1 John 1:5-10

Introduction:

Fellowship can be difficult to describe. John has written his letter so that we can know fellowship with God the Father and Christ the Son--as well as with other believers--but our fellowship often feels severed. Sin greatly effects the quality of this fellowship. So how are we to evaluate our current condition? Is fellowship with God such a reality that we must conclude we have no sin? If sin gets in the way of our fellowship, can we claim to have fellowship with God while sinning? And if sin severs our fellowship, can I have fellowship with God once I've sinned? John immediately addresses these questions for the reader.

Commentary

v 5
John's testimony is clear. He saw, heard, felt and witnessed the works of Christ. He can give us an eyewitness account of this. However, John has also said their is a message he wishes to proclaim. As mentioned earlier, a proclamation is a message from someone else. John is now going to present this message.

The message can be trusted.
John is not presenting rumor or inference. He is presenting a message that can be relied upon. This "message" (ἀγγελία) is an announcement or promise, as if from an angel himself. His message can be trusted for it comes from an eyewitness, who heard the message directly from Christ. He is going to directly convey the message he heard. Like a herald making an announcement for the king, John is prepared to relay (without distortion) the message to his readers.

The message is about God.
John's message begins theo-centric. He does not begin with man or his condition, but with God and His condition. John begins his message by stating that God is Light. This should remind us of John 1:4-8:

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

Just as John affirmed that Jesus is divine, in John 1, he makes the same claim here in his letter. In John 1, he showed that the Word was God, affirming that Jesus is God and then called Jesus the Light. Now, in his letter, he calls God the Light, a description he has attributed to Christ.

But what does John mean when he says God is Light? Previously, John has intended a moral purpose. Consider John 3:19-21:

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.

John uses the Light to describe Christ and contrasts Him with the world. The world loves darkness rather than the Light because the world loves evil. Therefore, when John states here that God is Light, we can understand that he is speaking to the moral perfection of God and Jesus Christ. John's first message is that God is perfectly righteous.

Certainly, any illustration falls somewhat short in describing God. John is not speaking of muted light, filled with shadows and distortions. John is speaking of perfect light, not tainted by a single shadow. To make sure John is understood, he further describes the Light. Literally, he states, "And in Him there is no darkness...none at all!"

The Light which is God is a perfect light without any darkness or flaw. There is not corner shadow in God's character. There is no area which can be unmasked that shows moral decay. He is perfectly enlightened as well, having no area outside of His knowledge.

John begins his message to us with the declaration that God is perfectly holy and all knowing.

v 6
After presenting objective truth about God, John then moves this message to our own application. John now turns the attention to our fellowship with God, for that is his goal in writing. God is holy and perfect and we desire to have fellowship with him. He is Light without any darkness, but are we?

John presents the obstacle to our fellowship with God. God does not love us more than His own character, therefore He cannot violate Himself for our sake. If God is perfect light with no darkness, how can we claim to fellowship with Him if we walk in the darkness?

Yet, there are some who make this claim. They say they already have fellowship with God, though they walk in the darkness. While being active in evil and seeking fellowship with God, there are only two options. 1) Either God fellowships with us in the midst of our darkness and violates His character, or 2) We are not accurate when we say we have fellowship.

Certainly, God character is not compromised, so we must be the ones mistaken. In fact, John says we speak falsely when we claim to have fellowship while walking in sin. We are not proclaiming the message we have heard and are certainly not proclaiming truth, but instead are making a false statement. When we such fellowship, yet retain our evil deeds, we present a message that God tolerates sin, and thus contains shadowy areas. Such a statement is false to make. But the error is not only in statement, but our life is a lie as well. We not only send a false statement about God, but we ourselves practice that which is false. We are not living in truth.

v 7
Left with verse six, we could conclude that fellowship with God is not possible. However, John lets us know it is conditionally possible. However, we must read the verse carefully to catch the condition...

No, not here... If we walk in the Light is not the conditional statement to fellowship with God. John is not telling us that our works are necessary to obtain salvation, though our works will be an evidence of salvation. Therefore, his is exposing to us that we need to pursue righteousness and to be morally pure. This standard should be none other than that of Christ. Walking in the Light must not simply mean "walking with less darkness" but our standard is to be blameless.

