1 John 1 - Introduction

He describeth the person of Christ, in whom we have eternal life by a communion with him and God the Father: to which we must adjoin holiness of life, to testify the truth of that our communion and profession of faith, as also to assure us of the forgiveness of our sins by Christ's death.

Anno Domini 90.

IT is remarkable, that the apostle begins this epistle with a confutation of those corrupt teachers, whom he afterwards calls antichrists, but who were named by the ancient fathers docetae, because they affirmed that Christ had not come in the flesh, and that the things which were related concerning him by the evangelists, were not really done and suffered by him, but were transacted in appearance only. For he assures us, that the evangelists and apostles terrified to the world, nothing concerning the lifeof the Word in the flesh, but what they had heard with their ears, and seen with their eyes, and handled with their hands; founding their attestation on the evidence of their own senses, 1 John 1:1.—So that the apostles, who accompanied the Word during his abode on earth, bare witness to his life in the flesh, as it was plainly manifested to their senses, 1 John 1:2.—And, that they declared these incontestable facts to the world, that all who received them might have fellowship with the apostles, through their believing the truth. This, he told them, would be an unspeakable honour to them, because the apostle's fellowship was with God the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, 1 John 1:3.—St. John mentioned the honourableness of being in the fellowship of the Father and of his Son Jesus, for the following reason among many,—because the Heathens boasted to the believing Jews and Gentiles, of the honour which they derived from their fellowship in the Eleusinian and other Heathen mysteries. But the heathen gods, the supposed heads of theheathen fellowships, were mere non-entities, 1 Corinthians 8:4. Or, if any of them were real beings, they were devils. Whereas the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, the great Heads of the Christian fellowship, governed all the affairs of the universe without controul. These things concerning the Heads of the Christian fellowship, the apostle told them, he wrote, that their joy in being members of such an honourable and powerfully protected fellowship, and experimental partakers of its glorious privileges, might be complete, 1 John 1:4.—Further, that the believing Jews and Gentiles might more fully know the advantages which they enjoyed in the Christian fellowship, he told them, This is the message which we apostles have received from Christ, and which we declare to you the initiated into our holyfellowship, that God is Light, and in him is no darkness atall: he is goodness and truth, without any mixture of evil or error. Wherefore, the discoveries made in the gospel, to the initiated into the holy Christian fellowship, concerning the nature and perfections of God, were very different from, and infinitely superior to, the boasted discoveries made to the initiated in the heathen mysteries, who were made to believe that their gods practised every sort of vice, and that their votaries worshipped them acceptably by imitating them in their vices, 1 John 1:5.—To shew that the character and manners of the initiated into the fellowship of God, were of a very different nature from those of the initiated into the heathen fellowships, the apostle declared, That if any one pretended to be a member of the fellowship of God, who lived in wickedness, he lied, and was no member of the fellowship of God, who is infinitely holy, and admits none but the holy into his fellowship, 1 John 1:6.—In the mean time, to encourage the disciples of Christ to imitate the glorious Head of their fellowship in his moral perfections, the apostle assured them, that if they walked in holiness as God is holy, they would certainly have fellowship with God and his saints, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son would cleanse them from all sin. Such is the nature of the Christian fellowship, and such its unspeakable advantages, 1 John 1:7.—And this is a consolation which we absolutely need; for if we say that we have no sin, that we are not poor guilty sinners, it is too evident that we grossly deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; we must be destitute of every good principle, if we are utterly insensible of our guilt, 1 John 1:8.—But, adds the apostle, if we confess our sins to God, with a becoming lowliness and contrition of spirit, he is not only merciful and gracious, but faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, in consideration of his engagements to our great Surety, and to us by him; and also effectually to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, by his atoning Blood, and by the influence of that sanctifying Spirit which it has purchased for us, 1 John 1:9.—This, the apostle informed them, was their ground of confidence, and their refuge as sinners, to which they should often renew their applications: for as on this foundation we are indeed secure; so, on the other hand, if we are so rash and presumptuous as to say that we have not sinned, we not onlylie ourselves, which in every instance must be displeasing to the God of truth; but we, in effect, make him a liar, who, in the constitution of the gospel, which he hath sent to all, goes on a supposition, that every soul, to which it is addressed, is by nature under guilt and condemnation. And consequently, if we assert and maintain our own personal innocence, we shall shew that his word is not in us, that this humbling message of his grace has never been cordially received by us, nor has produced its genuine effects upon our hearts, 1 John 1:10. See the note on 1 John 1:8.