ACC ~ 1 John 1 v5 - 10

OVERVIEW:

Those who want to have fellowship with God must walk in his light, something which we cannot do in our own strength. God is light (ORIGEN, DIDYMUS), but light unapproachable with our bodily eyes (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, AUGUSTINE). God imparts his own brightness to us (SYMEON). The Manichaean idea of the prince of darkness overcoming is an absurdity (BEDE). The truth is light, so if we do not walk according to it, we are in the dark (IRENAEUS, HILARY OF ARLES, ANDREAS, SYMEON). Light resembles God to some extent in its nature and can be used to describe him by analogy (SYMEON). The mere confession of one’s faith is not enough for salvation if there is no sign of active good works confirming that faith; but the goodness of the works is of no value either if they are not done in the simplicity of faith and love (BEDE). Though small lapses are distinguishable from mortal sins (JOHN CASSIAN), no one is without sin (AUGUSTINE, ANDREAS, BEDE).

But God in his mercy has sent his Son to die for our sins, and his blood cleanses us, making it possible for us to walk hand in hand with God. Those like Pelagius who believe that it is possible for us to reach perfection by our own efforts and to live in this world without sin of any kind, are deceiving themselves, and we must not fall into that trap (BEDE). Only a repentant sinner can claim to have God’s word dwelling within. We humbly confess our wrongdoings to him every day when we receive the sacrament of his blood, when we forgive those who have trespassed against us and ask him to forgive us, remembering what Christ did for our sake (HILARY OF ARLES, BEDE). God is faithful (OECUMENIUS) and will forgive our sins (CYPRIAN, ANDREAS). He who has taught us to pray for our sins and trespasses has also promised the Father’s mercy (BEDE).

1:5 | God Is Light

THE ESSENCE OF GOD. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: John is not defining the essence of God, but desiring to declare his majesty, God has adapted something belonging to divinity and used it to suit his purpose. Paul also calls God “unapproachable light.” ADUMBRATIONS.

THE SON IS THE BRIGHTNESS OF THAT LIGHT. ORIGEN: God is light, according to John. The only-begotten Son therefore is the brightness of that light, proceeding from God without separation, as brightness from light, and lightening the whole creation. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1.2.7.

THIS MESSAGE PROCLAIMED TO YOU. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: John wrote that the proclamation, by which it was stated that God is light, with no shadows in him at all, was made by the Savior himself to his disciples. Now he is sharing it with his readers so that they too might believe the same thing about God. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.

IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS. JEROME: When John says that there is no darkness in the light of God, he proves that all the lights of others are stained by some blemish. AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 2.7.

NOT SEEN BY BODILY EYES. AUGUSTINE: God is the light of purified minds, not of these bodily eyes. For then the mind will be able to see that light, which right now it is not yet able to do. LETTERS 92.

THE HEART OF THE MESSAGE. ANDREAS: What is this message? It is that eternal life has appeared to us. For the Father so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, and this is what we proclaim to you—that the Word of God who has come into the world and become a man is both God and light. CATENA.

THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS DOES NOT OVERCOME. BEDE: In this verse John shows the excellence of God’s purity, which we are also called to imitate, as the Lord himself said: “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” He also proves that the Manichaean belief that the nature of God was overcome by the prince of darkness and corrupted is an absurdity. ON 1 JOHN.

IMPARTING BRIGHTNESS TO YOU. SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN: Let no one deceive you. God is light, and to those who have entered into union with him, he imparts of his own brightness to the extent that they have been purified. DISCOURSES 15.3.

1:6 | Light and Darkness Do Not Mix

WE LIE. IRENAEUS: A lie has no fellowship with the truth, any more than light with darkness. The presence of one excludes the other. AGAINST HERESIES 3.5.1.

WALKING ACCORDING TO TRUTH. HILARY OF ARLES: The truth is light, so if we do not walk according to it, we are in the dark. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.

WHILE WE WALK IN DARKNESS. ANDREAS: John says that if we sin we have no fellowship with God, but if we do the works of light, then we have fellowship with one another. CATENA.

THOSE SURROUNDED BY DARKNESS. BEDE: John calls sin heresies, and hatred darkness. Therefore the mere confession of one’s faith is not enough for salvation if there is no sign of good works confirming that faith. But at the same time, the goodness of the works is of no value either, if they are not done in the simplicity of faith and love. Anyone who is in any way surrounded by darkness is totally unable to have fellowship with the One in whom there is no sign of wickedness at all. ON 1 JOHN.

SEEMING TO BE IN GOD. SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN: See to it, brothers, that while we seem to be in God and think that we have communion with him, we should not be found excluded and separated from him, since we do not now see his light. DISCOURSES 33.2.

1:7 | Walking in the Light

THE BLOOD OF JESUS CLEANSES. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: God’s teaching is here called blood. ADUMBRATIONS.

CLEANSING FROM ALL SIN. HILARY OF ARLES: The blood of animal sacrifices was enough to cleanse people from whatever particular sin they had committed, but the blood of Christ is sufficient to cleanse those who walk in love from all sin. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.

WALKING AND DWELLING. BEDE: Note the different verbs which John uses. God dwells in the light, but we are told that we must walk in it. The righteous walk in the light when they do good works and thereby go on to better things. God does not need to improve because he is already the perfection of all goodness, which is why he is said to dwell in the light. John also gives us an indication of how we can know that we are on the right track, and that is whether we rejoice in the link of brotherly fellowship which we have with those who are journeying along with us toward the pure light. However, even if we are shown to be doing the works of light, and even if we are seen to be maintaining the bonds of mutual love, we must never think that we can be cleansed from our sins by our own progress and effort, as the last part of the verse reminds us. For the sacrament of our Lord’s passion has both cleansed us in baptism from all our previous sins and forgives us by the grace of our Redeemer for whatever we have done in our human weakness after baptism. For along with all the works of light which we do, we also humbly confess our wrongdoings to him every day, whenever we receive the sacraments of his blood, when we forgive those who have trespassed against us and ask him to forgive our trespasses against him, and when we cheerfully endure all adversity, remembering what he did for our sake. ON 1 JOHN.

1:8 | We Are All Sinners

ENLIGHTENED BY GOD. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: Since God is light, there is no darkness in him at all, and he has nothing to do with darkness. The person who is enlightened by his light walks in the light, according to the words of the Savior himself: “While you have the light, walk in the light, lest the darkness take hold of you.” Anyone who walks in the darkness of sin but claims that his mind is not darkened and that he has a relationship with God is lying. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.

PRIDEFUL PRESUMPTION. LEO THE GREAT: It is pride to presume that it is easy not to sin, since the presumption itself is sin. SERMONS 41.1.

THE WORST KIND OF SIN. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: Let no one deceive you, brothers. Not to know your sin is the worst kind of sin. SERMONS 144.4.

DECEIVING YOURSELF. HILARY OF ARLES: If you say that you are not a sinner but act otherwise, you are deceiving yourself. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.

CRUCIFYING CHRIST. ANDREAS: This is how John describes the Jews who dared to say: “Let his blood be upon us and upon our children,” as if they could crucify Christ without being sinners. If we say such things, we deceive ourselves. CATENA.

CLEANSING IN CHRIST. BEDE: This verse refutes the teachings of the Pelagians, who say that babies are born without sin and that the elect can make such progress in this life that it becomes possible for them to attain perfection. We cannot live in the world without guilt, since we brought it with us when we came into the world. As David said: “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” But the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, so that our guilt does not keep us in the power of the enemy, because the man Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and man, has freely paid the price on our behalf, even though he did not owe anything himself. He surrendered himself to the death of the flesh, which he did not deserve, in order to deliver us from the richly deserved death of our souls. ON 1 JOHN.

1:9 | God Forgives Those Who Confess Their Sins

IF WE CONFESS. CYPRIAN: In his epistle John has combined the fact that we should entreat God for our sins and that we should obtain mercy when we do so. THE LORD’S PRAYER 22.

HE WILL FORGIVE AND CLEANSE US. ANDREAS: If we acknowledge our sin and confess it, he will forgive it, and not only that one but all our sins. For when a person repents and is baptized into the name of Jesus Christ, God forgives all his sins which he has committed both against himself and against heaven. CATENA.

CONFESSION AND LOVE. BEDE: Since we cannot live in this world without sin, the first hope we have of salvation is through confession, nor should anyone be proud enough to claim that he is righteous in God’s sight. The next step is love, which John often commends to us in this letter, because love covers a multi-tude of sins. Each of these things encourages us to pray for our sins and to ask God’s forgiveness when we do so. This is why John says that God is faithful and will forgive our sins, pointing to the reliability of his promise, for he who has taught us to pray for our sins and trespasses has also promised the Father’s mercy and the forgiveness which flows from that. John also says that God is just, because he will rightly forgive anyone who truly confesses his sins. In this life God forgives the everyday, trivial sins of the elect, which we cannot avoid as long as we are here on earth, and after our death he cleanses us from all sin and brings us into that life in which no one wants or is able to sin. Now he forgives those who pray their greater temptations, so that they will not be overcome by them, and he forgives the least as well, so that they will not suffer any harm. But in the life to come he will cleanse us from every sin, so that there will no longer be any sign of wickedness in the eternal kingdom of the blessed. ON 1 JOHN.

GOD IS FAITHFUL AND JUST. OECUMENIUS: To say that God is faithful means that he is reliable, for faithful is a word which is not just applied to those who believe but also to those who can be relied upon. It is in this second sense that it is applied to God. He is also just in that he does not refuse anyone who comes to him, however seriously they may have sinned. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.

1:10 | If We Say We Have Not Sinned

DISTINGUISHING SMALL LAPSES FROM MORTAL SINS. JOHN CASSIAN: Among holy men it is impossible not to fall into those small lapses which occur because of something said, some thought, some surreptitious act. These sins are quite different from those which are called mortal, but they are not without blame or reproach. CONFERENCE 11.9.

NONE SINLESS. AUGUSTINE: Who is there on earth without sin? Even a baby has contracted it from its parents. SERMONS 181.1.

WE MAKE HIM A LIAR. ANDREAS: If we say that we have not sinned, we reject his word, which is spirit and life. CATENA.

ASKING FORGIVENESS. BEDE: God’s word says: “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” He himself has taught us not only that we cannot escape sin but also that we should pray: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Therefore when we see even the apostles praying for their sins to be forgiven, as the Lord taught them, no one should think, as Pelagius taught, that it is possible to lead a sinless life here on earth. ON 1 JOHN.