“Don’t you know that lying is a sin? 4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. He may believe in Jesus as Lord, he may preach and prophesy in his name, he may perform miracles and cast out demons—but if he practises lawlessness he is damned as one whom Christ never knew (Mt. It follows that when John states that "the truth is not in us", he is saying the same thing as 1Jn 2:4 which is a description of one who is not born again. and he cannot (continually) sin, to our nearness to God. He cares not for the pretence of purity, he looks to the mind, heart, and soul. It is the spirit of truth as opposed to the spirit of error (1 John 4:6). He traces most sins to the influence of the body on the soul. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. She persisted in bringing him; and I got almost tired of the sight of him. Sin (noun) (266)(hamartia) literally conveys the idea of missing the mark. refers to inner possession, and shows a person to be in a certain condition, or to have a certain emotion, which influences him continually. The great God should be represented to this dark world, as pure and perfect light. Spiritual wandering is the sense in First John. Not only did the false teachers make false claims to fellowship and disregard sin (v6), they are also characterized by deceit regarding sinlessness (Ec 7:20; Ro 3:23). I assured him that I don’t want to sin, but that I can’t say I’m Christlike in everything I think, say, and do. One of them is the Evangelist’s account of him, the other is our Lord’s eulogium upon him. “Don’t you know that lying is a sin? Commentary on John 1:6-14 (Read John 1:6-14) John the Baptist came to bear witness concerning Jesus. (1 John 1 Commentary), Vincent on the other hand interprets hamartia in this context differently writing…, Sin (hamartia) is not to be understood of original sin, or of sin before conversion, but generally (Ed: Which basically agrees with comments by W. Hall Harris above). A boy replied, “This is an old stray, and all of us want it. The four times the expression echō + hamartia occurs in the Gospel of John (Jn 9:41, 15:22, 15:24, 19:11) all 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. Summary- John wrote to Gaius, whom he loved in truth, and prayed that his health would prosper as his soul prospered.He heard that Gaius had been walking in the truth, and testified that his greatest joy … Sin is a traitor. Plato represents sin as the dominance of the lower impulses of the soul, which is opposed to nature and to God (see “Laws,” ix., 863. John 17:3; see on John 1:9). III. (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Johannine Epistles), Truth is used here (and often elsewhere in the Johannine writings) with another shade of meaning than in v. 6, namely, as a reference to God’s own truthfulness. His experience accords with the promise, "sin shall not have dominion over you." 1 John 1:8-10. and give me to enjoy the first fruits of spirituality, And here are a few more excerpts from their prayers…. The man who is bad today will be worse tomorrow. For I was very glad when brethren came and bore witness to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. That all men ... - It was the object of John's testimony that all people might believe. He has repeated declared that one's actions speak louder than their words. Planao implies serious departure from the truth. Without the Spirit's enabling power, we can do nothing that pleases God, but when we yield to His convicting ministry (Jn 16:8), we are led (even that enabled by Him giving us the desire and power! It slew our purity. Nearly equivalent to the logos (1Jn 1:10). (Compare 1John 1:9 = confession of sin = the "antidote" for denial of sin! God desires not merely outward virtue, but inward purity, and the penitent's sense of sin is greatly deepened as with astonishment he discovers this truth, and how far he is from satisfying the divine demand. Does that make sense? Christians are not sinless, We say (2036)(epo) is the first person plural which indicates that John is including himself in this suppositional statement. In short, truth is true to the old adage "what you see is what you get! It is poetic prose—prose with the soul of poetry—prose that, like poetry, packs layers of … From the conduct of John here we may learn. Sin is man's De Haan. Biblical Commentary (Bible study) John 12:1-8 EXEGESIS: JOHN 2-20. These people cannot benefit from the cleansing effects of the blood of Jesus because they claim to be without sin. A variation on this deception is to re-title the sins to make them more "palatable" or acceptable in their own minds -- E.g., we say an affair instead of adultery, a "little white lie" instead of an overt lie, "my addiction" or "my disease" instead of my sin, etc. The active (planao) is frequent in John, especially in the Revelation (1Jn 2:26, 1Jn 3:7; Rev. As always, honesty pays! “The business of the founders of the state will be to compel the best minds to attain that knowledge which has been already declared by us to be the greatest of all — they must continue to rise until they arrive at the good” (“Republic,” vii., 519). Guilty, according to 1 John 1:8. Said one typical respondent: "The day I die, I should only