1 John 1:9

ἐὰν ὁμολ. τὰς ἁμαρτ. ἡμῶν. The opposite case is now taken and developed, as in 1 John 1:7 : see note there. But here we have no δέ, and the asyndeton is telling. Greek has such a wealth of connecting particles, that in that language asyndeton is specially remarkable. Here there is expansion and progress, not only in the second half of the verse where ‘He is faithful and righteous’ takes the place of ‘we are true’; but in the first half also; where ‘confess our sins’ takes the place of ‘say we have sin.’ The latter admission costs us little: the confession of the particular sins which we have committed costs a good deal, and is a guarantee of sincerity. He who refuses to confess, may perhaps desire, but certainly does not seek forgiveness. ‘He that covereth his transgressions shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy’ (Proverbs 28:13). Obviously confession to Him who is ‘faithful and righteous,’ and to those ‘selves’ whom we should otherwise ‘lead astray,’ is all that is meant. The passage has nothing to do with the question of confession to our fellowmen. Elsewhere S. John uses ὁμολογεῖν only of confessing Christ (1 John 2:23; 1 John 4:2-3; 1 John 4:15; 2 John 1:7; John 1:20; John 9:22; John 12:42; Revelation 3:5).

πιστός ἐστιν κ. δίκαιος. He is faithful and righteous, to bring out the contrast with πάσης� here and the connexion with Ἰησ. Χρ. δίκαιον (1 John 2:1). God is πιστός because He keeps His word, and δίκαιος because in doing so He gives to each his due. Comp. πιστὸς γὰρ ὁ ἐπαγγειλάμενος (Hebrews 10:23); πιστὸν ἡγήσατο τὸν ἐπαγγειλάμενον (Hebrews 11:11). Δίκαιος εἶ ὁ ὢν … ὅτι ταῦτα ἔκρινας … ἀληθιναὶ καὶ δίκαιαι αἱ κρίσεις σου (Revelation 16:5-7). Beware of watering down δίκαιος into a vague expression for ‘kind, gentle, merciful.’ ‘The Lord be a true and faithful witness between us’ (Jeremiah 42:5) in LXX. is Ἔστω κύριος ἐν ἡμῖν εἰς μάρτυρα δίκαιον καὶ πιστόν.

ἵνα�. In spite of what some eminent scholars have said to the contrary, it is perhaps true that the Greek for these words includes to some extent the idea of intention and aim. Comp. 1 John 3:1; John 4:34; John 6:29; John 6:40; John 12:23; John 13:1. Thus the Vulgate and Beza, fidelis est et justus, ut remittat nobis peccata nostra; and Wiclif, ‘He is feithful and just that He forgeve to us oure synnes’; and the Rhemish, ‘He is faithful and just, for to forgive us our sinnes.’ In S. John we find the conviction deeply rooted that all things happen in accordance with the decrees of God: events are the results of His purposes. And this conviction influences his language: so that constructions (ἵνα) which originally indicated a purpose, and which even in late Greek do not lose this meaning entirely, are specially frequent in his writings: see on John 5:36. It is God’s decree and aim that His faithfulness and righteousness should appear in His forgiving us and cleansing us from sin. “Forgiveness and cleansing are ends to which God, being what He is, has regard” (Westcott). See Haupt’s note and Winer, 577. Those particular acts of which we are conscious and which we have confessed are indicated by τὰς ἁμαρτίας: ἁμαρτία in the singular may be either sin in the abstract (John 16:9) or a single act of sin (1 John 5:16); ἁμαρτίαι in the plural must mean particular sinful acts (1 John 2:2; 1 John 2:12; 1 John 3:5; 1 John 5:10). Comp. Psalms 32:5; Proverbs 28:13, where the doctrine, that confession of sins (not admission of sinfulness) leads to forgiveness, is plainly stated.

καθαρίσῃ ἡμ. ἀπὸ π. ἀδικίας. Not a repetition in other words of ἀφῇ τὰς ἁμ. It is a second and distinct result of our confession: 1. We are absolved from sin’s punishment; 2. We are freed from sin’s pollution. The reference to the phraseology of the Temple is obvious (Hebrews 9:23; John 2:6; John 3:25). The one affects our peace, the other our character. The forgiveness is the averting of God’s wrath; the cleansing is the beginning of holiness. “He takes from thee an evil security, and puts in a useful fear” (Augustine). Possibly, as in 1 John 1:6, there is exact correspondence between the two clauses. There, ψευδόμεθα evidently refers to εἴπωμεν, ποιοῦμεν to περιπατῶμεν. Here, ἀφῇ may look back to πιατός, καθαρίσῃ to δίκαιος. God is ‘faithful’ in forgiving our sins, because He has promised to do so, ‘righteous’ in cleansing us from unrighteousness, because reunion with Him banishes what is contrary to Him. Light must expel darkness.