Still not here... We have fellowship with one another. Again, this is not the condition for our fellowship with God, but is the result of walking in the Light. John conclusion should not surprise us. If we walk in the Light, we will not be sinning against one another, therefore there will be no offense between relationships. If one man sins against another their fellowship is strained. If two men sin against one another, fellowship is about impossible. If both men pursue righteousness, there is not point of stumbling between them. Again, John is not stating that fellowship with other men will earn you favor with God, but that walking in the Light, which will come after finding favor with God, will enhance our fellowship with other brothers.

Here... and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all unrighteousness. If we must walk in the Light to the standard of Jesus, we will never see fellowship with God, for we cannot attain Jesus' perfection. Walking in the Light is only possible if we have entered into fellowship with Christ through His blood. And as John has already established, fellowship with one another starts in fellowship with God the Father and Jesus His Son. Sin must be dealt with for fellowship to occur and sin must be dealt with through the cleansing blood of Jesus His Son.

v 8
If sin severs fellowship with Christ, then there are four options: 1) Ignore the need for fellowship with God. 2) Claim that our fellowship remains despite our sin. 3) Have our sin cleansed by Jesus' blood, thus making fellowship possible. 4) Deny the need for the blood of Jesus by claiming to be sin free.

John has already dealt with the other arguments and now turns to our current condition. For the person who claims to have fellowship with God because they are sin free, John comes out with pretty strong words. It is interesting to note that John does not first turn to the past, but instead looks at the present. If, right now, you look at your life and believe you are sin free, you are deceiving yourself and the truth is not in you. In essence, you are deceived because you have bought a lie.

But how can this be? Isn't it possible to be without sin for at least a moment? What if I'm in a church service, encouraged to confess my sin, which I do and am cleansed, and spend the next 15 minutes in whole-hearted praise and worship? Could I at that point say I am sin free? Only if John's words could be considered false. So, how does this work? Consider words from John Piper:

The reason people are not stunned by the grace of God and their own salvation is because they have never felt how inveterately sinful they are everyday because they have not been taught well what sin is. They've grown up in Christian homes, they've never committed adultery. They've never stolen anything, they've never killed anybody. They're scratching their head, saying, "When have I sinned last? I can't remember when I sinned last."

We've all been there. We've all been there. Everybody says, "Let's have a five or ten minute time here of confession." And you're thinking, "Uh, let's see..."

Listen, if you catch on to what I've said...3 seconds ago you were sinning. Did you love Him, did you prefer Him in proportion to His worth? His infinite worth?--The Nature of Our Depravity

If we think that sin is only an action of commission (or even a moment of omission) then we neglect much of the offense of sin. Our sin is not just and action, but the action is a display of our condition. If you think you've reached a point of sinless perfection, you are deceiving yourself as to the definition of sin, and the condition of your heart.

v 9
Our sin separates us from God. If we have sin, we cannot have fellowship. Yet, John wrote this letter so that we could have fellowship with God. So how can these truths be reconciled?

Confession (ὁμολογῶμεν) literally means "same word." To confess our sin means to come to the same word as God about sin. It means to admit we have sin. It means we admit that our sin separates us from God. It means that we admit that our sin is deserving of eternal torment. It means that we realize our condition of sin is completely irreversible apart from the work of Christ. No more denying. No more justifying. No more minimizing. We, by faith come to complete agreement with the Word of God regarding our sin.

He is faithful and just. Since the truth about sin is not exclusively the bad news, but also includes the news that Jesus can pay the penalty for our sin, when we confess these truths God will be faithful to His word. John has already reminded us that the message he received is that God is Light. The beauty and glory of the gospel must reside within the truth of God's character, not ours. Therefore, if God has promised salvation, he cannot change the conditions or deny a repentant person. He must remain true to His Word and to His Son. His righteousness demands that He cannot punish both me and His Son for my sin. He cannot require double payment. Therefore, the security of our forgiveness does not rest in our works, or even our confession. The security of our forgiveness rests in the faithfulness and justice of God.

