J. Deering, AncientPath.net

(1 John 1:1-4)
{1} What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life-- {2} and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- {3} what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. {4} And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

(1 John 1:1)
NASB:
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life--

Interlinear:
What was from (the)-beginning, what we-have-heard, what we-have-seen with-the eyes of-us, what we-beheld and the hands of-us touched, concerning the word (the) of-life, --

Greek:
O hn ap archs, o akhkoamen, o ewrakamen tois afqalmois hmwn, o eqeasameqa kai ai ceires hmwn eghlafhsan, peri tou lagou ths zwhs, --

Notes:
hn 3p sing imperf act ind - eimi - was (accomplished in past with continuing results)
akhkoamen 1p pl perf act ind - akouw - heard (accomplished in past with continuing results)
ewrakamen 1 p pl perf act ind - oraw - we have seen (accomplished in past with continuing results)
eqeasameqa 1 p pl 1 aor mid ind - qeaomai - we beheld (middle - perceived, simple past)
eghlafhsan 3 pl 1 aor act ind - ghlafaw - they touched (simple past)

( 1 John 1:2)
NASB:
{2} and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us--

Interlinear:
and the life was-manifested, and we-have-seen and we-bear-witness and we-announce to you the life the eternal, which was with the Father and was manifested to-us, --

Greek:
kai h zwh efaneroqh, kai ewrakamen kai marturoumen kai apaggellomen umin tan zwhn thn aiwnoin, htis hn pros ton patera kai efanerwqh hmin, --

Notes:
efanerwqh 3p sing 1 aor pass ind - fanerow - it was manifed (simple past, passive)
ewrakamen 1 p pl perf act ind - oraw - we stared (accomplished in past with continuing results)
marturoumen 1p pl pres act ind - marturew - we are witnesses (present active)
apaggellomen 1p pl pres act ind - apaggellw - we report (present active)

(1 John 1:3)
NASB:
{3} what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Interlinear:
what we-have-seen and we-have-heard, we-announce also to-you, in order that also you-felloswhip may-have with us, Indeed the fellowship and our (is)-with the Father and with the Son of-Him Jesus Christ.

Greek:
o ewrakamen kai akhkoamen, apaggellomen kai umin, ina kai umeis koinwnian echte meq hmwn. kai h koinwnia de h hmetera mera tou patros kai meta tou uiou autou Ihsou Cristou.

Notes:
ewrakamen 1p pl perf act ind - oraw - we stared (accomplished in past with continuing results)
akhkoamen 1p pl perf act ind att - akouw - we heard (accomplished in past with continuing results)
apaggellomen 1p pl pres act ind - apaggellw - we report (present active)
ecate 2p pl pres act subj - ecw - you may have (active, subjunctive)

(1 John 1:4)
NASB:
{4} And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

Interlinear:
And these things we-write in-order-that there-might-be the joy of-us may-be having-been-fulfilled.

Greek:
Kai tauta grafomen hmeis ina h cara hmwn h peplhrwmenh.

Notes:
grafomen 1p pl pres act ind - grafw - we engrave, we write (present active)
h 3p sing pres act subj - eimi - we may (in order that) (subjunctive)
h 3p sing pres act subj - eimi - we may (joy may be...) (subjunctive)
speplhrwmenh perf pass ptc nom sing fem - plhrow - it may have been made complete (passive participle) (perfect - accomplished in past with continuing results)

Commentary:

What was from the beginning?
Only God was from the beginning. The words used here indicate that the human mind requires a beginning to things. Since God always was, therefore there is no real beginning, but what John is trying to say is that if there was a beginning, but there wasn't, that would be when we should think of this.

What have we heard?
John's reference is to the two things. First, the testimony of the Prophets and the Old Testament Scriptures, and secondly their relationship to this One, Jesus Christ, who is being called "The Word" here in his text.

What have we seen, with our own eyes?
First, John has seen the Christ, he has seen the miracles, he has seen the prophecies of the Old Testament come true in his own eyes. He has even seen the crucifixion, He has cared for the mother of Jesus during this terrible event. He has seen the resurrection, the ascention, the post crucifixion appearences of Jesus Christ. He's seen the beginnings of the Church, He was there at Pentecost (?). He's been a disciple of John the Baptist, a disciple of Jesus, an Apostle, a Church Father, a Pastor. He includes "with our eyes" a statement to reinforce the fact that he and others speak from first hand experience, and not hearsay.

