1 John 1:4

these things write we These words apply to the whole Epistle, of which he here states the purpose, just as in John 20:31 he states the purpose of the Gospel. Both -write" and -we" are emphatic: it is a permanent message that is sent, and it is sent by apostolic authority.

that your joy may be full According to the better reading and rendering, that our joy may be fulfilled. Tyndale in his first edition (1525) has -your", in his second (1534) and third (1535) -our". In the Greek we have a passive participle, not an adjective: that our joy may be made full and may remain so. Moreover the expression that joy is made full or fulfilled is one of S. John's characteristic phrases, and this should be brought out in translation. The active -fulfil my joy" occurs Philippians 2:2; but the passive only here, John 3:29; John 15:11; John 16:24; Joh 17:13; 2 John 1:12. Comp. -These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be fulfilled", and -These things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves" (John 15:11; John 17:13). Once more Christ's prayer and S. John's purpose are one and the same. See on 1 John 1:3. - Ourjoy" may mean either the Apostolicjoy at the good results of Apostolic teaching; or the joy in which the recipientsof the teaching share -yours as well as ours". In either case the joy is that serene happiness, which is the result of conscious union with God and good men, of conscious possession of eternal life (see on 1 John 5:13), and which raises us above pain and sorrow and remorse. The first person plural used throughout this Introduction is the plural of authority, indicating primarily S. John, but S. John as the representative of the Apostles. In the body of the Epistle he uses the first person singular(1Jn 2:1; 1 John 2:7-8; 1 John 2:12-14; 1Jn 2:21; 1 John 2:26; 1 John 5:13). The concluding words of the Introduction to the Epistle of Barnabas are striking both in their resemblance and difference: "Now I, not as a teacher, but as one of you, will set forth a few things, by means of which in your present case ye may be gladdened." Bede remarks, doubtless as the result of personal experience, that the joy of teachers is made full when by their preaching many are brought to the communion of the Church and of Him through whom the Church is strengthened and increased.

The following profound thoughts struggle for expression in these four opening verses. There is a Being who has existed with God the Father from all eternity: He is the Father's Son: He is also the expression of the Father's Nature and Will. He has been manifested in space and time; and of that manifestation I and others have had personal knowledge: by the united evidence of our senses we have been convinced of its reality. In revealing to us the Divine Nature He becomes to us life, eternal life. With the declaration of all this in our hands as the Gospel, we come to you in this Epistle, that you may unite with us in our great possession, and that our joy in the Lord may be made complete.

We now enter upon the first main division of the Epistle; which extends to 1 John 2:28, the chief subject of which (with much digression) is the theme God is Light, and that in two parts: i. the Positive Side What Walking in the Light involves; the Condition and Conduct of the Believer (1 John 1:5 to 1 John 2:11): ii. the Negative Side What Walking in the Light excludes; the Things and Persons to be avoided (1 John 2:12-28). These parts will be subdivided as we reach them.