Forgiveness and cleansing. Since Christ is our payment once for all (Hebrews 10:10), our forgiveness if promised for past, present and future sins. Therefore, God not only forgives our sins we have committed, He cleanses us from the sin we bear. The righteousness of Christ becomes imputed to us and we are clean before God.

v 10
The person may protest, "Well sure, if you've sinned before, there is no way to remove the stain. But I've never sinned before." John has a word for that claim.

John explains that the stakes are even greater if we claim to never have sinned. Not only do we deceive ourselves, we deny what the Word of God clearly says. We say that Christ has lied and has not told the truth. He has said that every man stands condemned before God by default and must obtain forgiveness through Him (John 3:18). If we claim we have not sinned, we are saying we are not condemned and therefore assert that He is a liar.

Obviously, if our claim makes Christ a liar, then we cannot say we are saying the same word (confessing). Therefore, the word is not within us.

Exposition

This passage could be summarized by six statements, three true and three false:

God is Light. (He is perfect and pure.)

We cannot walk in darkness and claim fellowship with the Light.

If we walk in the Light we can have fellowship with Him.

If we claim we are sinless, we deceive ourselves.

It is possible to be cleansed of our sin through the blood of Christ.

If we claim we have never sinned, we say that He has lied.

Verse Nine is often used in evangelism...and rightly so. It clearly communicates that Christ blood can cover our sins when we confess our need for His payment. However, we make a mistake when we think it is only an evangelism verse.

John is writing this passage for all of us. Certainly, the nonbeliever needs to confess his/her sins immediately and call upon the grace of God for salvation. He/She needs to see their sins, and the need for Christ's atonement. Equally, the believer must keep these things in mind. We must continually confess our sins to God. We must be mindful that we have sinned and also that we have sin within us. We must be careful not to claim we have fellowship with God when we are not walking in the Light.

Conclusion

Every personal relationship has experienced the pain of sin. When two people interact, sin will inevitably show up. When it does, it always creates disharmony. The more you are around the person, the more obvious the tension becomes. Since we don't see God physically, we may be tempted to ignore the condition of the relationship. Like Adam and Eve, when we consider the relationship, our best option seems to be hiding our sin and denying there is a problem. However, this simply causes more tension, deception and blame-shifting. The quickest way (and only way) to restoration is not found in coving up our sin, but confessing our sin and asking Christ to cover it with His blood.

1 John 3:23-24

Introduction:

No one likes to be told what to do. We prefer to be told facts or asked questions over receiving imperatives. We'd rather take a suggestion than receive a command. But when we hear the word "commandment," we often consider the moral dimension, being reminded of the 10 Commandments. Therefore, when John speaks of "His commandment" we may be led to think such things as not blaspheming, not coveting or not stealing. Perhaps, having been reminded of The Great Commandment, we may expect something a little different.

John says that His Commandment is faith. And after defining what faith looks like, he helps us assess whether we have that kind of faith. After all, if He has commanded it, we should seek to obey.

Commentary

v 23
John lays out that His commandment is to believe. Belief may appear an odd commandment to us, but John has heard Jesus say similar things before.

In John 6, the apostle recorded the feeding of the 5,000. The crowd is so excited, they would like to install Jesus as King by force. Jesus withdraws alone for the evening, but then travels across the sea by foot. The crowd eventually makes their way across the sea as well, and seeks out Jesus. Then Jesus confronts them about their desire to simply fill the stomachs, rather than do the works of God.

Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."--John 6:28-29

Our belief is actually the first phase of obedience. "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6). Also, Paul said: "Whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). Due to our sinful condition, it is impossible for us to please God on our own. We must depend on a righteousness outside of our own, therefore we must seek out that "alien" righteousness through faith alone. Therefore, Jesus instructs the crowd that if they choose to do the works of God, they must enter through faith. Likewise, John instructs us that His command is belief.

But we live in an age of pluralism. Belief is equated to sincerity, therefore most people do not worry about what you believe, as long as your belief is strong. But belief is not graded on the quantity of belief, but upon the object of our belief. And John makes this clear to us. He does not say that His commandment if for us to believe, but he states the commandment is to believe in...