What had they beheld with their hands?
Similarly to the preceding sentence, John states again even a different maner of beholding these events. This time his emphasis is upon the actual touching of the characters in the events. Like "doubting Thomas" many can only find belief in those things that they can touch, or in this case hear from someone else that they have touched.

Concerning the Word of Life:
This becomes the focal point of these first sentences. The "Word of life" has not yet been defined here in the text, but these letters were not intended to be just read through once. They were designed for carfull scruteny and constant study and re-reading. Like all of Scripture, each little piece depends upon the whole. No verse of scripture is of private interpretation (1 Peter 1;20). No verse stands alone, never can you just read a verse and come to a conclusion on its real meaning. Every verse must be weighed upon all of the Scriptures - Genesis through Revelation - and all the doctrines contained therein. Only then can you have the proper understanding and background for understanding the meaning of a verse.

The "word" spoken of here is a greek word that points to an "idea" more than a word. It relates to the idea of an expression that is put forth. So then, "Word of Life" becomes the "Idea of Life, or The Expression of Life." Knowing that these word speak of The Christ they bring forth a broader and more wonderful understanding of this simple term. John will digress now into a dialogue concernig The Christ.

So then, the wonderful "idea" or "Expression of life" becomes manifested in time and space. This of course happens with the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, His birth to the virgin Mary. With this even come the direct intervention of God into Human history -- as a man. The term "manifested" is not adequate to describe God's entering into human history in such a way. The theologians call it the "hyperstatic union." God and man in one being. Not God living in a human body, not a human body possessed by a god, but truly fully God and fully man at the very same time. From this time forward no one can ever point the finger at God and say "you were never a human being, you don't know what it's like!" From this point in history, God is a man, and this man is God.

There are some interesting verses in Joel. Chapter nine is often used as the "Christmas Verses" where the "babe is born and the Son is given." But there is so much more in these verses. They point to a time when the Gentiles will play a major part in the life of Israel, a time when a "people in darkness, will see a great light." The verses then go on to name the names of this one who will come. Prince of peach, wonderful counsilor. These names all seem to be quite appropriate for Jesus, the Son of God. But what about "Almighty God, Eternal Father." Who often we modern day Christians miss the point the Jesus is not just the Son of God, but is God Himself, available to us in human form. Not three seperate gods, but One God who reveals Himself in three distinct way in the Scriptures. As The Father, As The Son, As The Holy Spirit." It is in this way that "The Word of God" has become manifest in our world, in our space, in our time.

And we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you:
More emphasis on the fact that we are talking about eye witnesses, those who have seen and actually touched the evidence. And these are the ones who have been so touched by these evidences that they have become proclaimers of these facts. They are not just witnesses but preachers of what they have seen and touches.

The Eternal Life:
John begins the transition from "The Word of God" to "we proclaim to you The Eternal Life. These two terms are equal in John's development of his thought here. "The Word of God" and "The Eternal Life" refer to the same one, The Christ, who is Jesus. John wants his readers to understand the importance of these thoughts. That God's expression, His idea, has been manifested as the only access to "The Eternal Life."

Which was with the Father:
The emphasis here is not the "was" but "was with." No emphasis upon the past rather emphasis upon the fact that "The Word of God" has always been in the presence of The Father. Remember the opening verses "In the beginning was The Word." In the beginning "The Word" and "The Father" have one existance together, and this "One" has been manifested to us.

We proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship:
What's the point in bringing all this up and becoming proclaimers of these things? That you also may have fellowship with us! That you might also be partakers in this "Word of Life", Eternal Life." This fellowship is with God the Father and God the Son and is only available by believing. John will continue to stress that this believing is only through Jesus Christ, The Son of God, The Eternal Life.

(1 John 1:5-10)
{5} And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. {6} If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; {7} but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. {8} If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. {9} If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. {10} If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

NASB:
{5} And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Interlinear:
{5} And is-this the message which we-have-heard from Him and we-announce to-you that God light is and darkness in Him not is none.

Nestle Greek:
{5} Kai estin auth h aggelia hn akhkoamen ap autou kai anaggellomen umin, oti o qeos jws estin kai skotia en autw ouk estin oudemia.

