleanses is in the present tense).

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8 KJV)

Many cults deny sin and the existence of hell. Hell is something of your own creation, they teach. Sin is not a popular topic these days! I remember a few years ago while watching an auto race the commentators spoke about the lapped cars (cars going so slow the leaders went all the way around the track and passed them again). One commentator objected to the term “slower lapped cars” and instead referred to them as “speed challenged”. Politically correct thought infects racing! But consider for a moment the ridiculousness of politically correct thought.

This nation constantly tries to pass the blame onto someone else. “The buck stops here” isn’t true anymore, even at the highest levels of our government; taking responsibility for your actions is not popular. We want to call sin something besides what it is, passing the responsibility somewhere else (you were born that way, for example).

But the Bible says if you think you’re not to blame the truth is not in you and you are deceived. Period. No self-help group or twelve-step process needed. Sadly, many people are deceived in this area — that’s why so many groups say “its not your fault”. Who is the master of deceit? (satan).

If you don’t acknowledge you’re a sinner, you can’t be saved. An incident occurred in Matthew 19:16-20 where someone asks Jesus what they must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responds to his inquiry he must obey the commandments. But at this point the young man responds he has kept the commandments since his youth. What? His response should have been he couldn’t keep them no matter how hard he tried. Anyone who believes you can keep the ten commandments needs to review what Jesus said about them in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 43-33). The Law is spiritual — you can’t keep it no matter how hard you try. This young man didn’t want to admit he was a sinner; anyone who won’t admit they are a sinner and have no ability to save themselves can’t be saved.

Yet what happens if we do admit our sins?

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 KJV)

If we confess, HE is faithful; our job is only to confess it. In this context, confess means to agree — after all, He already knows anyway. We don’t need to do works or follow rules to be saved, only to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. Yet some people won’t make that admission and John tells us about them.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:10 KJV)

This is similar to verse 8, but more inclusive. Verse eight says we have no sin — present tense. Some may teach after you reach a certain spiritual level, you don’t sin anymore. Maybe I’ve sinned in the past, but I don’t anymore. Wrong! If you sin once, you are guilty of all.

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10 KJV)

[1] Zodiahaties, “The Complete Word Study New Testament”, page 945

[2] “Halleys Bible Handbook”, page 885

[3] ibid

Further Reading

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For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV)