I John 1, God is Light

The author of the fourth gospel also wrote several letters to churches. Here is the beginning of his longer letter, I John. This first chapter is quite short but packed....

1 John 1:1-4, The Word of Life
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

NIV footnotes: Some manuscripts say "make your joy complete" instead of "make our joy complete".

This letter, written as a general pastoral letter, might be a follow-up to the gospel of John. The goal is to reinforce belief by emphasizing the eternal fellowship that should flow out of belief.

There is a progression from "seen with our eyes" to "we looked at".  The latter phrase implies an investigation.

When was "the beginning"? At Creation? Or the Incarnation?  Contrast/compare this passage with the first four verses of the gospel of John.

The Father and Son are mentioned but not (yet) the Holy Spirit. Why?

The words "testify" and "appeared" emphasize a clear historical event; Jesus appeared at one moment in history; John was fortunate enough to be able to "testify" to that occurrence. Christianity is foremost a response to a historical event.

Comments (A little Greek): There is a process described here in the Greek words angelia (1:5, message), koinoinia (1:3, twice, fellowship) and chara (1:4, joy). The message leads to fellowship and then joy.

1 John 1:5-7, God is light, not dark -- we must live this way
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But 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, purifies us from all sin.

What are qualities of light?
What does it mean, "God is light"?
What are the results of "walking in the light"?
Are you purified from all sin? What does this mean?

I once met one who claimed that as a Christian he was completely sinless.  He cited some Bible verses and I countered with others and then he lost his temper and slammed his door in my face.

There are only two options portrayed here: light, purity, fellowship, truth vs. darkness, sin, separation, lies.  This stark contrast is characteristic of John.

1 John 1:8-10, Recognition of sin
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

Some questions: So -- wait a minute -- which are we? Are we light? Or are we in sin?

Why this digression in verses 8-10? Is this a statement about salvation? Or a statement after salvation (about sanctification)?

What two attributes of God are mentioned in verse 9? Why is God just to forgive sin?

According to verse 9, what are the two results of confessing sin? What is the meaning of "word" in verse 10. Compare with verse 1.

Comments: John Stott (in The Letters of John) puts verse 10 with the first two verses of chapter 2.

For further contemplation: What exactly is "sin"?  Although the word and related concepts appear throughout the Bible, common attempts to explain "sin" degenerate into a legalistic list of things one should do or not do. Such superficial approaches to the concept of sin are convenient, but detrimental.
So ... what is "sin" -- and how does it pervade the human race?

Conflict with the World, Part 1, Theory

In John 17:14-16, Jesus prays that his disciples not be "of the world" since he is not. Jesus then goes on to say that the World will hate the disciples of Jesus. In John's first epistle (I John 2:15-17), he tells the followers of Jesus to "not love the world."

As we move from the Gospel of John into the epistles (letters) of John, we might look at this concept of "the world". The Bible has a fair amount to say about the "World" (Greek "kosmos") and the path of the citizen of heaven.  According to the Bible, the cosmos is under the control of Satan (I John 4:4 and I John 5:19.) The world is the object of God's every action. Other passages on examples of "loving the World" include Genesis 3:6, Joshua 7:21, 2 Sam 11:2. New Testament verses on "the World" are John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11.  (I'll return to these at some later time.)

In my country (USA) in my times (late 20th, early 21st century) the Christian conflict with "the World" has often been misunderstood. This conflict is often interpreted to mean that believers must wage some type of "war" on the culture around them.

The New Testament view of "the World" is quite different. The follower of Jesus recognized that there was a higher kingdom, a higher citizenship (see Hebrews 11: 13-16) and that the political establishment (primarily the Roman empire) and the social establishment (civic Judaism) was in principle opposed to the things of God. Even the local social fabric in Israel seemed to promote a fake religiosity that allowed one to act spiritual (to act like a sincere Jew) while being insincere.

This has not significantly changed in two millenia. The Christian still should not expect to be rewarded socially or politically by his/her commitment to follow the Messiah. One of Jesus's teachings (Matthew 10:34-39) is particularly depressing in that regard, unless we are indeed looking for the City God has prepared for us.

The relationship between the Christ-follower and their community is a complicated one. It should be so.  There should always be a certain tension between a Christ-follower and the community within which he/she lives, just like there is a certain tension in traveling overseas, in a culture and community that is not one's home.

Some of our community culture comes from within "the church", from religious organizations. Just as  Jesus experienced the sharpest conflict with the Jewish religious leaders, so too the Christ-follower will discover that religion (Christian religion) is in conflict with genuine spiritual growth and action. In any society in which Christianity has begun to hold significant social or political power, the culture has invaded the church. In my experience, we may need to be most alert to the influences of "the World" on Sunday. And it will not be in ways we first expect.

I have been in a number of churches that used Romans 14: 13-21 -- a passage that emphasizes compassion for spiritually weaker brothers or sisters -- to prohibit the drinking of alcoholic beverages. This is not because of some deep understanding of Scripture, but instead a long running cultural response to Prohibition in twentieth century America. A thoughtful reading of that passage in Romans should lead one to act differently in a number of ways -- and alcohol is the least of the problems of the church!

At some point, one has to decide with Habbakuk (Habbakuk 4: 17-18): "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior."

In the New Testament one might observe the "Agrippa Principle" -- Christians often speak from chains -- (Acts 26: 28-29)... Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"  Paul replied, "Short time or long--I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."

I will try to flesh this out further in a second, later post.  At one time I was very much immersed in the political fight against "the World". At one time I was president of the local chapter of Citizens for Decency, leading a campaign to rid the community of pornography (among other concerns.) I lost track of the true focus of the Christian life and stooped for political influence.  I regret that.

The Farewell Teachings of Jesus

The synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, all record a last supper of Jesus with his disciples, followed by prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and then, finally, the arrest of Jesus in the garden. (See Matthew 26: 17-56, Mark 14: 12-42, and Luke 22: 7-45.)  The apostle of John elaborates on these events by providing additional details about the upper room conversations including more private instructions which occur after the traitor, Judas, has been dismissed.

Merrill Tenney calls this "The Period of Conference" in his commentary on the Gospel of John. These last teaching of Jesus roughly follow the five chapters of John 13-17. They include:

1. The Last Supper, including washing the disciples' feet and the dismissal of Judas,
2. The announcement of upcoming events followed by questions from Peter, Thomas, Philip and Judas (not Iscariot). 
3. These responses elaborate the teachings on the Holy Spirit (John 14.)
4. Teachings on the Vine, primarily John15
5. Teachings on the eventual conflict with the world, primarily John 16,
6. Lengthy prayer for the disciples, John 17.

Some of these teachings occur in the Upper Room in Jerusalem; some presumably occur while walking to the Mount of Olives.

Here is an online exposition of this passage, as a series of linked sermons (I think)from Bible.org.

There are a number of good Wikipedia articles on the Last Supper and the Farewell Discourse, along with an article on the Cenacle, a supposed location of the upper room in Jerusalem.