His Son Jesus Christ
Let's consider the specifics of the object of our faith (in reverse order):

Christ. It is His title, meaning "Messiah" or "Anointed One." When John tells us we must believe in Christ, he is reminding us that we must acknowledge that Jesus is the long anticipated One, sent by God. He has come to atone for our sins.

Jesus. This is the name given to Him by an angel to Joseph (Matthew 1:21). This name reminds us that Jesus was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit. He truly became incarnate, taking of the form of a man. This name is also the name given to Joshua (Jesus is simply the Greek derivative) meaning, "Jehovah is salvation." Again, His name speaks to His humanity and His purpose.

His Son. In America, the concept of sonship loses the controversy. We simply don't see the offense. However, one trip to the Dome of the Rock reveals the statement: There is no God but Allah alone. Praise be to Allah who hath not taken to himself offspring. This can also be seen in John 8, when the Jews become offended that Jesus calls God His Father. As the conversation escalates, we see the nature of the offense. The Jews understood, as Jesus intended, that to say God is His Father is to claim unity with God. Thus Jesus ends the conversation by referring to Himself as the "I AM" and the Jews pick up stones to kill Him. To declare the Sonship of Christ is to declare His divinity.

It is important to realize we cannot unite with others simply under the umbrella of monotheism. There are those who claim to worship God, but deny Jesus' divinity and/or humanity. But a person misidentifies Jesus, they have misidentified God. I heard a pastor recently speak of this difference, offering that two men in a 30-year class reunion begin discussing a classmate. As they continue to share, there are enough discrepancies that they can't tell if they are speaking of the same person. Finally, one grabs a year book and finds a photo of the student. At this point, the student is identified and they can figure out if they were both talking about the same person. In the same way, Jesus Christ becomes our identity marker. If a person declares Jesus without His divinity, or a Jesus who was commissioned as the Messiah only after His baptism, then we are speaking about a different Jesus...and thus a different God.

What's in the name?
It's interesting to note that John does not simply say, believe in His Son Jesus Christ but inserts "believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ." To our ear, this can sound a little foolish. Is John simply telling us that we must believe that the Messiah's name is Jesus? What is the difference between saying we should believe in Jesus and we should believe in the name of Jesus?

To speak of the name is to speak of the authority. When we speak of the name of Jesus, we are actually speaking of the authority and Lordship of Jesus Christ. In the same way that a king's signet ring carried the authority of the king, so speaking in one's name carries like authority. We see this play out practically even in our homes today. When I send my daughter to gather the other children for dinner, she has not authority over her brothers or sisters on her own. However, if I send her in my name (ie: "You tell them daddy said come to dinner."), she now has the authority to call for action. Therefore, John is calling us to believe more than in Jesus' existence, he's calling us to place our faith in His Lordship, His Sovereignty as well.

1 + 1 = 1?
John's commandment seems to include two imperatives. Knowing that John did not miscount, nor did he add another commandment as he remembered it (both of these concepts would create problems for our understanding of inspiration), John must have something else in mind. It appears the command to love one another actually falls within the understanding of believing in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.

Therefore, John is not giving another command, but is instructing as to the quality of his first command. What does it look like to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ? Well, for one, you will love one another, since Jesus commanded us to do so.

Love is not to be defined as an emotional or social response. John is not calling us, nor did Jesus command us, to simply feel better about others. No, John 15 reminds us what this love looks like:

"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another."--John 15:12-17

John has already told us not to love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth (3:18). He illustrated this in meeting another's physical needs to express love. We see that when Jesus commands love, He commands the same kind of love He offered. Therefore our love for one another is to be sacrificial, serving one another. John reminds us here that we are to love one another, because Christ commanded it.

Working through the verse, we see that John is saying that we should believe that Jesus Christ is truly Lord. Therefore, if we believe He is in authority, it will play out in our obedience to Him. One area of obedience will be our response to one another. We will love one another, because He has commanded we do so.

v 24
In this letter, John has already stated: "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth" (1:6). John has narrowed it down to a more specific area, but he is essentially making the same claim here. If we are not obeying His commands then we cannot claim we are abiding in Him. We either do not obey His commands because we do not see Him as Lord, or because we know He is Lord but choose to rebel against Him. Either perspective placing you in a fractured position with Christ, thus making it inaccurate to claim you are abiding.