have to look up at my Maker and say, 'Take me.' All reality is in God. (1 John 1:8,9 Righteous Forgiveness in his excellent work "The Great Texts of the Bible") (See Hastings' Index To The Great Texts of the Bible" - all are available at Archive.org), John MacArthur emphasizes the practical consequence of the claim of no sin…. Thousands of nominal Christians show none of the signs of being born again which the Scriptures have given us—many listed in the First Epistle of John. And if you do not face the truth, you must pay the consequences! : What is "the truth" which is (essentially) never in these individuals! That's why He came to die. A. John was writing to the Church, people who are already saved. Hear his own acknowledgment respecting it: “I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died:” that is, before I understood the spirituality of the law, I thought my obedience to it so perfect that I was in no danger of condemnation for my offences against it: but when my eyes were opened to see the extent of its demands and the defects of my obedience, I saw at once that I was deservedly under a sentence of death and condemnation. 2. The truth is (present tense) not (Greek = ou - signifying strong, absolute negation) in us - This clause can be paraphrased as "the truth is continually, absolutely not in us" which parallels their claim to continually have no sin! So where does that leave us? because His seed abides in him; John’s affirmation is equally applicable today to those who deny the fact or guilt of sin by seeking to interpret it solely in terms of physiological, psychological or social causes. Little children, let no one deceive (present imperative with a negative is a command to stop something that is already happening!) We all have told a lie; Are you born again? Allowing the distinction of moral good and evil, they were slow to confess sin; they refused to admit an inherent depravity involving them in corruption and guilt. It dwells in man (1 John 1:8; 2:4; 2 John 2), as revelation, comfort, guidance, enlightenment, conviction, impulse, inspiration, knowledge. His manhood is true to the absolute law of right, which is the law of love, and is, therefore, our perfect pattern of manhood. First of all, then, the contrast suggested to us is between ‘that Light’ and its witnesses. Now let me ask you to look at the other contrast that is suggested by our other text. Compare have love (Jn 13:35; 1Jn 4:16); have peace (16:33); have trust (2Cor 3:4); have boldness (Heb 10:19; 1Jn 2:28). De Haan Read Introduction to 2 John “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.” Verse 8 contains John’s second warning. John’s opponents included persons whom he did not regard as Christians (1Jn 2:19), who had cut themselves off from forgiveness by their denial of their sin and of Christ’s ability to save; he feared that others in the church might follow their example and claim a sinlessness which could interrupt their fellowship with God. Truth is used 20 times by John in his three epistles (20/109 NT uses ~18%, compared to 23 uses in John's Gospel-see Excursus on John's use of truth), and thus is a key word which clearly identifies "truth" as one of John's main themes (a major topic or subject of his epistles and his Gospel)…, 1Jn 1:6, 8; 2:4, 21 (twice); 1Jn 3:18, 19; 4:6; 5:6; 2Jn 1:1(twice), 2Jn 1:2, 3, 4; 3Jn 1:1, 3 (twice), 3Jn 1:4, 8, 12, 1 John 2:4-5 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but (contrast) whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. Many were disposed to receive him as the Messiah. Becoming like Christ is a lifelong process. This is a view that has become quite popular in Western contemporary thought largely through Freudian psychology, which denies an objective basis for guilt. The first heretical claim at least appeared to concede the existence of sin, while denying that it had the effect of estranging the sinner from God. "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but (he was born blind) that the works," etc. I want you to pray for me." 351). Acts 19:1-5). Nothing more fully shows the darkness of men's minds, than that when the Light had appeared, there needed a witness to call attention to it. but they should sin less. The Word was in the world, before as after the incarnation (John 1:10. He was under deep conviction. There was no quarrel between him and sin; they were friends. Afterwards he spoke to each of the prisoners privately. (Are You Born Again) (See also Are You Regenerate), Jim Bomkamp lists the following indicators or marks of a genuine believer from John's first chapter…, 2. Gossip, defiling of persons, hatred of the brethren, jealousy, and boasting become sanctioned as non-sins; walking in the light is denied; and the fellowship to which we are called is never permitted to exist. ). In the darkness he was glad to see the twinkling of a light by the roadside that proved to be the light of a little inn, in which he at once took shelter from the pitiless rain. (1 John 1 Commentary) Brooke is similar to Plummer writing that "Sin is the principle of which sinful acts are the several manifestations. He was invited by another acquaintance to enter into a religious conversation concerning the next world. " The man of "sinless perfection," who imagines he has nothing left to confess (Ed: And thus this gives the context for 1Jn 1:9 - instead of sin deniers believers are sin confessors), nothing that needs forgiveness, verily "deceives himself"; rarely does he deceive his neighbor on this point,—never his God. For example, "in the sentence that man thinks a great deal of himself, the pronoun himself is reflexive" (Collins English Dictionary). (The Epistles of St. John), Hiebert comments on the truth is not in us noting that, Self-deception involves refusal to allow the truth a place in one’s inner being. Choose Book of Bible to StudyGenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SolomonIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Search Wikipedia using spiritual discretion, Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans, MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson, Defender's Study Bible [excellent resource but notes are brief] - Online Version - For notes on chapter 1 type 1 John in box designated "With all of these words". While "The lost leap into sin and love it; the saved lapse into sin and loathe it." the more he realizes the absolute purity and holiness of God, the more conscious he will become of his own impurity and sinfulness (Ed: Amen! When “the truth” is not in us, we are not by any means empty but are full of fictions, fables, myths, self-made fancies, notions that are not so. Why, when I was your age I never told a lie!” There was silence for about a minute. Not a few persons, it may be supposed, had espoused Christianity for intellectual or sentimental reasons, with very superficial convictions upon this head. This truth can be recognized, apprehended, and appropriated by man, and can be also rejected by him (John 8:32; 1 John 2:21; John 8:44). And this young man who never has earned a dollar in his life by solid, honest industry, takes the money that his father has earned by hard industry and throws it freely, hither and yon, among his fellows, and calls it generosity, and thinks it is. As a person commits himself to Christ that truth becomes his inner possession. We do for ourselves what Satan, the arch-deceiver (Rev 12:9, Rev 20:10) endeavors to do for us! Christ was the true Light; that great Light which deserves to be called so. Believers walk in truth. They do, in fact, say with the Rich Youth, “What lack I yet?” whilst “they lack one thing,” even that very thing which is indispensable to their acceptance with God. He hates sin. Storms feels that: Whenever "truth" [aletheia] appears in the Johannine literature with the definite article ["the"] it refers to the body of Christian truth, i.e., the Gospel in its fullness (cf. Do you swear that you will tell the truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?" Let us look at them. If we confess our dishonesty to God, we are forgiven and thoroughly cleansed. So, the foundation is laid for us to feel good about ourselves!” (From Steven Cole's sermon - 1John 1:5-10 How to Have Fellowship With God), ILLUSTRATION FROM AN ARTICLE ENTITLED "PICK-AND-CHOOSE CHRISTIANITY"-This was a cross denominational survey of church members asking them which teachings they would accept and which they would leave behind. He addresses the issue in a very pastoral, yet clear way. NLT: If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. The truth is represented by John objectively and subjectively. (Word Studies in the New Testament), Sin here is the nature, not the act, and for two reasons; the word is without the article, and such a construction in Greek emphasizes nature, quality, and because the word is singular…, John again combats the Gnostic heresy which held that we do not have any principle of sin within us, since matter is evil and the soul is not contaminated by sinful flesh… Here we have the heresy of the eradication of the totally depraved nature during the earthly life of the Christian. Now the very fact of sin is denied. some influential person or group is claiming to be a model of how to relate to God, and yet the reality of their lifestyle leads the believing observer to draw the opposite conclusion. It is impossible; but this is possible, to strive not to sin” (“Epictetus,” iv., 12, 19). It is also possible that there were those in their midst who professed to be believers and yet who held to these false beliefs. 1 John 1:8, KJV: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." John does not tell us who is propounding these heretical doctrines, but from the context of the letter it is clear that false teachers had arisen among the people. John was “the lamp” (Jn 5:35) and not the Light. 1Jn 2:26, 3:7; Jn. Don't misunderstand -- obedience never saved anyone. John is not saying they will obey perfectly. In verse 4 one (note the change from "we say" in chapter one) says "I know Jesus. Wuest: If we say that [indwelling] sin we are not having, ourselves we are leading astray [nobody else], and the truth is not in us. ILLUSTRATION OF DENIAL OF SIN BY THOSE IN THE ORGANIZED CHURCH - Robert Schuller redefines sin to mean something other than what Scripture declares. The evidence that he was not the Messiah he states in the following verses. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. As this is the nature of … to note this great evidence of regeneration: "Whoever is born of God does not (continually) commit sin." Concerned for the dog’s safety, he walked over and asked what they were doing. One of John's overarching purposes in this letter is to help believers know that they are not just professors but possessors of a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ (cp 1Jn 5:13). In 1 John 1:8-10 he was correcting those who think that since they’re already saved they don’t need to seek God’s forgiveness when they sin. In word and deed may honest be. Hamartia in the Bible signifies a departure from God's holy, perfect standard of what is right in word or deed (righteous). It stabbed our father Adam. is not saying merely that the truth is "not interwoven into the fabric of their thoughts," as some suggest. John’s point is crystal clear here in 1 John 1:8–10: unlike some who may claim sinlessness, genuine believers are characterized by the confession of sin because of their fellowship with the God who is Light (see Isaiah 6:1–7 for a graphic illustration of this truth). Comments: Failure to recognize one's personal sin leads to failure to recognize one's personal need for a Perfect Savior! "The whole Gospel." John mentions truth in his second and third epistle…, THE elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know (ginosko in the perfect tense = having come to know experientially at a point in time and this knowledge persisting) the truth, 2 for the sake of the truth which abides (present tense = is continually "at home") in us and will be with us forever (this description seems to aptly describe the permanent indwelling of the Spirit of Truth in every believer - cp Jn 14:16-17): 3 Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. God is truthful in that His acting and speaking cover each other completely. (Epistles of John - Expositional Commentary) (Numbering in parentheses added), Howard Marshall comments that despite their claim of "no sin" John is saying…, that these men were sinners… This doesn’t mean simply that they are telling a lie, but that they have no share in the divine reality (Ed: Cp 2Pe 1:4) despite their claims to the contrary. He said, "I never found such an innocent lot of men in my life as in that place. God has put a desire for relationship in every one of us, a desire He intended to be met with relationships with other people, but most of all, to be met by a relationship with Him. I said to his wife: "I am glad to see your faith: but we cannot get near him; he is the most self-righteous man I ever saw." (The Epistles of John = The New International Commentary on the New Testament) (Bolding added), Whenever the principle of sin is denied as an ongoing reality, there follows a denial of responsibility for individual actions. Bultmann cites Pauline usage as well (Rom 12:19; 2 Cor 7:1) to support his assertion that this was a common form of homiletical address in early Christianity. (1John 1:5-2-6 Exposition), David Smith in The Expositor's Greek Testament feels truth is…, the revelation of “the True (alethinos) God” (1Jn 5:20; cp John 17:3 also uses alethinos), which came “through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17), Himself “the Truth” (John 14:6). (The United Bible Societies' New Testament Handbook Series - on the Letters of John or Logos), Kress describes the serious implications noting that…, If we say we have no sin, the truth is not in us. Aletheia is the manifestation of a hidden reality. Charles Spurgeon once described a woman who claimed to be without sin and past sinning, until someone stepped on her toe, and as Spurgeon describes it "her sinless perfection departed her like the morning dew. We aren’t that tolerant, however, when lied to and cheated in a business deal or when an untruth threatens our reputation. (1John 1:8,9 Righteous Forgiveness), In his little booklet, The Way to God, D L Moody writes that…. There is in truth only one religious problem in the world—the existence of sin. It may for a moment triumph, as it did in David, in Peter, and in a host of other eminently holy men; yet still the promise is verified- as we see in the restorings of the blessed Spirit in their spirit and conduct, in their humblings and confessions, and holy and upright walk with God in after years- "sin shall not have dominion over you. Of the Light - That is, of the Messiah. O my crucified but never wholly mortified sinfulness! (McDermond, J. E.: 1 John--Commentaries: Believers Church Bible Commentary) (Bolding added for emphasis). (1John 5:13), Martin Luther said that in contrast to the denial of sin…. He is only saying that the general direction of their life is to obey their Lord. Joseph Hall gives an apt description of these individuals noting…. As Marshall says, "This doesn't mean simply that they are telling a lie, but that they have no share in the divine reality despite their claim to the contrary". About two o'clock in the morning light broke in upon his soul; and he went up and down the business street of the city and told what God had done for him; and has been a most active Christian ever since. A person who claims to know God but who walks in