Notes:
estin 3p sing pres act ind - eimi - it is (present active)
hn 3p sing imperf act ind - eimi - which was (perfect - accomplished in past with continuing results)
akhkoamen 1p pl perf act ind att - akouw - was reported (perfect - accomplished in past with continuing results)
anaggellomen 1p pl pres act ind - anaggellw - we announce (present active)
estin 3p sing pres act ind - eimi - is
estin 3p sing pres act ind - eimi -is

NASB:
{6} If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

Interlinear:
{6} If we-say that fellowship we-have with him and in the darkness we-walk, we-lie and not are-not-doing the truth;

Nestle Greek:
Ean eipwmen oti koinwnian ecomen met autou kai en tw skotei peripatwmen, yeudomeqa kai ou poioumen thn alhqeian;

Notes:
eipwmen 1p pl 2 aor act subj - legw - if we said (active subjuntive)
ecomen 1p pl pres act ind - ecw - have (present active)
peripatwmen 1p pl pres act subj - peripatew - if we walk around (active subjunctive)
yeudomeqa 1p pl pres mid ind - yeudomai - we are liars (present middle)
poioumen 1p pl pres act ind - poiew - we practice (present active)

NASB:
{7} but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Interlinear:
{7} If but in the light we-walk as He is in the light, fellowship we-have with each-other and the blood of-Jesus the Son of-Him it-cleanses us from all sin.

Nestle Greek:
ean de en tw jwti perimatwmen ws autos estin en tw jwti, koinwnian ecomen met allhlwn kai to aima Ihsou tou uiou kaqarizei hmas apo pashs amartias.

Notes:
peripatwmen 1p pl pres act subj - peripatew - we walk around (active subjunctive)
estin 3p sing pres act ind - eimi - is
ecomen 1p pl pres act ind - ecw - have - have
kaqarizei 3p sing pres act ind - kaqarizw - it cleanses

NASB:
{8} If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Interlinear:
{8} If we-say that sin we-have not, ourselves we-deceive and the truth not is not in us.

Nestle Greek:
ean eipwmen oti amartian ouk ecomen, eautous planwmen kai h alhqeia ouk estin en hmin.

Notes:
eipwmen 1p pl 2 aor act subj - legw - if we said (active subjunctive) (simple past)
ecomen 1p pl pres act ind - ecw - have (present active)
planwmen 1p pl pres act ind - planaw - we are deceiving (present active)
estin 3p sing pres act ind - eimi - is (present active)

NASB:
{9} If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Interlinear:
{9} If we-confess the sins of-us, faithful He-is and righteous, in-order-that He-may-forgive us the sins and He-may-cleanse us from all iniquity.

Nestle Greek:
ean omelogwmen tas amartias hmwn, pistos estin kai dikaios, ina afh hmin tas amartias kai kaqarish hmas apo pashs adikias.

Notes:
omologwmen 1p pl pres act subj - kaqarizw - if we confess (present active subjunctive)
estin 3p sing pres act ind - eimi - is
afh 3p sing 2 aor act subj - afihmi - he forgave
kaqarisa 3p sing 1 aor act subj - kaqarizw - he cleansed

NASB:
{10} If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Interlinear:
{10} If we-say that not we-have-sinned, a-liar we-make Him and the word of-Him is not in us.

Nestle Greek:
ean eipwmen oti ouc hmarthkamen, yeusthn poioumen auton kai o logos autou ouk estin en hmin.

Notes:
eipwmen 1p pl 2aor act subj - legw - if we said
hmarthkamen 1p pl perf act ind - amartanw - we sin
poioumen 1p pl pres act ind - poiew - we make

Commentary:
And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete:
It's not the writing that makes their joy complete, it is the understanding and believing that makes believers of us that make their joy complete.

The first four verses of the text have concentrated upon the knowledge of how God has interacted with mankind. He has done so in such a way as to enter into the life and times of mere human beings in order to bring an eternal fellowship with those who would accept and receive these things concerning His Son.

And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you:
John moves on now to a right understanding of how the believer's relationsip with Almighty God works. He has laid the groundword for just who "The Word of God" is and now he lays the foundation for the believer's everyday walk with God.

Many people think that God has a big computer in the sky that logs our every transgression and sin. And that God keeps long records that accumulate over our life times, and then He displays everything on the "Big Screen" when we get there. I've found no such evidence. Quite to the contrary, in fact. The next few verses are some of the most important verses in the Scruiptures for you maintaining a wonderful, long term, lasting, fellowship with Him - on His terms. So many people live in a life of Christian failure and have no idea that it doesn't have to be that way. God calls upon us to LIVE not to accumulate sins. He calls upon us to have close fellowship with Him, no be under constant conviction of the sins which so easily beset us from Him. But how is that possible? How is it possible for Almighty God, pure perfection itself, to have an abiding fellowship with mere dirty human beings who are so different than Him at every turn.

