Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 John 1:10
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
10. that we have not sinned ] This is not the same as ‘that we have no sin’ ( 1Jn 1:8), and therefore we have once more not repetition, but expansion and strengthening of what precedes. ‘Have no sin’ refers to a sinful state; ‘have not sinned’ refers to the actual commission of particular acts of sin: the one is the inward principle, the other is its result. But the whole context shews that neither expression refers to sins committed before baptism: no Christian would have denied these: moreover S. John does not write to the recently converted, but to those who have had time to grow lukewarm and indifferent. Both expressions refer to sin after baptism, and the perfect ( ) has the common meaning of the Greek perfect, present result of past action; ‘we are in the condition of not having sinned’. This use of the perfect is specially frequent in S. John.
we make Him a liar ] Worse than ‘we lead ourselves astray’ ( 1Jn 1:8), as that is worse than ‘we lie’ ( 1Jn 1:6). This use of the verb ‘make’ in the sense of ‘assert that one is’ is frequent in the Gospel: ‘He made Himself the Son of God’; ‘Every one that maketh himself a king’ (Joh 19:7; Joh 19:12; comp. Joh 5:18, Joh 8:53, Joh 10:33). God’s promise to forgive sin to the penitent would be a lie if there were no sin to be repented of. And more than this; God’s whole scheme of salvation assumes that all men are sinful and need to be redeemed: therefore those who deny their sinfulness charge God with deliberately framing a vast libel on human nature. Whereas S. Paul says, ‘Let God be found true, but every man a liar’ (Rom 3:3).
His word is not in us ] God’s revelation of Himself has no home in our hearts: it remains outside us, as the light remains outside and separated from him who shuts himself up in darkness. The expressions, ‘to be in’ and ‘to abide in’, to express intimate relationship, are characteristic of S. John: and either of the things related can be said to be in the other. Thus, either ‘His word is not in us’ (comp. 1Jn 2:14), or ‘If ye abide in My word’ (Joh 8:31): either ‘The truth is not in us’ ( 1Jn 1:8), or ‘He standeth not in the truth’ (Joh 8:44). Sometimes the two modes of expression are combined; ‘Abide in Me, and I in you’ (Joh 15:4). ‘His word’ means especially the Gospel: as it is the sins of Christians which are being considered, the O.T., though not excluded, cannot be specially meant. ‘Word’ is more personal than ‘the truth’ ( 1Jn 1:8), which does not necessarily imply a speaker.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
If we say that we have not sinned – In times that are past. Some perhaps might be disposed to say this; and as the apostle is careful to guard every point, he here states that if a man should take the ground that his past life had been wholly upright, it would prove that he had no true religion. The statement here respecting the past seems to prove that when, in 1Jo 1:8, he refers to the present – if we say we have no sin – he meant to say that if a man should claim to be perfect, or to be wholly sanctified, it would demonstrate that he deceived himself; and the two statements go to prove that neither in reference to the past nor the present can anyone lay claim to perfection.
We make him a liar – Because he has everywhere affirmed the depravity of all the race. Compare the notes at Rom. 1; 2; 3. On no point have his declarations been more positive and uniform than on the fact of the universal sinfulness of man. Compare Gen 6:11-12; Job 14:4; Job 15:16; Psa 14:1-3; Psa 51:5; Psa 58:3; Rom 3:9-20; Gal 3:21.
And his word is not in us – His truth; that is, we have no true religion. The whole system of Christianity is based on the fact that man is a fallen being, and needs a Saviour; and unless a man admits that, of course he cannot be a Christian.
Remarks On 1 John 1
(1) The importance of the doctrine of the incarnation of the Son of God, 1Jo 1:1-2. On that doctrine the apostle lays great stress; begins his Epistle with it; presents it in a great variety of forms; dwells upon it as if he would not have it forgotten or misunderstood. It has all the importance which he attached to it, for.
(a)It is the most wonderful of all the events of which we have any knowledge;
(b)It is the most deeply connected with our welfare.
(2) The intense interest which true piety always takes in this doctrine, 1Jo 1:1-2. The feelings of John on the subject are substantially the feelings of all true Christians. The world passes it by in unbelief, or as if it were of no importance; but no true Christian can look at the fact that the Son of God became incarnate but with the deepest emotion.
(3) It is an object of ardent desire with true Christians that all others should share their joys, 1Jo 1:3-4. There is nothing selfish, or narrow, or exclusive in true religion; but every sincere Christian who is happy desires that all others should be happy too.
