Narrative Commentary for Sunday, 20 July 2014 with Scriptures 1
John 1:5-2:2 & John 1:29
Scripture Texts:
1 John 1: Walk in the
Light
5 This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are
passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in
him.
6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and
continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our
teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself
being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the
sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.
8-10 If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling
ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit
our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to
himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim
that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him.
A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.
2:1-2 I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But
if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father:
Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he
solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.
The Only Way to Know We’re in Him
2-3 Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way:
Keep his commandments.
John 1: The
God-Revealer
29-31 The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and
yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the
world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the One who comes after me but
is really ahead of me.’ I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task
has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why
I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins
from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.”
Preaching text: 1 John 1:5 -- 2:2 If we say we have no sin we
deceive ourselves
Gospel: John 1:29 The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world
Integrity involves consistency between words and actions. When
we follow through with the commitments that we have made, it shows integrity.
When we say one thing and do another, it creates dissonance. We generally do
not like to live with the contradiction, so we become experts in spin control.
Initially we may wince at what we have said or done, but we go on to tell
ourselves and others that it really was okay. It might have appeared to be a
contradiction, but with a few tweaks to the storyline, we can show that we were
right all along.
1 John provides language that has often been used in liturgy. It
speaks of the contradiction between saying that we have fellowship with God,
and yet live in ways that contradict that relationship. It names the propensity
for kidding ourselves about ourselves. The writer says that acknowledging the
problem is the first step toward moving beyond it. Things become more specific
in later chapters, which speak of the contradiction between saying we love God,
while conveying a lack of love by what we say and do.
Forgiveness is the mending of relationships. The basic idea is
release. It is the point at which one can be honest about the damage that has
been done, while saying that what has happened does not determine the future.
Forgiveness is the moment when a future that has been blocked by something that
has damaged relationship is opened up by the word that offers release for new relationship.
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John Wesley’s Notes-Commentary:
1 John 1:5 -- 2:2
Verse 5
[5] This then is the message which we have heard of him, and
declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
And this is the sum of the message which we have heard of him -
The Son of God.
That God is light — The light of wisdom, love, holiness, glory.
What light is to the natural eye, that God is to the spiritual eye.
And in him is no darkness at all — No contrary principle. He is
pure, unmixed light.
Verse 6
[6] If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in
darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
If we say — Either with our tongue, or in our heart, if we
endeavour to persuade either ourselves or others. We have fellowship with him,
while we walk, either inwardly or outwardly, in darkness - In sin of any kind.
We do not the truth — Our actions prove, that the truth is not
in us.
Verse 7
[7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us
from all sin.
But if we walk in the light — In all holiness. As God is (a
deeper word than walk, and more worthy of God) in the light, then we may truly
say, we have fellowship one with another - We who have seen, and you who have
not seen, do alike enjoy that fellowship with God. The imitation of God being
the only sure proof of our having fellowship with him.
And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son — With the grace purchased
thereby.
Cleanseth us from all sin — Both original and actual, taking
away all the guilt and all the power.
Verse 8
[8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us.
If we say — Any child of man, before his blood has cleansed us.
We have no sin — To be cleansed from, instead of confessing our
sins, 1 John 1:9, the truth is not in us - Neither in our mouth nor in our
heart.
Verse 9
[9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
But if with a penitent and believing heart, we confess our sins,
he is faithful - Because he had promised this blessing, by the unanimous voice
of all his prophets.
Just — Surely then he will punish: no; for this very reason he
will pardon. This may seem strange; but upon the evangelical principle of
atonement and redemption, it is undoubtedly true; because, when the debt is
paid, or the purchase made, it is the part of equity to cancel the bond, and
consign over the purchased possession.
Both to forgive us our sins — To take away all the guilt of
them.
And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness — To purify our souls
from every kind and every degree of it.
Verse 10
[10] If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and
his word is not in us.
Yet still we are to retain, even to our lives' end, a deep sense
of our past sins. Still if we say, we have not sinned, we make him a liar - Who
saith, all have sinned.
And his word is not in us — We do not receive it; we give it no
place in our hearts.
Verse 1
[1] My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye
sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous:
My beloved children — So the apostle frequently addresses the
whole body of Christians. It is a term of tenderness and endearment, used by
our Lord himself to his disciples, John 13:33. And perhaps many to whom St.
John now wrote were converted by his ministry. It is a different word from that
which is translated "little children," in several parts of the
epistle, to distinguish it from which, it is here rendered beloved children. I
write these things to you, that ye may not sin - Thus he guards them beforehand
against abusing the doctrine of reconciliation. All the words, institutions,
and judgments of God are levelled against sin, either that it may not be
committed, or that it may be abolished.
But if any one sin — Let him not lie in sin, despairing of help.
We have an advocate — We have for our advocate, not a mean
person, but him of whom it was said, "This is my beloved son." Not a
guilty person, who stands in need of pardon for himself; but Jesus Christ the
righteous; not a mere petitioner, who relies purely upon liberality, but one
that has merited, fully merited, whatever he asks.
Verse 2
[2] And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours
only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
And he is the propitiation — The atoning sacrifice by which the
wrath of God is appeased.
For our sins — Who believe.
And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world
— Just as wide as sin extends, the propitiation extends also .
John 1:29
Verse 29
[29] The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
He seeth Jesus coming and saith, Behold the Lamb — Innocent; to
be offered up; prophesied of by Isaiah, Isaiah 53:7, typified by the paschal
lamb, and by the daily sacrifice: The Lamb of God - Whom God gave, approves,
accepts of; who taketh away - Atoneth for; the sin - That is, all the sins: of
the world - Of all mankind. Sin and the world are of equal extent.
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