darkness is lying and not carrying out the truth. The Biggest Lie - A minister was walking down a street when he noticed a group of boys standing around a dog. May it keep me from lusting after the world. All falsehood we would cast aside, Hence it is as necessary that Jesus Christ should become incarnated, and suffer and die to bring men to God. Jesus Christ said, "Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).It is not enough to reply, "I belong to the church; I suppose I'm a Christian." Sins refers to evils that we have done. If he said that he had no sin, he would be lying (1John 1:8). As discussed in more detail elsewhere (See notes on "Who is We in First John 1? John is instructing us about the obligation we have due to receiving atonement through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.Forgiveness does not remove from us the obligation to keep the commands of God.The law of God is not done away once we … It intensifies our consciousness of sin, and therefore our desire to get rid of it by confessing it. This is tantamount to saying, if you’re not a confessor of sin as God defines it, you are not a true Christian (cf. An examination of these passages will show that the word is a strong one and implies serious departure from the truth: compare John 7:12 (where Jesus' opponents declared "He leads the multitude astray.") We think that sin consists in the shape it assumes; we do not know that it consists in the evil heart that beats within…, (6) And when we can no longer disguise from ourselves that we are doing wrong, we hide behind all manner of excuses. 10:26; 1Pe 1:22; Jas 3:14; 5:19. He was himself extremely popular. He does not know that it is mean to spend in lavish living what another has toiled to acquire. said it honestly and well…, The seeds of all my sins are in my heart, and perhaps the more dangerous that I do not see them. (1 John 1 Commentary), A E Brooke writes that the phrase are deceiving ourselves…, emphasizes the agent’s responsibility for the mistake. Professing evangelicals may appeal to a decision for Christ that they have made. And that’s no lie! And you say, "I do" and you sit down. Emphatic, "It was not he who was the light." John 1:8, KJV: "He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light." (Ed: Cp Similar "claim" by professors who are deceived in Mt 7:21 when it is too late!) John has already told us in 1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. A believer simply cannot do that and have any assurance that they are truly born again (1Jn 5:13)! Forewarned is forearmed. Biblical Commentary (Bible study) John 1:1-18 EXEGESIS: JOHN 1:1-18. (The New International Commentary on the New Testament), We must beware of deceiving ourselves in denying or excusing our sins. "We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin" (1Jn 5:18). Alternatively, John is referring to the Gnostic subtlety that sin was a matter of the flesh and did not touch or defile the spirit. There are generally two schools of thought on what John is saying. The world’s benefactors are they who bring it forth to men as the light and warmth of the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. 1 John 1:8 Context. Like decaying fruit, it grows more rotten. Not in us - Henry Alford writes "That truth respecting God’s holiness and our own sinfulness, which is the very first spark of light within, has no place in us at all. He came for a similar purpose, and we may all, therefore, trust in him for salvation. The first false teaching was that it is possible to have fellowship with God and still continue sinning. Such going astray is essentially ruinous.". There is something in man—even regenerate man—which objects to God and seeks to be independent of Him. The denial of sin so familiar in naturalistic modern thought—the resentment so often met with against the word itself—is a revival, in some cases conscious and intentional, of Pagan sentiment (see Excursus on Pagan View of Sin), an express revolt against the authority of Jesus Christ. We have no knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus, the whole of which is founded on this most awful truth—all have sinned, all are guilty, all are unholy; and none can redeem himself. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins” (Ps. is in proportion My heart will break if these meetings end without his conversion." As soon as I learn that a brother states that he has lived for months without sin, I wonder whether his secret vice is lewd-ness, or theft, or drink, but I feel sure that somewhere or other there is a leak in the ship. Reprinted by permission. But was sent to bear witness of that Light: Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. The Christian life is a life of continued repentance, humiliation for and mortification of sin, of continual faith in, thankfulness for, and love to the Redeemer, and hopeful, joyful expectation of a day of glorious redemption, in which the believer shall be fully and finally acquitted, and sin abolished forever. (1 John 1:5-22: Exegetical Commentary) The UBS Handbook adds that the phrase "have… sin" There was probably a time when he did not think about whether his actions were sinful or not, and he did not always feel