(4) Wherever there is true fellowship with God, there is with all true Christians, 1Jo 1:3-4. There is but one church, one family of God; and as all true Christians have fellowship with God, they must have with each other.
(5) Wherever there is true fellowship with Christians, there is with God himself, 1Jo 1:3-4. If we love his people, share their joys, labor with them in promoting his cause, and love the things which they love, we shall show that we love him. There is but one God, and one church; and if all the members love each other, they will love their common God and Saviour. An evidence, therefore, that we love Christians, becomes an evidence that we love God.
(6) It is a great privilege to be a Christian, 1Jo 1:3-4. If we are Christians, we are associated with:
- God the Father;
(b)With his Son Jesus Christ;
(c)With all his redeemed on earth and in heaven;
(d)With all holy angels.
There is one bond of fellowship that unites all together; and what a privilege it is to be united in the eternal bonds of friendship with all the holy minds in the universe!
(7) If God is light 1Jo 1:5, then all that occurs is reconcilable with the idea that he is worthy of confidence. What he does may seem to be dark to us, but we may be assured that it is all light with him. A cloud may come between us and the sun, but beyond the cloud the sun shines with undimmed splendor, and soon the cloud itself will pass away. At midnight it is dark to us, but it is not because the sun is shorn of his beams, or is extinguished. He will rise again upon our hemisphere in the fullness of his glory, and all the darkness of the cloud and of midnight is reconcilable with the idea that the sun is a bright orb, and that in him is no darkness at all. So with God. We may be under a cloud of sorrow and of trouble, but above that the glory of God shines with splendor, and soon that cloud will pass away, and reveal him in the fullness of his beauty and truth.
(8) We should, therefore, at all times exercise a cheerful confidence in God, 1Jo 1:5. Who supposes that the sun is never again to shine when the cloud passes over it, or when the shades of midnight have settled down upon the world? We confide in that sun that it will shine again when the cloud has passed off, and when the shades of night have been driven away. So let us confide in God, for with more absolute certainty we shall yet see him to be light, and shall come to a world where there is no cloud.
(9) We may look cheerfully onward to heaven, 1Jo 1:5. There all is light. There we shall see God as He is. Well may we then bear with our darkness a little longer, for soon we shall be ushered into a world where there is no need of the sun or the stars; where there is no darkness, no night.
(10) Religion is elevating in its nature, 1Jo 1:6-7. It brings us from a world of darkness to a world of light. It scatters the rays of light on a thousand dark subjects, and gives promise that all that is now obscure will yet become clear as noonday. Wherever there is true religion, the mind emerges more and more into light; the scales of ignorance and error pass away.
(11) there is no sin so great that it may not be removed by the blood of the atonement, 1Jo 1:7, last clause. This blood has shown its efficacy in the pardon of all the great sinners who have applied to it, and its efficacy is as great now as it was when it was applied to the first sinner that was saved. No one, therefore, however great his sins, needs to hesitate about applying to the blood of the cross, or fear that his sins are so great that they cannot be taken away!
(12) the Christian will yet be made wholly pure, 1Jo 1:7, last clause. It is of the nature of that blood which the Redeemer shed that it ultimately cleanses the soul entirely from sin. The prospect before the true Christian that he will become perfectly holy is absolute; and whatever else may befall him, he is sure that he will yet be holy as God is holy.
(13) there is no use in attempting to conceal our offences, 1Jo 1:8. They are known, all known, to one Being, and they will at some future period all be disclosed. We cannot hope to evade punishment by hiding them; we cannot hope for impunity because we suppose they may be passed over as if unobserved. No man can escape on the presumption either that his sins are unknown, or that they are unworthy of notice.
(14) it is manly to make confession when we have sinned, 1Jo 1:9-10. All meanness was in doing the wrong, not in confessing it; what we should be ashamed of is that we are guilty, not that confession is to be made. When a wrong has been done, there is no nobleness in trying to conceal it; and as there is no nobleness in such an attempt, so there could be no safety.
(15) peace of mind, when wrong has been done, can be found only in confession, 1Jo 1:9-10. That is what nature prompts to when we have done wrong, if we would find peace, and that the religion of grace demands. When a man has done wrong, the least that he can do is to make confession; and when that is done and the wrong is pardoned, all is done that can be to restore peace to the soul.