The basis of that relationship is your simple faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. But, that's only the basis, the foundation. Faith upon His Son certainly makes you a member of God's Eternal Family, but it doesn't keep you in daily fellowship with the Almighty.

The following verses outline a simple procedure for maintaining that fellowship, in fact, the only procedure. He does make up the rules you know. And His rule is simple to understand and follow. But so few do. It's so sad that so many either don't know or refuse to follow these words. It would almost seem that many people enjoy their broken fellowship with God in such a way that they never try to fix any of the broken areas.

God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all:
Ultimate perfection, no imperfection, totaly pure, totaly good, and all the other attributes of God. There can be no fellowship with such a one if you are not completely clean, completely sinless. There was only one who could fill that bill. Only Jesus The Christ is able to satisfy The Father's need for pure fellowship. But we're told that God the Father looks to us for fellowship, and that He has made a way for us to do just that. Is the answer in living a sinless, pure life. Yes, but who could possibly do that.

There are those who believe that you do have to keep a spotless life to keep our salvation before Him. but that makes Christianity into a rather crude and hatefull game. You can be a member of the family, but you have to be perfect. If you sin, you're out. You can get back in, but if you sin again, you're out. Flip-Flop/Flip-Flop, doesn't sound like my God, or the God described in the Bible.

But, instead, God does seek us and choose us, and call us. He desires us. If this is true, and it is, then there is no hiding from Him. There is no hiding from His presence, there is no hiding from our sin, there is no hiding from our broken relationsip with Him.

If we say tht we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth:
For all the reasons above, God cannot fellowship with sinful creatures. So John states that if we SAY that we have fellowship with Him, yet continue to practice sin, then we're LIARS. Sinning is portrayed here as "walking in darkness." What a wonderful description of our daily walk when we are not in His fellowship, "Darkness." Walking around with no light. No idea of there the furniture is, no idea where where the rocks are, no idea where the door jambs are. Everything in our path is a lethal weapon, just lurking in the darkness ready to jump out and hurt us. If you've experiened the loving close fellowship of The Lord and then been seperated from it, you know darkness. You've lost your joy, you can't pray, reading the Bible brings no satisfacton or understanding - that's it alright, out of fellowship with The Lord. If that's the characteristic of our lives and we say that we're walking with The Lord, then we are liars. An important distinction in the words here is the word "practice." For the import of the verse is that living out of fellowship has become your practice, not just a moment of seperation, but a life of seperation.

But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light:
Here's the question ... are you walking in the light, and are you walking in the light AS HE HIMSELF is in the light? Is that really a pretty tall order? What if walking in the light was an easy task?

As a young person I heard the story of the three ministers who were fishing, in a small boat, not far from the shore. The first minister says, "I'm hungry, I think I'll get a snack." He gets up and steps over the side of the boat and walks on the water to the shore and retrieves a snack pack from his car, then walks back on the water to the boat and sits down. The second minister say's, "I 'm really hungry, I think I'll get my lunch." He gets up and steps over the side of the boat and walks on the water to the shore and retrieves his lunch from his car, then walks back on the water to the boat and sits down. The third minister, seeing the other two walk on the water, decides to do the same and get a drink. He says, "I'll just drop over to my car and get a beer." He steps out of the boat and promptly splashes into the water and gets soaked. The first minister says to the second, "do you think we should tell him where the rocks are?"

If you're living a life seperated from the fellowship of the Lord because of daily sin, then the problem is that no one has told you where the "rocks" are. For here are the rocks, right here in 1 John.

We have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin:
Rock number 1 and 2
Close reliance on other members of the Body of Chirst, and knowledge that what Jesus has done at the Cross has taken care of the "sin issue" in you life. This does not mean that you have no sin, it only means that the sin you do have has been dealt with in a manner that is acceptable by God. This does not mean that the sin in your life no longer needs to be dealt with, it means that your sinful nature has been dealt with at the Cross.

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us:
Rocks 3 and 4
If we say ... whether we believe it or not and we say we have no sin, to ourselves or to others or to God, then we are caught up in self deception. A good modern term would be "denial." It's impossible to live without sinning. Why, because you're just not God, and only He can do that. No sinless perfection found here, only the knowledge that you must confront your sins and admit them to yourself. God says, through John, "the truth is not in us." So the second step is to see that denial, or self deception, makes us liars before God and before our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness:
Rock number 5
What is that this verse says? If I confess my sin to Him, He is faithful (faithful to His word and to His Office as High Priest) to forgive my sin and righteous (commits no sin in forgiving my sin) to forgive my sin.