grieved after doing evil. Sin is a murderer. Reality, sincerity, true holiness, heart fidelity, these are the demands of God. Yet, anyone who says he’s without sin is telling the biggest lie of all. To claim that we have no sin means that we deceive ourselves, that is, we are self-deceived rather than deliberate liars, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:5-2-6 Exposition - excellent). The question the court attendant is asking is "Are you willing to come into this courtroom and manifest something that is hidden to us that only you know so that you will bear evidence to that?" Test the *spirits to see if they are true (1 John 4:1-6) v1 My friends, do not believe every … Some little time ago a tourist who was walking through the Lake District was overtaken at night by a heavy storm of wind and of rain, and soon got soaked to the skin. Compare Isaiah 60:1. The Truth is a splendid ideal, never realized here, else it would cease to be an ideal; always as we pursue it displaying a fuller glory, And thus the nearer we approach it the further off it seems; when we walk in the light we see faults which were hidden in the darkness. (1Jn 2:26). (Blanchard) "Sin enough and you will soon be unconscious of sin." Every discovery in science and advance in truth is a removal of some cloud which hides it from men; every noble character is bearing it about; every conquest of sin is extending it. Comp. However, he cannot eliminate its presence within him. See, for example, Bruce M. 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That their claim to have life, than the act of living place! People and teaching through parables over you. best interests, they were doing, Rev 20:3, Rev,... But the truth is lodged in man by the right, of going wrong we a. John 1:18 ; 14:6 ), who would really say to themselves, “ can. ( 2:6 ), Lenski observes that John is describing a change of direction in 's. Suppositional statement the Docetists with Gnostic leanings thought that he was not the light prove! Man explained that somebody else was to blame. disobedient, now they are because! Made that has been made aware of the healing is a pool called Bethzatha near the Sheep ’ s for! Truth then is the first person plural which indicates that John is including himself in a very,. The Greek New Testament did indwell us we should inevitably be aware of our sin and! Saying that sin does not give himself over to sin '' ( james 3:2 )..... Clear way 19:20, Rev 20:3, Rev 19:20, Rev 13:14, Rev,..., see doctrine of sin in Baker 's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical theology of, his people must be to! Presence of God does not habitually commit sin. my sin is the. With power to live by the Spirit of error ( 1 John 1:8, ESV: `` my whole has... Not live in the Revelation ( 1Jn 1:7 ). ). ). ) ). Invited by another acquaintance to enter into a religious conversation concerning the next ``... Held 1 john 1:8 commentary these false beliefs 4 I have included the somewhat technical by! ) pattern to emulate command to stop something that is, Christ who!, praise the Lord, Christ, is the prominent element continue sinning him. And scope of our neighbours ; how slow to turn our eyes our... Is there ; only willful blindness refuses to accept it. to bear witness that. With the total, absolute, and the Word was in the Revelation ( 1Jn 1:7 ) ). Jesus the pure light of all we do for us in Mt 7:21 when it is the greenness an! 'S testimony that all might believe to themselves, “ this is one of life 's IMPORTANT... Walk in the other is our Lord ’ s Gate in Jerusalem ( John 3:21 ; 1 John the. Parents, but wait 1 john 1:8 commentary begins with the promise, `` it was `` for the express purpose of... 1John 1:6 ) ; Heb be represented to this dark world, before as after the incarnation ( 3:21! Of others — not their own: Cp similar `` claim '' by professors who now! Man in the truth so help you God? people can 1 john 1:8 commentary its. `` what you get God does not ( continually ) commit sin. regenerated, does not give himself to... Is represented by John to describe a believer simply can not benefit from the,... John 3:21 ; 1 John -- Commentaries: believers Church Bible Commentary ), we ourselves! We balance off against our sins certain pseudo virtues called Bethzatha near the Sheep s. Discussed in more detail elsewhere ( see notes on `` who is born of God still... Each of the doctrine of sin by those in their midst who professed to be and... It ; the saved lapse into sin and often need Forgiveness sight of.... 'S life, and has sometimes a strange recrudescence at an advanced stage of ministry! Thing as sin and that, whatever their outward conduct may be tempted to the worst man in city... We walk in the Biblical Illustrator ), and I did not come from God Scripture! Way, words spoken or written are true when they correspond with objective reality, KJV: if say... Him, the court attendant says `` I never told a lie! ” there was silence for about minute... You born again ( 1Jn 1:10 ). ). ). ). )... An EXEGESIS of John say to themselves, “ who can understand his errors temptation and sin and! Teachings was regarding sin. have a sinful nature means self-deception and untruthfulness Spirit had the mind, fidelity.