(16) the ease of salvation, 1Jo 1:9. What more easy terms of salvation could we desire than an acknowledgment of our sins? No painful sacrifice is demanded; no penance, pilgrimage, or voluntary scourging; all that is required is that there should be an acknowledgment of sin at the foot of the cross, and if this is done with a true heart the offender will be saved. If a man is not willing to do this, why should he be saved? How can he be?
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
If we say that we have not sinned: see 1Jo 1:8,9.
We make him a liar; which they make him that believe not his word, 1Jo 5:10, expressly charging all men with sin, Rom 3:19,23.
And, consequently, his word, or truth, as 1Jo 1:8, which we contradict, is not in us. The sum is: That we are not to he received into Gods holy society and communion under the notion of always innocent and unoffending persons, but as pardoned and purified sinners.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. Parallel to 1Jo1:8.
we have not sinnedreferringto the commission of actual sins, even after regeneration andconversion; whereas in 1Jo 1:8,”we have no sin,” refers to the present GUILTremaining (until cleansed) from the actual sins committed, andto the SIN of our corruptold nature still adhering to us. The perfect “have . . . sinned”brings down the commission of sins to the present time, not merelysins committed before, but since, conversion.
we make him a liaragradation; 1Jo 1:6, “welie”; 1Jo 1:8, “wedeceive ourselves”; worst of all, “we make Him a liar,”by denying His word that all men are sinners (compare 1Jo5:10).
his word is not in us“Hisword,” which is “the truth” (1Jo1:8), accuses us truly; by denying it we drive it from our hearts(compare Joh 5:38). Ourrejection of “His word” in respect to our being sinners,implies as the consequence our rejection of His word and willrevealed in the law and Gospel as a whole; for thesethroughout rest on the fact that we have sinned, and havesin.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If we say that we have not sinned,…. Have never sinned, in time past as well as now; deny original sin, and that men are born in sin, but affirm they come into the world pure and holy; and assert that concupiscence is not sin; and so not regarding internal lusts and desires as sinful, only what is external, fancy they have so lived as to have been without sin: but if any of us give out such an assertion,
we make him a liar: that is, God, who in his word declares that the wicked are estranged from the womb, and go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies; that his own people are transgressors from the womb; that all have sinned and come short of his glory; and that there is none that does good, no, not one, but all are under sin, under the power and guilt of it, and become filthy by it, and so obnoxious to the wrath of God:
and his word is not in us; either Christ the Word of God, or rather the word of God which declares these things; no regard is had unto it; it “is not with us”, as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions render it; it is not used and attended to as the rule and standard of truth, but is east away and despised; at least it has no place in the hearts of such, nor does it work effectually; for, was this the case, they would have other notions of themselves than that of sinless creatures. The apostle has regard either to the Gnostics, a set of heretics of this age, who fancied themselves pure, spiritual, and perfect, even in the midst of all their impurities, and notwithstanding their vicious lives; or to judaizing Christians, and it may be to the Jews themselves, who entertained such sort of notions as these of being perfect and without sin h.
h Vid. T. Bab. Temura, fol. 15. 2. & Bava Kama, fol. 80. 1. T. Hieros. Sota, fol. 24. 1. &. Chagiga, fol. 77. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
If we say ( ). As in verses 1John 1:6; 1John 1:8.
We have not sinned ( ). Perfect active indicative of . This is a denial of any specific acts of sin, while in verse 8 we have the denial of the principle of sin. David Smith observes that the claim to personal perfectionism has two causes, one the stifling of conscience in making God a liar (, the word used of the devil by Jesus in Joh 8:44), and the other ignorance of God’s word, which is not in us, else we should not make such a claim.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “If we say that we have not sinned”. John offers a supposition, a hypothetical suggestion, that if he and other early apostles and disciples should say that they had not sinned, such a claim would be untrue, out of the realm of revealed and experimental truth, 1Ki 8:46; Ecc 7:20; Rom 3:23. Concerning such a claim one does not tell the truth.
2) “We make him a liar.” We, in disclaiming acts of personal sin, would make God to be, or appear to be a liar, prevaricator, falsifier. Yet, Rom 3:4 reads, “Let God be true (found true) but every man a Iiar.” Joh 3:33 asserts that “God is true”.