The Bible says here that what I need to do is confront my sin, identify it, understand it for what it is, bring it open faced and boldly before Almighty God and confess to Him that it's sin and I know it (He knows it anyway). And in response to my openness and my knowledge and my confession He is faithful and righteous to forgive me my sin, and that's it! That's where the rocks are. That's how to have fellowship with Him.

Too Easy, you say. No one said it was easy! It takes knowledge, it takes will power, it takes guts, it takes willingness, it takes humility, it takes a selfless heart, it takes doing it.

How often? Jesus told Peter (?) that forgiveness was 70 X 70 times, intimating that you can't run out of forgiveness, either when you forgive others, or when the Lord forgives you.

I have often given the illustration of "the baby learning to walk" in conection with these verses. The baby crawls, and eventually tries to stand, then falls. Now if we all gave up on walking every time we fell as a baby, none of us would be walking. Then why is it so hard to learn to "Walk" with The Lord in the same manner. We crawl and try to stand. After all we're people, not gods. Our lives are filled with difficulties, problems, sinfull desires, sinfull actions, anger, frustration, depression, etc. We crawl. Along comes our introduction, by simple faith, to Jesus Christ, and we try to walk. We stand, and immediately fall. What should we do? Give up and never try to walk again, "oh, poor me!"

John says, "Confront your sin (the reason for falling), call it what it is, know what it is, and confess that you know that it is not what God wants for you, that it is against His ways, and that even if you don't know how, at least you'll try no to do it again (confession).

So you are forgiven at that very instant for your sinful action(s). And you walk in His light.

And then you sin, and fall all over again. Give up? No, Confront your sin, acknowledge it, confess it and seek His forgiveness. Then Walk in His light.

When I was a lad, we had Ivory Soap. It floated on water. Their slogan was "Ninety-Nine and forty-four one-hundredths percent pure." You can live a life like that, not because Jesus Christ gives you sinless perfection, but because you are human and you sin, and when you sin God the Father has put in place Jesus Christ's work at the cross and the promise that if you are faithful in confessiny your sins, He will be faithful and righteous in forgiving you your sins. One step at a time, knowing where the rocks are. The rocks, of course, are the knowledge of God's precious word and how He wants you to handle sin in your life that "you would be able to Walk in His Light, and have fellowship with Him and with other believers."

Maybe you can't live in full fellowship 99.44 percent of the time, but that's the point. You maybe start out and 0.44 percent of the time. When you sin and become seperated (one event) acknowledge it, confess it, agree with God about it, and it's done. You are forgiven, fellowship is restored - not because you feel like it, but because God's Word Says So! Then you are back in full fellowship until the next fall. Then, maybe, because you have taken the time to do what God's word tells you to do about your sins, you get to 0.88 percent of your time is in-fellowship. You've doubled your average, that's wonderful, not dreadfull. When you sin, acknowledge, confess, agree, and start over again.

If God is keeping a giant blackboard in the sky, with your name on it. And He is keeping track of your sins, these verses say that when you confron them, acknowledge them before Him, and confess them before Him, He cleans off the blackboard, and FORGETS what was written there. As human beings we can't do that, we always remember. But when God forgives, He FORGIVES and FORGETS! Remeber that, and continue your journey toward 99.44 percent pure.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us:
John re-ephasizes this very important technique of walking in fellowship with Him. He wants us to understand that the biggest handicap in maintainig fellowship is the big "ME." In my family we have a saying, "I, Me, My, Mine," whenever we want each other to remember that our biggest problem is our selfishness, our own ego. I don't want to let God set the rules, I don't want God to forgive me, I don't want to acknowledge that I'm not God. If I let Him bring forgiveness then I can't work and prove my self worthy of forgiveness. But His word says that I'm not worthy of His forgiveness, that I can't do anything that is worthy of His forgiveness. He makes possible forgiveness because He loved me first. He loved me so much that His only begotten, unique, one of a kind Son went to the Cross to provide for my forgiveess, not only the forgiveness of my sin nature, but of my daily sins. I just need to follow His directions to do it, and learn to "Step on the rocks."

NASB - Interlinear - Nestle's Greek Text - Parsed Verbs and Verbals

2012-11-23