It is important at this point to be reminded that all sin is an act of a lack of faith. Not only is all that is done without faith a sin (as we noted above) but all sin is an evidence of a lack of faith. We do not believe Jesus Christ to be supreme (therefore, viewing His commands as optional). Or, we believe Him to have faulty information (when we believe our situation is a genuine exception to what the Word says). Possibly, we see Him as unable to act (evidenced when we choose to sin to "get out" of a situation). Many times, it is the doubt that Christ can truly be our satisfaction (as when we choose the easy way out, rather than the right way). Each of these evidence a lack of faith working out in our disobedience.

Therefore, each time we disobey Christ, we must realize we are actually doubting His who He is, or what He can do. We cannot claim to be abiding in Him while we view Him with a skeptical eye.

However, we do not have to fear that He will cease abiding in us. John reminds us that Christ abides in us is not conditional upon our actions. God has granted His Spirit as an earnest payment to us, guarding us to the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14). We do not obey in fear, worrying that too many sins will cause God to cast us out. Instead, we obey in confidence, knowing He has given us His Spirit and will never leave us nor forsake us. Therefore, I seek to abide in Christ, knowing that He abides in me. The Spirit has been given to assure me of this.

Conclusion

God commands belief:

From the unbeliever--it is important that you realize God is not impressed with any of your activities. No amount of "good works" , no trying harder, and certainly not claiming to have sinned less than your neighbor will make you right before God. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for sin, and that payment can only be received by placing your life's trust upon the work of Christ for your salvation. You must believe that you sin against God. You must see that sin as deserving of eternal punishment. You must realize that Jesus Christ is your only means of forgiveness and call upon God to save you. There is no work or ritual. You cannot invent another way. You must believe.

To the "lip-service believer"--you must understand it is not enough to simply believe facts about Jesus. In a way, a person could affirm the paragraph above and still miss out on heaven. If you identify a Jesus other than the One who sits supremely over all, then you have identified another Jesus. Belief is not simply to accept some intellectual, historical facts. A believe that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord of all will manifest itself in an obedience to Him. Do not claim to see Jesus as Lord if you refuse to submit to His commandments. John did not call you to simply believe that Jesus walked the earth, died and rose again. John calls you to believe in the name...believe in the authority of Jesus Christ. This is the faith which saves.

To the believe in sin--please see that you deceive yourself when you claim to abide in Christ. So often we cry out to God for greater faith to equip us to do the impossible or the risky. However, often we are not showing the faith required to obey. If you claim to be abiding in Christ and if you desire to have a greater faith, obey Christ now in what He has already revealed to you. Specifically, one must consider how well he is loving his brother/sister. Consider your marriage, as an example. Are you crying out to God for greater faith, all the while you neglect your spouse, treat one another with hate, or even consider divorcing one another? First, exercise your faith in obeying Christ's desire for your marriage.

To the believer who sins(all of us)--do not merely settle for behavior modification. Do not deceive yourself into believing you were a victim of your circumstances. Understand your sin flows from sinful desires that still war within you. Go to the heart and deal with those issues. Ask God to reveal to you the breach in your faith which caused you to sin against Him. Go to His Word and search for His promises to you, and trust that He will fulfill them. Release not only that His mode of fulfillment may be different than yours, but release that His will be better than yours as well. And rest in the fact that your confession of sin is again a God glorifying gospel act!

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An mp3 file of the sermon preached on this passage, as well as small group questions and children's material can be found at Grace: Resources.

1 John 1:1-4

Introduction:

When John completes his gospel, he states:

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.--John 21:25

He seems to express a sense of futility to his work. There is no way possible that he can record all Who Jesus is, nor all He has done. John has written his gospel so that we might believe Jesus is the Christ (John 20:31), and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he did a sufficient job toward that goal. However, his gospel did not record all there is to know about Jesus, nor is that even possible.