3) “And his word is not in us”. (Greek Kai ho logos autou ouk estin en hemin) means “His reasoning (Word) is not in us” as we make such lying claims. Every child of God does sin, needs to confess his sins daily Mat 6:12. His Word is true “from the beginning”, and He “cannot lie”. Ps 119-160; Heb 6:18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
10 We make him a liar He goes still further, that they who claim purity for themselves blaspheme God. For we see that he everywhere represents the whole race of man as guilty of sin.
Whosoever then tries to escape this charge carries on war with God, and accuses him of falsehood, as though he condemned the undeserving. To confirm this he adds, and his word is not in us; as though he had said, that we reject this great truth, that all are under guilt.
We hence learn, that we then only make a due progress in the knowledge of the word of the Lord, when we become really humbled, so as to groan under the burden of our sins and learn to flee to the mercy of God, and acquiesce in nothing else but in his paternal favor.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
10. This concluding verse is added, as parallel and completing to 1Jn 1:8, in order to emphasize the fact that not only is the denial of sin as a state, but of sin as an actual commission and practice in the past, flagrantly false.
Have not sinned The applying this to the Christian (as Alford and Huther) is, as above on 1Jn 1:8, clearly erroneous. If the supposition be that the Christian says, I have not sinned since my conversion, no sensible Christian ever said that, and the admonition is absurd. If it be, I have not sinned in a particular case, it may be true. Clearly, John is laying the foundation of conversion of sinners to Christ in deep confession of sin both of character and act.
Make him a liar For both the universal condemnation of men and their universal redemption through Christ, is based upon the assumption that all men, of full responsible age and powers, have sinned.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.’
John once again returns to the question of those who declare themselves in no need of forgiveness. They, he says, are in the wrong. They have clearly not come to the God who is light. They most of all need forgiveness for they are liars. ‘If we say that we have not sinned we make God a liar’, and have clearly not received His word. For does His word not say that sin is to come short of the glory of God? (Rom 3:23). And is there any living man who would dare to say that he in no way comes short of the perfection and holiness of God? Such men are deceived and unaware of the reality of sin. They may achieve their own petty little standard, but they have failed to be aware of God’s true standard which requires total moral and spiritual perfection, a perfection beyond their present capability. It was such men as this that John had in mind when he wrote these words, men who had come into a false position, men who had dismissed morality as irrlevant, men who needed to be renewed in an awareness of their own sinfulness, that they might return to the true light, and to the true God and His true Son Jesus Christ.
That Christians can have victory over known sin through Christ and His Spirit at work within them is gloriously true. But in all there will be sins of omission, sins of falling short, which while they may not be obvious to them will at times be obvious to others. Thus, says John, we must all acknowledge that if we say that we have not sinned we prove our own folly and make God a liar (that is One Who teaches falsehood – 1Jn 2:22).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Jn 1:10. If we say that we have not sinned, &c. “If, after all, we assert that we have not transgressed the law of God, so as to need pardon through the Blood, and sanctification by the Spirit of Christ, we, in effect, make God himself a liar; as we therein deny the truth of what he has said in his word, which pronounces upon the whole race of mankind, that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23.); and we thereby shew that the truth of the gospel has no place in us, the very nature of which supposes us to be sinners, and is designed to bring us to a humble, penitent confession of sin, ver.9 and to faith in the Redeemer’s blood for the remission of it, and for victory over it, till we be completely delivered from the whole nature thereof,” 1Jn 1:7.
Inferences.How seriously should we attend to the word of life, when addressed to us by those who were so intimately acquainted with it, and with him who brought it and revealed it to the world! In like manner may all concerned in dispensing it, be able to say that it is what they have heard, and, as it were, seen and handled; yea, tasted, and let in all its sweetness and energy. Jesus Christ is indeed that life which was with the Father, and is now manifested unto us: may we ever regard him as such, and have communion with St. John, and the other sacred writers, in their communion with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. Surely they, who by experience know the delight and benefit of that communion, will desire that others may be partakers of it with themselves. Their own joy, instead of being diminished, will be rather rendered more complete and intense, by being in this manner imparted to others.
Nothing can be of more importance than to form right and worthy conceptions of God; and that we may do so, let us reflect on him as the purest and even unmingled Light, without any the least shade of darkness; as Truth in perfection, without any mixture of falsehood or evil. And let us be particularly concerned, that as we desire to have fellowship with him, we allow not ourselves to walk in darkness of any kind, but put off all its works, that we may put on the whole armour of light, and walk in the light as he is in the light. Let every action of our lives, every thought of our hearts, be brought to the light of the gospel, and tried and proved according to it. And, as it would be very vain and criminal in us to deny that we are sinners, as it would be self-deceit to imagine it, and self-confusion to affirm it, let us, with humble thankfulness, apply to that Blood, which is able to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Most freely confessing our sins, in all their aggravations, so far as our weak and limited thoughts can attain to the view of them, let us humbly plead his promise, and his covenant; and then fidelity and justice will join with mercy and power to cleanse us from all sin.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The blessed penman of this epistle immediately enters into his subject. Full of Christ, he breaks forth;
That which was from the beginning, that glorious and divine Person, who from eternity as the Son, subsisting with the Father in the same essence; which, in the fulness of time, became incarnate; we have heard preaching his everlasting gospel; which we have seen with our eyes, living and dying; which we have looked upon, attentively regarding him both before and after his resurrection from the dead; and our hands have handled, so that we have the strongest and most indubitable evidence of his true humanity, and of the reality of his resurrection in the same body which on his incarnation he had assumed into personal union with himself; who emphatically bears the name of the word of life, being the fountain of natural life to every creature, and the giver of spiritual and eternal life to his faithful people; (for the life, the Lord of life and glory, was manifested in the flesh; and we have seen it, and bear witness and shew unto you that eternal life, who from everlasting existed in the unity of the Godhead; which was with the Father, one with him in co-essential glory, and was, in the fulness of time, according to the prophetic word, manifested unto us in the human nature) that adored Personage, which we have seen and heard, and concerning whom we are most incontestably assured that our record is true, him declare we unto you, as God and Man in one Christ, as the only and all-sufficient Saviour, through whom all blessings in time and eternity are obtained for his faithful saints; and we publish his offices, glory, and gospel, that ye also may have fellowship with us in all the inestimable privileges which he bestows on his saints, even on all who perseveringly believe on his name: and truly this communion is of the most transcendently glorious nature, for our fellowship is with the Father himself, and with his Son Jesus Christ, in and through whom we are admitted into the nearest and most honourable union and friendship with the God of glory. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full, abounding with consolation in the experience of the present invaluable privileges of pardon, adoption, and grace, and advancing towards the perfection of joy in heaven, and to the pleasures which are at God’s right hand for evermore. Note; (1.) It is the dignity of every faithful soul, that it is admitted into communion with God, and is one with Jesus, as a member of his body mystical. (2.) They who know the Saviour experimentally, as united to him in faith and love, have within them a fund of consolation, which the world knows nothing of.
2nd, Having mentioned the Author of the everlasting gospel, the apostle passes on to the message which they had received from him to deliver unto them.
1. Concerning God. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light; a Spirit absolutely pure, infinite in all perfections, without the least shadow or possibility of imperfection; and in him is no darkness at all. Note; Our poor and finite ideas are unable adequately to comprehend the divine excellencies; nay, angels before him veil their faces, for he dwelleth in that light which no creature can approach unto, so as fully to discern his glory. What we know of him is rather by removing every defect from him, and saying what he is not, rather than what he is.
2. Concerning those who professed to believe in him. (1.) If we say that we have fellowship with him, through the gospel of his dear Son, and yet notwithstanding walk in darkness, the servants of sin, which is so opposite to his essential purity, we lie, and do not the truth; our falsehood is evident to his all-searching eye, and our practice contradicts our professions, and proves our hypocrisy. But (2.) if we walk in the light of truth and holiness, under the guidance of his Spirit, and according to our Christian profession; as he is in the light, resembling him in his communicable perfections; then we have fellowship one with another; we enjoy the most distinguishing communion with him and with his saints in spirit; and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin; though we are indeed conscious to ourselves of many past offences, and even then of many remaining infirmities, we have this grand consolationthat the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin, however deep, innate, or heinous. Blessed and happy are they whom this Blood thus cleanses, and who are admitted into this holy fellowship!
3. The apostle, to prevent all possible misconception, adds the following observations, either as qualifications, or explanations, of what he had before advanced.
(1.) If we say that we have no sin, that we are not poor guilty sinners; if we imagine that we have no need to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us,”we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, we are spiritually proud, and have no interest in the Blood of Christ, except as fallen creatures who are still in a state of trial: but, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, by directly contradicting his truth; because, being by nature corrupted creatures, we must have often sinned against him, before we were renewed in grace; and, if we deny it, his word is not in us, which every where supposes and declares us to be such by nature.