However, this does not compel John to remain silent. Instead, with great joy, he finds himself again writing to the church. In his first epistle he states that his goal for writing is joy expressed through fellowship with God the Father, Jesus Christ and with one another.

Commentary

v 1
In the beginning...

By turning our attention to the beginning (ἀρχῆς), the reader is to reminded of Genesis 1:1, John 1:1. In Genesis, "the beginning" is an unmarked time when God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit determined to begin creation. In John, "the beginning" goes even before that creation exercise, establishing that the Word has always existed with God. In the same way, John is establishing that this beginning transcends time. This beginning cannot be recorded, for if you were able to trace back into the past, before time was recorded, you would never find a time when "that which was from the beginning" did not exist.

John goes on to explain what "that" is. "It" was heard (ἀκηκόαμεν). The word John uses (from which we get acoustic), means there is a literal sound that was perceived by the ear. "It" was seen (ἑωράκαμεν), again meaning something literally perceived with the eye. However, this was not a momentary flash of lightening, a quick vision that just as quickly disappeared. No, John also states that they "looked" (ὀφθαλμοῖς) at it. This is not a repetition of saying he saw it, for this time John uses a word that means he studied and investigated "it." He closely examined "it." In fact, he also says he touched (ἐψηλάφησαν) "it" with his hands. Again, this is not simply brushing up against something, nor is it a quick strike, like on a hot stove. The word here actually means to feel or grope, to study with your hands as if you were blind. This is the same word Paul uses in Acts 17:27. It is also what Jesus commands disciples to do in Luke 24:39 when they can't believe He has truly resurrected.

The "It" is not an "it" but a "He." John goes on to say that which he has seen, heard, studied and felt is concerning (or about/around) the Word of Life. This is a unique title given to Jesus Christ. (see: Philippians 2:16). John lays out for us that his letter is in reference to Jesus Christ and He is the message he desires to communicate.

v 2
John then unpacks the Word of Life (further validating Word of Life references the person of Christ) with a parenthetical statement. (Though there are not parenthesis in the Greek text, the context makes sense that this verse further explains the Word of Life before he continues his original statement in verse 3.) John is careful to state that the life was "manifested." The life was not created, or formed, it was manifested. John uses this word both to speak of Christ's first appearing (1 John 3:5; 1 John 3:8) and His anticipated second coming (1 John 2:28; 1 John 3:2). Clearly, John intends for us to understand he is writing about the appearing of Jesus Christ.

John attaches to this manifestation, that they have seen (observed with their eyes) and testify and proclaim to you the Eternal Life. Testify and proclaim are not quite the same thing. He is not simply saying they saw Jesus and then talked a lot about Him. He is saying that they have seen Jesus and they share their own personal account (testify) about Him, as well as sharing the message Christ had given them (proclaim). By seeing Jesus, they are compelled to share not only what they saw and personally observed, but also what they heard from Jesus as He reported truth to them.

Again, since there are no capitalizations in the Greek (most manuscripts were written in all caps), the ancient manuscripts do not instruct us when it is a proper noun that should be capitalized and when it is simply a noun. However, it appears that "Eternal Life" should be viewed as a title for Jesus (or at least a reference to Him, therefore also capitalized) by the fact that John states this Eternal Life was with the Father. This should harken us back to John 1:1, and the Word was with God, naturally leading us to see this as a reference to Christ. Obviously, the fact that this life became manifested (and by being manifested could be seen, heard, examined, studied) it leads us to conclude this Life appearing is also a reference to Jesus. (see John 1:4; John 14:6)

v 3
After making sure the reader understands who the Word of Life is, John then refocuses on what the Word of Life has done. He now begins to explain his purpose in writing. Those who are reading have not had the privilege of seeing and hearing directly from Jesus, however, John is going to allow them to share in his privilege through his proclamation. He explains that what he has seen and heard he is now going to proclaim. Again, this encompasses both his testimony (what He saw Jesus do) and his proclamation (the message he heard from Jesus).

The fact that John was an eyewitness and had the privilege to behold the manifestation firsthand does not put him in a separate fellowship with God. Instead, he explains that his proclamation (and obviously the listeners submission to the message) will allow all who believe to have fellowship with one another. Though John is an Apostle, he does not entertain an exclusive fellowship that keeps others in the Body of Christ out. Instead, he sees his responsibility to proclaim what he saw and heard so that others can enjoy fellowship with him.