(2.) If we confess our sins, and humbly, through faith in Jesus Christ, apply for the promised mercy of God, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins; faithful to the covenant of grace, and to his promise made therein, to forgive all those who come to him penitently through faith in his eternal Son; and just, because having received the ransom of atoning Blood, it is become an act of justice to pardon those who plead it, and, if they perseveringly plead it, to cleanse them from all unrighteousness. Note; The acceptance with God of persevering believers, stands not on the footing of mercy only, but is assured to them by that very perfection of holiness which seemed most strongly to militate against their hope.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Jn 1:10 . Not a repetition, but “a strengthening of 1Jn 1:8 ” (Baumgarten-Crusius). As 1Jn 1:8 is connected with the end of 1Jn 1:7 , so is this verse with 1Jn 1:9 .
] as in 1Jn 1:8 .
] is substantially synonymous with . , only distinguished from it in this way that the former describes an activity, the latter a state (so also Braune); the expression used here is called forth by the plural and the idea (1Jn 1:9 ), by which the sinful character is more definitely specified as an activity than by in 1Jn 1:7 . The perfect does not prove that is meant of sins before conversion (Socinus, Russmeyer, Paulus, etc.); the subject here, as in all the verses before, is the sinning of Christians; for to deny former sin could not occur to a Christian. [74] The perfect is explained both by John’s usus loquendi, according to which an action lasting up to the present is often represented in this tense, and also by the fact that the confession every time refers to sins previously committed.
] corresponds to ; it brings out that the Christian by the denial of his sin accuses God ( , i.e. ) of lying. In there lies, as Dsterdieck remarks, a certain reproachful bitterness; comp. Joh 5:18 ; Joh 8:53 ; Joh 10:33 ; Joh 19:7 ; Joh 19:12 . This thought presupposes the declaration of God that even the Christian sins, which 1Jn 1:9 . . . also suggests; for if God has promised Christians forgiveness of their sins on condition of their confessing them, the above declaration is thereby made on God’s side.
( i.e. ) ] , corresponding to the thought in 1Jn 1:8 , refers directly to the preceding . . . Lcke explains it correctly: “the revelation of God, especially the gospel of Jesus Christ” (so also Brckner, Dsterdieck, Braune); to understand by it (with Oecumenius, Grotius, de Wette, etc.) especially the O. T., is forbidden by the train of thought, for the subject here is not the sinfulness of man in general , but the of Christians. [75] Ebrard interprets . . as the “self-proclamation of the nature of God, which has taken place both in the verbal revelations of the O. and N. T. and in the revelations of deeds,” so that even the of Gospel of Joh 1:1 is to be regarded as included; but from the fact that the elements mentioned here are very closely connected, it does not follow that that idea has here, or anywhere else, this extensive signification. The words are erroneously explained by Baumgarten-Crusius: “we have given it up, or also: we are not qualified or fit for it;” it means rather: “it is not vividly imprinted in our hearts” (Spener); it has remained external to us, inwardly unknown.
[74] Therefore it is also not correct to refer . to present and past, as Hornejus explains: si dixerimus nos non tantum peccatum nunc non habere, sed nec peccatores unquam fuisse.
[75] This has been more or less overlooked by the commentators (even by Dsterdieck and Ebrard), although it is also important for the understanding of chap. 1Jn 2:1-2 . But John may with justice assume that the word of God denies the absolute sinlessness of Christians, since apart from the fact that even the O. T. does not depict the as perfectly holy in every evangelical announcement the is an essential element for believers, which presupposes their having and doing sin.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
REFLECTIONS
Reader! You and I may well enter upon this blessed portion of God with prayer. And surely, under divine teaching, we shall end it in praise. Oh! who can contemplate Him whom John saw, heard, and handled, even That which was from the beginning, but with holy rapture and delight. Oh! that the object for which John declared these things, may be in my instance fully answered; and that I may truly have fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ!