Though Gnosticism is not directly named in this epistle, John will later deal with heresies developed by the gnostics. However, even in the first paragraph of his epistle, he significantly damages the gnostic position. If anyone were privileged to "secret information" it would certainly be an Apostle. Yet, John does not hold that secret message to himself, or challenge his readers that they must search for the mysterious information on their own. He does not lay an unattainable knowledge before his readers or claim special privilege through his unique Apostolic role. Instead, John makes his aim to declare all that he has seen and heard from Christ. He is going to make this knowledge known and accessible to his readers.

[While the first person plural pronouns in this section are up for some debate, I do believe in these first three verses they are clearly a reference to the apostles, and not to all believers. Though John sees other believers in the household of faith (as evidence by his numerous references to the readers as children), he does see a distinction between his apostolic office and there position. Obviously, I cannot say that I saw or heard Jesus Christ upon His first manifestation. Jesus Himself affirms that many will believe in Him without seeing Him (John 20:29). Peter also confirms this (1 Peter 1:8). I am not, however, making the case that every time John uses the first person plural pronoun he is referencing the Apostles, for just as in any letter, the referent of a pronoun may change, I do believe later in the letter, John uses "we" and "us" to refer to all brethren. Yet in these three verses, due to the unique nature of observing the manifestation of Christ, I do believe "we" and "us" refers to the Apostolic office.]

John presents that genuine fellowship with others begins in fellowship with God and with Jesus Christ. When John invites others to participate in the fellowship the Apostles enjoy, he states that this fellowship is "housed" in fellowship with God and Jesus Christ. Men cannot be reconciled to one another until they are first reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.

v 4
John has already expressed the benefit for the submissive listener, they will receive fellowship with the Apostles, fellowship with other believers and fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Now, John presents his own personal benefit...joy! John reveals that when the Apostles would proclaim the message of Christ, this would make their joy full (πεπληρωμένη). Just as any believer's joy is made more complete by sharing the glory of the gospel, so the Apostles find great joy in proclaiming the message of Christ.

Exposition--"The Joyful Fellowship in Christ"

Fellowship (κοινωνία) is often misrepresented. I've often heard the joke that fellowship is Christian code language for food. Socials are often called "fellowships." But fellowship is not an activity or an event. Genuine fellowship can only be known between brothers and sisters in Christ, for their fellowship must start in Him. Fellowship begins, stays and ends in Jesus Christ.

In the same way, John begins his letter with Christ. He is the One from the beginning. He was manifested from Bethlehem (Luke 2:7) to Bethany (Luke 24:50). John writes to declare what He saw, observed and studied from Christ. Also, he proclaims that message which he heard directly from Christ. Therefore, John is not just sharing what he observed about Jesus, but also propositional truths revealed from Christ...such as His eternality.

The message John proclaims is centered in Christ. The fellowship he enjoys is founded in Christ. Genuine fellowship cannot be experienced between people if not grounded in Christ. Therefore, fellowship cannot be had unless a person is a believer in Jesus Christ. And once a believer, true fellowship is most richly experienced when Jesus is the center of the focus.

"I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth" (3 John 4). Therefore, John testifies and proclaims the message of Christ so that others could join in fellowship with each other, by first entering into fellowship with Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

John has established that his joy can be made complete by writing this letter. He has written a gospel recording the events and teachings of Jesus Christ. He has acknowledged that his gospel did not record all that Jesus said or did. However, he is writing this letter to establish his readers in fellowship with Christ.

Though we do not serve as Apostles, it is important to realize the standards remain the same. We have the opportunity to proclaim to others the message of Christ. We should find that our message is completely centered upon Christ. Our churches should enjoy genuine fellowship as believers are reconciled to one another by being reconciled to Christ and experience that fellowship as they focus on their Savior.

But we do not do this as an obligation. Just like John, it is our way to experience complete joy.

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An mp3 file of the sermon preached on this passage, as well as small group questions and children's material can be found at Grace: Resources.