Blessed God and Father! grant that light to thy redeemed, which may enable them to walk in thy light; and to know, by heartfelt experience, that the blood of Jesus Christ thy Son cleanseth us from all sin. And, Lord! let thy faithfulness and justice, as well as thy mercy and grace, be my everlasting comfort. God can be just, and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. And God, for Christ’s sake, will cleanse his redeemed from all unrighteousness.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Ver. 10. We make him a liar ] For the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, Rom 11:32 . See Trapp on “ Rom 11:32 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
10 .] Not a mere repetition, but a confirmation and intensification of 1Jn 1:8 . Huther well remarks, that this verse is related to 1Jn 1:9 as 1Jn 1:8 to 1Jn 1:7 ). If we say that we have not sinned (if we deny, that is, the fact of our commission of sins in our Christian state. The perf., so far from removing the time to that before conversion, brings it down to the present: had it been , it might have had that signification. answers in time to : the one representing the state as existing, the other the sum of sinful acts which have gone to make it up), we make Him (God, see above) a liar (this is the climax, gradually reached through 1Jn 1:6 , and 1Jn 1:8 . And it is justified, by the uniform assertion of God both in the O. T. and N. T. that all men are sinners, which we thus falsify as far as in us lies), and His word in not is us (cf. Joh 5:38 . may be interpreted generally, “that which He saith.” “Deus dixit ‘ peccasti :’ id negare nefandum est. Verbum nos vere accusat, et contradicendo arcetur a corde.” Bengel. , as in John l. c., has no abiding place in , within, us: is something heard by the ear, and external to us, but not finding place among the thoughts and maxims of our heart and life. God declares that to be true which we assume to be untrue. It is evident that with c., Grot., De Wette, to understand the O. T. by is to miss the connexion, seeing that it is of the sins of Christians that St. John is treating, to whom has become a far higher revelation of His will, viz. that given by Christ, and brought home to the heart by His indwelling Spirit. This final revelation of God includes the O. and N. T., and all other manifestations of His will to us: and it is this as a whole, which we reject and thrust from us, if we say at any time that we have not sinned, for its united testimony proclaims the contrary).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
sinned. App-128.
liar. See 1Jn 5:10. Joh 8:44.
word. App-121.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
10.] Not a mere repetition, but a confirmation and intensification of 1Jn 1:8. Huther well remarks, that this verse is related to 1Jn 1:9 as 1Jn 1:8 to 1Jn 1:7). If we say that we have not sinned (if we deny, that is, the fact of our commission of sins in our Christian state. The perf., so far from removing the time to that before conversion, brings it down to the present: had it been , it might have had that signification. answers in time to : the one representing the state as existing, the other the sum of sinful acts which have gone to make it up), we make Him (God, see above) a liar (this is the climax, gradually reached through 1Jn 1:6, and 1Jn 1:8. And it is justified, by the uniform assertion of God both in the O. T. and N. T. that all men are sinners, which we thus falsify as far as in us lies), and His word in not is us (cf. Joh 5:38. may be interpreted generally,-that which He saith. Deus dixit peccasti: id negare nefandum est. Verbum nos vere accusat, et contradicendo arcetur a corde. Bengel. , as in John l. c., has no abiding place in, within, us: is something heard by the ear, and external to us, but not finding place among the thoughts and maxims of our heart and life. God declares that to be true which we assume to be untrue. It is evident that with c., Grot., De Wette, to understand the O. T. by is to miss the connexion, seeing that it is of the sins of Christians that St. John is treating, to whom has become a far higher revelation of His will, viz. that given by Christ, and brought home to the heart by His indwelling Spirit. This final revelation of God includes the O. and N. T., and all other manifestations of His will to us: and it is this as a whole, which we reject and thrust from us, if we say at any time that we have not sinned, for its united testimony proclaims the contrary).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Jn 1:10. , we make Him a liar) God says, Thou hast sinned; to deny this is impious. Comp. ch. 1Jn 5:10.- , His word) which is true: 1Jn 1:8. The word accuses us with truth; and by contradiction it is driven from the heart.- , in us) and therefore we are liars: ch. 1Jn 2:4.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
we say: 1Jo 1:8, Psa 130:3
we make: 1Jo 5:10, Job 24:25
his word: 1Jo 1:8, 1Jo 2:4, 1Jo 4:4, Col 3:16, 2Jo 1:2
Reciprocal: Lev 3:2 – lay Psa 143:2 – in thy sight Hos 7:13 – spoken Rom 3:25 – to declare Heb 6:18 – impossible 1Jo 1:6 – If
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Jn 1:10. Have not sinned differs from have no sin in verse S because it goes back over the past of our lives. When the two are considered together they mean that there never has been a time since we were old enough to be responsible. that we were “as free from sin as the angels” as it is sometimes expressed; hence man has needed a Saviour all the years of his life. Make him. a liar. If a person makes an assertion that contradicts what another has said, it is equivalent to calling him a liar even though no direct reference is made to him. God has said in his word that all men are sinners (Ecc 7:20), therefore if a man says he has not sinned he contradicts the Lord and that is why John says such a man will make him a liar. His word is not in us because that word declares that all men have sinned.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Jn 1:10. In a third use of the universal. If we say, the great anti-christian lie is once more repeated, but as usual in a strengthened form,
that we have not sinnedthat we are not in fact sinners, as the result of a life of which sin has been and is the characteristic. We make him a liar, and his word is not in us: the rebuke is also repeated but deepened. We contradict the God of holiness; and His revelation, His word of truth, has absolutely no place in us. This third description of the unchristian nature has no counterpart: that follows immediately, but in another form. In all these sentences, let it be observed once more, the apostle has been laying down great principles. The we say has no specific reference to his readers. But he would not have used the phrase if we say, had he not included a universal application. While he does not declare that sin must remain in those who walk in the light, and that they must have sin in them, he warns them against the saying that they have it not. He does not declare that it is true of all that they have sinned in their renewed life down to the present moment; but he forbids their saying that they have not sinned. Supposing his later testimony concerning the destruction of sin as a principle, and the absence of sin from the regenerate, to be taken in its highest and deepest, that is, in its most natural sense, still all the sanctified avow themselves sinners who need the atonement until probation ends; they never separate between their new selves and their old in their humble confession; they still identify themselves with their sin, though this may be gone; and say with the sanctified Apostle Paul (1Ti 1:15), sinners, of whom I am chief, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Jdg 1:21).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Note here, The impiety and blasphemy of those who affirm themselves to be in a state of sinless perfection: they do not only lie themselves, but intepretatively, and as much as in them is, they make God a liar, by contradicting what he has asserted in his word, that all are sinners: So that upon the whole it appears, that to affirm we have no sin, is the highest pride, the greatest deceit, the loudest lie, the prophanest blasphemy; it is to make the God of truth a liar, and to turn the truth of God into a lie, which evidences that his word is not in us.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 10
Make him a liar; since he has in so many ways declared that the conduct and characters of all men are entirely inconsistent with the requirements of his law.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1:10 {7} If we say that we have not sinned, we make him {i} a liar, and his {k} word is not in us.
(7) A repeat of the former verse, in which he condemned all of sin without exception: so much so that if any man persuade himself otherwise, he does as much as in him lies, make the word of God himself useless and to no effect, yes, he makes God a liar: for to why in times past did we need sacrifices, or now Christ and the gospel, if we are not sinners?
(i) They do not only deceive themselves but are blasphemous against God.
(k) His doctrine shall have no place in us; that is, in our hearts.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The false claim here is that the sin we have committed is not really sin. This is the third and most serious charge (cf. 1Jn 1:6; 1Jn 1:8). It puts God’s revelation of sin aside and makes man the authority for what is and what is not sin. This claim says God is wrong in His judgment of man and is therefore a liar. The claimant dismisses His Word as invalid (e.g., Psa 14:3; Isa 53:6; Joh 2:24-25; Rom 3:23).
Each of these three false claims in 1Jn 1:6; 1Jn 1:8; 1Jn 1:10 is a denial of the truth that immediately precedes it in 1Jn 1:5; 1Jn 1:7; 1Jn 1:9 respectively. The corrective to each false claim follows in the verse immediately after it.
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Truth |
False claim |
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God is light (1Jn 1:5). |
We have fellowship with Him (1Jn 1:6). |
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Walking in the light is necessary for fellowship with God (1Jn 1:7). |
We have no guilt for sin (1Jn 1:8). |
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Confession is necessary to restore fellowship with God (1Jn 1:9). |
We have not sinned (1Jn 1:10). |
"It would be difficult to find any single passage of Scripture more crucial and fundamental to daily Christian living than 1Jn 1:5-10. For here, in a few brief verses, the ’disciple whom Jesus loved’ has laid down for us the basic principles which underlie a vital walk with God." [Note: Hodges, "Fellowship and . . .," p. 48.]
"What then is the principle of fellowship with God? Succinctly stated, it is openness to God and full integrity in the light of His Word." [Note: Ibid., p. 60. Cf. Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, p. 482.]